Cashing out in a crash game

Cashing out is the only real move in a crash game: stop the climb and take the multiplier on screen. Everything hinges on it, and it's also where your mind plays tricks on you.

Cashing out, in practice

Your stake is multiplied by the multiplier at the moment you cash out. If the crash comes first, you lose the stake. There are two ways to do it:

• By hand: you tap the button whenever you want. You stay in control, along with the urge to wait a little longer.
• Automatically: many crash games let you set a multiplier in advance (auto cash-out). The game cashes out for you if it's reached. Some also allow two bets at once, so you can cash one out early and let the other run.

In Pothole

Pothole moves km by km: each km is a tap, and between two km you choose to drive on or cash out. You must drive at least one km before you can cash out, and if you reach the end of the road, the win is cashed out automatically. There's no automatic cash-out mid-route: the call is yours at every km. On the City street:

The chance of clearing the next km stays around 80% at every step: the game has no "ideal moment" to get out. Each extra km pays a little more for a little more risk, and the RTP stays at 97% throughout (see the probability page).

When to cash out?

Mathematically, no moment beats another: the average is the same everywhere. So the right moment depends on what you want to experience, not on some hidden calculation:

• Early (1.2× to 2×): frequent small wins, longer sessions.
• Late (10× and up): frequent losses, and now and then a big hit.
• Always at the same point: the only way to know what you're really doing. You can test your rule in the simulator.

The psychology of cashing out

• Regret. You cash out at 2× and the round climbs to 15×: next time, you wait. Regret is deciding, not the probability, which hasn't changed.
• "One more km." The higher the multiplier, the harder it is to stop. Each step feels small, but you're risking the whole accumulated win.
• Chasing. After a loss, you aim higher to win it all back at once. That's how the spiral described in the gambler's fallacy begins.

The fix is simple: decide your target before you start, and stick to it. In Pothole, pick your km before the first tap. The strategy page shows this doesn't beat the game, but it keeps you from playing a worse one without noticing. Real-money play is 18+ (19+ in most provinces); if stopping gets hard, read our responsible gambling page.