To cash out or not to cash out….for many punters that is often the golden question that is asked of them on a sporting weekend.
There is no correct answer, of course, because the circumstances – and what the ‘value’ position would be – are different from one betslip to the next.
Any debates also overlook the individual circumstances of the individual: if they need to buy a new car to replace their old banger, or have debts to pay, nobody can blame them for taking the cash out offer.
One plucky horse racing punter found themselves in a similar quandary on Sunday when their pair of bets both accumulated a massive cash out value.
The unnamed Betfair customer had placed a Lucky 31 and a straight five-fold acca on a quintet of horses. And when the first four all won at meaty odds, that’s when they found themself in the trickiest of positions.
| Horse | Time | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Honor Grey | Aintree, 13:30 | 9/1 |
| Dingo Dollar | Aintree, 14:05 | 12/1 |
| Riders Onthe Storm | Aintree, 14:40 | 16/1 |
| Spring Meadow | Ffos Las, 14:55 | 7/2 |
| Credrojava | Aintree, 17:05 | 15/8 |
The trainer of Honor Grey, Ben Pauling, has started the new National Hunt campaign like a train with a string of winners, but even he must have been somewhat surprised when his 9/1 hopeful took the opener at Aintree.
In the second race of the day at the Merseyside venue, Dingo Dollar was struggling and found himself at the rear of the field. Our punter might have been ready to tear up their betslip, but the ten-year-old found a second wind and sauntered through to win by eight lengths – despite hitting 250/1 in-running.
Riders Onthe Storm would make it an Aintree hat-trick next up, backing up a solid effort in the Grand National in his previous start by winning the Old Roan Chase – but our punter’s nerves would have been shredded as the fast-finishing Hitman got within a length.
However, Brian Hughes was just able to cling on and Riders Onthe Storm took the win by a short head.
At this point, plenty of punters might have been tempted to cash out – certainly their acca, anyway, leaving the Lucky 31 to run – with 9/1, 12/1 and 16/1 winners already on the ledger.
But the hero of this tale continued, and the action switched to the Welsh racecourse Ffos Las for the 14:55 novices’ hurdle. They had backed the 7/2 chance Spring Meadow, but would have been fearful of the form of 6/4 favourite Hymac from Harry Fry’s yard.
However, they needn’t have worried as Spring Meadow rose to the occasion and powered home by seven lengths.
Our punter then had around two hours to contemplate their options, with last leg Credrojava due off at Aintree at 17:05. The cash out offer would have appeared on their screen, and it was decision time….
? Before the 5:05 this Betfair punter cashed out both bets:
? £21,756 from £1 each way Lucky 31
? £36,212 from £5 acca? Credrojava then (just) won… pic.twitter.com/t6mQxsIfyK
— Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) October 23, 2022
They decided to stick, rather than twist, and cashed out for a shade under £58,000 from their £67 total stake.
The scriptwriters were sharpening their pencils ahead of the last at Aintree, and this was a storyline fitting for a Halloween-inspired spooktacular – you guessed it, Credrojava just about got home by half-a-length to effectively cost our punter the full payout of £425,000.
What Should They Have Done?
Nobody can begrudge a person a near £58,000 pay day….especially in these tough economic times.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing too, although you wonder if the individual in question – if they could rewind time – would have cashed out their acca (£36,212) and left the Lucky 31 to run. Even if Credrojava would have lost, they still would have banked £15,748 from their £1 each way flutter for a total just shy of £52,000.
The smartest move of all would have been to lay Credrojava on the Exchange given her agreeable 3.00 odds. But that would have required our punter to put up a huge liability of their own in order to get the bet through….unless a Betfair rep would have allowed them to use their open bets with the sportsbook as a hedge, of course.