Hello and Welcome to your very own, all inclusive guide to soccer betting in South Africa. Soccer is hands down the most popular sport to bet on in SA, despite the hold rugby and cricket have over sports fans.
Betting on the soccer, however, takes some time and practice, and most of the time when you're starting out, a lot of trial and error.
But that’s why we’ve created this page
Our goal is to ensure that soccer betting is an absolute breeze for you!
The guides on this page have been designed to take you from a total beginner to a well versed soccer punter. You're in for a treat!
We're here to ensure that you are well looked after from a soccer betting perspective. From odds and markets to features and promos. This fella down here said it best!
On this page we’re covering it all, so that you’re well equipped to take the next step in becoming a seasoned soccer bettor. We’ll share top tips, high value leagues, and even show you how to read the odds!
Best Soccer Betting Sites South Africa
|
Operator
|
Bonus
|
Features
|
Claim Now
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
100% Match
Up to R4000 |
|
|
|
|
125% Match
Up to R3750 + 25 Free Spins |
|
|
|
|
100% Match
Up to R1000 |
|
|
|
|
100% Match
Up to R3500 |
|
|
|
|
100% Match
Up to R3900 |
|
|
How to Place A Soccer Bet Online
The beauty in soccer betting is that it’s not rocket science. Placing a bet can be done within the click of a few buttons.
The trick however, comes with placing the right bets. This, you see, is a little more like rocket science. Sport is unpredictable, and predicting what will happen is exceptionally difficult.
That being said, it can be a helluva lot of fun!
This section here is dedicated to ensuring that you are equipped with each of the steps that you need to start placing bets on your favourite soccer fixtures.
Below provides a general guide into placing online bets for soccer. Each bookie may differ slightly, but this guide is mostly generic.
Online Soccer Betting Guide
We’ve paired the steps with screenshots from a typical soccer betting site, because most SA soccer bookies follow a similar layout and betting process.
We sure that you'll be placing bets in no time!
Read on to see how it’s done
Step By Step Guide for Soccer Betting in SA
Log in/ Sign Up with Your Chosen Betting Site
The first step in placing a soccer bet is to go ahead and either log into your existing betting account, or to sign up with a soccer betting site.
If you don’t have an account with one of SA's bookmakers, don't fret, the task of signing up with them is a walk in the park. All they require are a couple of details from you, as well as your consent.
The process can be completed within the click of a few buttons!
Pro Tips:
- ✅ Save your login details to ensure easy access.
- ✅ Read our soccer betting sites page to choose a bookie.
- ✅ If you’re unsure, compare licensed bookmakers before choosing one.
Select Soccer from the Sportsbook
The next step is to go ahead and select soccer from the list of sports offered by the sportsbook.
Usually betting sites have their lists of sports to the left of the screen on desktop, or in a clickable tab on mobile.
Either way, it’ll be easy to find. All it’ll take is clicking and scrolling.
Pro Tips:
- ✅ Soccer can usually be found from the bookie’s homepage.
- ✅ If you’re unsure, find the tab that says “sports”. You’ll find soccer there.
- ✅ You can use the search tab to find particular match ups.
Select the League/Country
Once you’ve selected soccer/football from the list of available sports on the betting site’s sportsbook, go ahead and select the league/s you’re interested in betting on.
This can change amongst betting sites. Some will require you to choose the country your league is in before choosing the league itself, while others will allow you to choose the league straight away.
Pro Tips:
- ✅ If you’re not sure of the league you want to bet on, Google it.
- ✅ Multi bets allow you to bet on more than one league with one stake.
- ✅ Don’t forget the value that can be found in lesser known leagues.
Find Your Event/s
Once you’ve chosen your league, all of the upcoming matches will appear on a page on the betting site.
This part of the process merely requires you to scroll through the available matchups, and find the one/s that you want to place a wager on.
The beauty of multi bets allows you to bet on more than one event at a time.
Pro Tips:
- ✅ This part can be aided by utilising the search field.
- ✅ Multi bets are a great way to maximise potential winnings.
- ✅ Some betting sites offer promotions for using their multi bet features.
Make Your Selection/s
Once you’ve found your event, it’s time to make your selection/s. You can do so by clicking the odds that can be found next to the specific outcome.
Remember the odds can determine your winnings, and should be central to your decision making. The better the odds, the better your winnings.
Making your selection, however, can be done with the click of a button.
Pro Tips:
- ✅ Making your selection must rely on choosing the odds.
- ✅ In this part of the process, use your head, not your heart.
- ✅ You can never over analyse a bet, so take your time.
Enter your Stake and Confirm your Bet
Once you’ve made your selection, you will wrap up this process. Next, you need to open up your betslip, and enter the amount you would like to wager on your selected outcome occurring.
Your stake, multiplied by the odds, equals your potential winnings.
Once that’s done, simply click on the confirm bet button, which officially places your bet. All that’s left is to wait and see if your bet comes off.
Pro Tips:
- ✅ Your bet slip can be thought of as your betting receipt.
- ✅ You’ll need to click on “Bet slip” when you’re on Mobile.
