The cashout feature offered by many online bookmakers was an interesting development when first launched about a decade ago.
It enables punters to lock in a profit on their live bets; a good thing, you would think. But in actual fact, it can be considered something of a loss leader for bookies – how often have they saved money on big acca wins by persuading coupon-holders to cash out early?
All punters will have their own opinion on cashing out, but perhaps the key thing to remember is that if it was truly a value proposition to settle bets early, bookmakers simply wouldn’t offer it to their customers.
That said, one punter landed a life-changing win at the end of September after cashing out their mammoth 183,000/1 acca while it was still running.
And what a decision that turned out to be, given that the last selection on their coupon went on to lose!
Favourite Game
The punter in question had focused largely on American sports in their nine-led acca… with a random tennis match thrown in for good measure.
That was an ITF Tour meeting between Igor Gimenez and Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida in Brazil. They had backed Gimenez, the clear 7/1 underdog, and watched him lose the first set to a player ranked 280 places behind than him in the world rankings.
But Gimenez battled back to win in three sets, which was a considerable shock – not that our punter cared.
Otherwise, the other eight selections were odds on to win, with two picks in Major League Baseball and the other six in American football.
In the MLB, the punter had Cincinnati Reds to defeat the Chicago Cubs and the LA Dodgers to take down the San Francisco Giants. Cincinnati would go on to win narrowly 1-0, while the Dodgers rallied from 2-4 down to score five unanswered points and eventually run out 7-5 victors.
The Buffalo Bills were 1/6 on with some bookies to defeat the Miami Dolphins in the NFL in September. But the Super Bowl favourites made heavy weather of the contest, which was poised at 21-21 in the fourth quarter, before a late Khalil Shakir touchdown secured victory for the Bills.
GAME‼️😁@MandT_Bank | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/Ulp58pmTy7
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 19, 2025
There were no such concerns for the Washington Commanders, who were 34-10 to the good heading into the final quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders; despite a late rally from their opponents, the Commanders still prevailed 41-24.
And there was a similar scoreline in Tennessee, where our punter’s backed team Indianapolis Colts ran out 41-20 winners against the Titans.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won by seven points against the New England Patriots, before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced the New York Giants by a margin of 30-7.
So all that stood between our punter and a hefty £136,000 acca win was the Cleveland Browns, who were facing the side that they had backed as their ninth selection, the Green Bay Packers.
Meanwhile, the punter’s app showed a cash out value of £52,294… the sort of head-turning amount of money that can test anyone’s resolve.
Everyone’s financial circumstances are personal to them, so it’s impossible to say whether the punter did the right thing in taking the cash out – it was the wrong decision in terms of odds, value and probability, but in guaranteeing a £52,294 payout, they will have likely changed their life for the better for many years to come.
And, in a delicious twist of fate, Green Bay would go on to LOSE despite leading by ten points with a quarter to play – a result which would have left our punter distraught.
Should You Cash Out Your Bet… Or Hedge?
Just a quick thought on the concept of cashing out that you might find helpful in your own betting.
With a game to spare on their acca, our punter could have hedged their bet and scored a meatier payout than cashing out – however, they would have needed plenty of spare cash to do so.
The Cleveland Browns could be backed at odds of 7/2 in the win market, which includes overtime. So, if our punter had a spare £36,000 lying around, they could have bet on the Browns AND let their acca run.
If Green Bay won, they would have landed their £136,000 acca, minus the £36,000 wagered on the Browns, for a net profit of £100,000.
If Cleveland had won, our punter would have landed £126,000 in profit from their £36,000 bet at 7/2 – minus the £743 they had placed on their acca in the first place.
So, in either scenario, hedging their bets would have been far more financially savvy than taking the cash out.
The funds required in this scenario are preposterous, of course, but if you find yourself in a similar position to this punter – at far more humble stakes, it’s worth remembering that hedging an acca with one leg to run is typically far more sensible than taking the cash out offer.