If a game is postponed and not played within the window the rules allow, your bet is voided and your full stake comes back to you, with no win and no loss recorded. If the game is played inside that window, the bet simply stands and settles on the result. What decides it is whether the game was postponed before it started, suspended after it started, or canceled outright, and each of those has its own rule.
What void means in betting
A voided bet is treated as if it was never placed. You get your stake back, the bet is not graded as a win or a loss, and it does not count toward any record. That is different from a push, which is a settled bet on a result that landed exactly on the line; what is a push covers that outcome. A push needs a final score. A void usually happens because there is no valid final score to grade.
Postponed, suspended and canceled are three different things
- Postponed. The game never started and has been moved to a later time. The bet stands only if the new start falls inside the rulebook's window.
- Suspended. The game started, then stopped, and may be finished later. Whether the bet stands depends on how much of the game was played and whether an official result follows.
- Canceled. The game will not be played at all. With nothing to grade, bets on it are voided.
The postponement window on BettorEdge
BettorEdge spells the windows out in its general rules, and they differ by sport:
- Football, hockey and basketball. If a game does not start within 36 hours of the original scheduled start, all positions on it are voided.
- Baseball. The window is tighter: the game must begin the same day, in local time, as its original start, or positions are voided. A rainout moved to tomorrow's doubleheader is a void.
- Soccer. A match that is canceled, abandoned or not properly completed within 36 hours is voided, unless an outcome was already decided, such as a half-time market on a match abandoned in the second half.
A few other changes void a bet even if the game goes ahead: a change of opponent, a change of venue, or a change to the length of the event.
Build your parlay where the odds are better.
Sportsbooks pad every leg with vig, so long parlays are where the house wins most. On BettorEdge you set your parlay against real people and keep more of the payout.
Suspended games: how much has to be played
When a game starts and then stops, the question becomes whether enough of it happened to count.
- Football and hockey. Positions are voided unless at least 55 minutes of play have elapsed or an official result is declared.
- Baseball. Moneyline positions need five innings, or four and a half with the home team ahead, plus an official result. Run line and total positions need nine innings, or eight and a half with the home team ahead, unless the game was scheduled short, like a seven-inning doubleheader game.
- Basketball. Positions are voided unless an official result is declared or the market was already decided, such as first team to score.
That last idea runs through every sport: a market that was already settled when play stopped stays settled. If you bet the Over on a first-half total and the half was completed, the halftime score grades your bet no matter what happens after.
Worked example: one Sunday kickoff, two new dates
Take an NFL game scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 PM that is postponed before kickoff. You have $50 on one side and another bettor has $50 on the other, matched at +100.
If the league moves it to Monday at 7:00 PM, that is 30 hours after the original start. It is inside the 36-hour window, so both positions stand and settle on the result: the winner collects $100, the loser collects nothing.
If the league moves it to Tuesday at 1:00 PM, that is 48 hours after the original start. It is outside the window, so both positions are voided. You get your $50 back and the other bettor gets their $50 back.
Football, hockey and basketball use the 36-hour window. Baseball is stricter: the game must start the same local day.
Why a peer-to-peer market returns both sides
At a sportsbook, a void means the house hands your stake back. On a peer-to-peer market there is no house in the middle: your $50 was matched against another bettor's $50. When the event is voided, neither side can win the other's money, so each person simply gets their own stake back, exactly as in the Tuesday case above. Nobody keeps a margin on a game that never happened.
An order that was never matched is different again. It was an offer waiting for a taker, not a bet, so there is no position to void and nothing to grade.
What happens to a parlay leg
At most sportsbooks, a voided leg is removed from the parlay and the ticket is repriced on the legs that remain; it does not kill the whole ticket. Say you put $20 on a three-leg parlay at -110 per leg. That pays about +596, a $139.16 return if all three win. If one game is postponed past the window and voided, you are left with a two-leg parlay at about +264, a $72.89 return. The parlay calculator will show the reduced price for your own legs. If every leg on the ticket is voided, the whole stake comes back.
Weather and other reasons games move
Rain is the usual culprit in baseball, which is why the same-day rule matters so much on the MLB board. How weather that does not stop a game shapes a total is its own subject, covered in our guide to weather and NFL totals.
Postponed game betting FAQ
What happens to your bet if a game is postponed?
If a postponed game is played within the allowed window, your bet stands and settles on the result, and if it is not, the bet is voided and your stake is returned. On BettorEdge the window is 36 hours from the original start for football, hockey and basketball, while baseball games must begin the same local day.
What does void mean in betting?
A void bet is canceled as if it was never placed, so your stake is returned with no win or loss recorded. It is not the same as a push, which is a settled bet on a result that landed exactly on the line.
What happens to a parlay if one game is canceled?
At most sportsbooks a canceled leg is removed and the parlay pays on the remaining legs at a lower price, so a three-leg parlay at -110 per leg drops from about +596 to about +264. If every leg is voided, the full stake is returned.
A voided game hands everyone their money back, but a game that is played is decided by the price you took. On BettorEdge community odds you set your own number against another real bettor, with no house margin sitting on top. Open BettorEdge and get this price for real, peer-to-peer.
Build your parlay where the odds are better.
Sportsbooks pad every leg with vig, so long parlays are where the house wins most. On BettorEdge you set your parlay against real people and keep more of the payout.