- ✅ If you’re on desktop, your bet slip will appear automatically.
The guide above should be enough to see you through, but just in case, we have compiled a list of common queries when it comes to getting started with soccer betting.
Tips For Starting Soccer Betting
👤 Info You Need to Provide for Signing Up?
It’s always good to be aware of some of the information you need to provide betting sites before you’re required to sign up.
All bookmakers require this information from you to ensure that they are conducting their business with real South Africans.
These are some of the details you need to provide them with:
- Your name and surname -(spelled correctly)
- ID number and Date of Birth - to verify you’re real
- Your Contact details - normally an email address and phone number
- Your Title - Mr/Mrs and the like
- Your Home address - important it’s accurate for FICA (which comes later)
- Your Income Source - usually, options include salary, government grant etc.
Among a few others. All of these details you’ll more than likely be able to provide off the top of your head.
🤔 Which Leagues to Choose as a Beginner?
We generally like to advise our new bettors to bet on the leagues they know the most about.
Betting on a league you know nothing about is a little like stumbling around in the dark.
So rather, start with the soccer leagues you know, and once you’ve found your feet, you can move onto researching, and eventually betting on some of those lesser known leagues.
🤷 How to Choose Between Outcomes?
The different outcomes (such as match winner or over/under), can be difficult to choose between if you’re new.
Generally, we say follow your instincts, but never forget that a little bit of research can go a long way.
Off the bat, if you were to see Arsenal vs. West Ham, you may see Arsenal given shorter odds for winning (which means the bookie will think they have the higher chance of winning). Historically, you may be inclined to bet on Arsenal.
But if you do some research, you may find that Arsenal are struggling, have a lot of injured players, and are really battling to keep any sort of home form.
West Ham on the other hand could be firing on all cylinders, full strength, and could have an away record that makes the likes of Arsenal shiver.
In this case, the smart bet may be to go for West Ham.
So the balance of instinctive feelings, and hard facts can help you choose which outcome to select.
💵 How Much Money Should I Enter as My Stake?
That is totally dependent on how much money you’re willing to spend.
In the beginning, especially when you’re learning, a R10 stake is enough, because in most cases it’s not the end of the world if you were to lose ten bucks.
Once you’ve become a little more calculated both with your bet making and risk taking, you can start increasing your stake a little.
Generally, the more sure you are, the more you can put down, but be careful. Never put down more money than you’re willing to part with.
❓ How Do I Know Once My Bet Has Been Placed?
Generally, once you’ve clicked on the confirm button, your bet will be placed.
If, however, you’re in an area with poor internet connection, and aren’t sure whether your bet was placed after you confirmed on your bet slip, you can give the tab labelled “Open Bets” a click to see if the bet has been placed.
Information about your bet will remain there until the bet is closed (the event has come and gone).
How to Read Soccer Betting Odds
Now that you have a bit of a better idea with regards to how to bet, you may be interested in learning more about how to read the odds that are attached to the outcomes of your favourite soccer match ups.
Reading the odds is simple enough, and we’re certain that you’ll grasp the concept in no time.
Odds are central to betting, they determine your potential winnings, and probability of outcomes.
Reading the odds may take some time to understand, but the more you bet, the more you’ll come to understand them, and before you know it, you’ll be reading odds like you read words.
Understanding odds, at its core, is based on understanding probabilities. The higher the probability (like Brazil beating Bafana), the shorter (or less) the odds are given to that particular outcome unfolding.
Brazil to Beat Bafana
For example, you might see Brazil being given odds like 1.1 to beat Bafana. That’s because it’s extremely likely.
So if you were to bet R10 on Brazil beating Bafana, and Brazil won, your return would be R11.00, meaning that you would have made R1.00 in profits.
You see, your potential winnings can be calculated by multiplying your stake (the money you put down) by the odds attached to the particular outcome you have selected.
The lesser the likelihood of a certain soccer event happening (Bafana beating Brazil), the higher the odds will be for that particular event.
Bafana to Beat Brazil
To continue the example, Bafana might be given odds of up to 12.00 to beat Brazil or more. This is because it is extremely unlikely for Bafana to pull this off.
Again, if you were to bet R10 on Bafana winning, and they somehow managed to beat the mighty Brazilians, your return would be R120.00, and you would have made a whopping R110 in profits.
There are hundreds of other things that odds providers take into account. The weather, home ground advantage, injured players, morale. The list is honestly endless.
The Best Soccer Betting Markets
The beauty of soccer betting is the fact that there are so many different things that can happen within 90 minutes.
Players can score goals, get sent off, take corners, and so on. And you guessed it, you have the opportunity to bet on some of these different happenings.
Soccer betting markets refer to the different outcomes within a particular event that you have the option to bet on.
The more markets you’re able to choose from, the better, because at the end of the day, there’s so much more that can happen within a soccer game than who wins at the end.
Most Popular Soccer Betting Markets
🎖️ Match Result
Match result is probably the most popular market within all of betting, soccer included.
When you bet on the match result, you are betting on who will win the event after 90 minutes.
