This article, written by Zach Doctor, co-founder and CEO of WagerWire, discusses the cashout feature in sports betting. The feature allows sportsbooks to offer to buy back a bet before the outcome is decided, allowing bettors to “cash out” their wager. While this feature may seem beneficial for bettors, it’s important to understand that sportsbooks only make this offer if they have an incentive to do so, which often leads to heavily discounted prices and erratic availability.
WagerWire has developed a wager calculator to help bettors determine the true value of their cashout offers. This calculator takes into account the details of the bet, including the risk amount and original odds, as well as the current odds for the same market. Bettors using the calculator regularly report offers cashing out in the range of 50-70% of their market value.
One of the biggest issues with the current cashout feature is that bettors have no way to access fair prices. However, if bettors were able to sell their stake or part of it through a secondary market at a fair market price, it would be much easier to receive the money. This addition would allow bettors to apply the mentality and unique skill set from other resale platforms, and potentially add rocket fuel to the explosive US sports betting industry.
In conclusion, as the sports betting industry continues to evolve and mature, it’s important to offer bettors dynamic options that allow for a fairer and healthier market. The secondary market is the best way to empower individual bettors while expanding the overall pie.