It’s important to note that the score is taken after 90 minutes, and not extra time.
So if you’ve placed a bet on Man United to win, and the game stays goalless for 90 minutes, and they score in the 94th minute, you would lose your bet.
Aside from the 90 minute rule, this is probably the simplest betting market.
🔃 Overs/Unders
In this market, you are essentially placing a bet on the number of goals that will be scored in the game.
So for example, you may see some options saying over 2.5. If you were to bet on this option, you are betting that by the time the game reaches 90 minutes, there will have been more than 2.5 (so 3) goals scored in the game.
The goals don’t need to come from 1 team. If you kept this Over 2.5 option, and the game would end 2-1, you would win your bet.
The same concept can be applied to the “Unders” side of the market (you bet on “Under 2.5”, and if the game ends with less than 2.5 goals (no more than 2) you would win your bet).
⚽ First Goal
Quite simply, bet on the team that you believe will score first in the game.
Tip: This market is great to bet on if you have access to live streaming, or a television set that you can watch the event on.
🥅 Next Goal
Again fairly simple, bet on the team that you believe will score the next goal in the game.
Another market that really comes alive when you are betting live. Live streaming, and watching the game are great sources of data for this market.
📈 Handicap
A handicap is a slightly more complex market, but we are convinced that you’ll get an understanding of it if you were to bet more on it.
With Handicaps, you are essentially giving one team a head start over another. When you bet on the handicap market, you are betting that a team will score more than a certain number of goals.
So for example, if you were to bet on Man City in -0.5, you would only win your bet if they were to score more than 0.5 goals (so 1 or more). Technically, they’re starting with a minus goal
If they don’t, you would lose out on your bet.
So essentially, you are betting on a team to score more than a certain number of goals. If they do, you win, and if they don’t, you lose.
📊 Asian Handicap
Asian Handicap is one of the more complicated betting markets to get an understanding of. It’s not too common amongst betting sites in South Africa, and availability can differ from one bookmaker to another.
In Asian Handicap, the concept of handicap betting is taken a step further. This will all get quite theoretical, but we’ll do our best to explain it as best as possible.
With Asian Handicaps, goals are split into “quarters” (like with normal handicaps, you’ll see -0.5, with asian handicap you will see -0.25, or -0.0;-0.5 (these mean the same thing)), and therefore, the stake that you put down is split into two stakes.
So if you elect to bet on an Asian Handicap, and select “Man City - 0.0; - 0.5” (or -0.25), and they were to win by 1 goal, both those split stakes would win, and you would win your bet.
Understanding Live Soccer Betting
Live betting is hands down one of the best developments to online betting, with soccer probably being the sport that has benefitted the most from this new feature.
Live betting allows you to place bets after the game has begun, allowing you to use valuable data from the game itself to inform your betting strategy.
Soccer is by far our favourite sport to place live bets on!
Below you can find the best live betting features available in SA:
- 📺 Live Streaming - live footage of the game underway
- 🤑 Cashout - allowing you to close bets early
- 💯 Live Odds - fluctuate as the game progresses
- 📊 In game stats - giving you a good idea of what’s going
- 🏟️ Mini virtual Feeds - so you can keep an eye on the action
In order to help you understand live betting on soccer, we will paint a picture to show you just how much fun it can be. It’d be a good idea to get acquainted with the different features that can aid your live betting strategy.
The Popular Soccer Betting Leagues
Soccer is without doubt the most popular sport in the world. There’s no arguing the fact that the sport is the most followed and supported, both in South Africa, and across the planet.
What’s important to note however, is that there are certain leagues that feel almost universal, that are extremely popular to bet on - for a number of reasons.
Leagues like the Premier League, the Champions League, and World Cup draw a huge betting crowd from South Africa!
Below, we will discuss some of the most popular soccer betting leagues in the country, and some of the best promos and offers that are attached to them.
Premier League Betting
The world’s most followed and supported sport has it’s most followed and supported league. That league is the English Premier League.
You ask the vast majority of South Africans who they support when it comes to soccer, and they will very often reply with one of the Premier League’s top 6.
The Premier League is arguably the most competitive, and thus exciting league on the planet.
Naturally, when it comes to start of the Premier League, soccer betting sites release a host of new offers and promotions to boost your betting, and we advise you to make the most of these offers.
Champions League Betting
The Champions League is another competition that South Africans fondly place soccer bets on. Each year, the footballing world comes to a stand still as the biggest teams from across Europe battle it out in attempt to claim European football’s biggest prize.
Winning the champions league ensures footballing immortality, as the names of those who have lifted the coveted trophy are etched into the history books.
FIFA World Cup Betting
The FIFA World Cup is one of the more anticipated footballing events in the world.
Often referred to as the World Cup finals, there is a rigorous qualification process, that occasionally sees some of world football’s better teams not qualify.
With it only happening every four years, the online outlets that provide soccer betting tend to offer plenty in the promotions and special features department.
Aside from exceptional footballing action, the World Cup is always clearly marked on the keen soccer bettor’s calendar.
Expect all the very best promotional features from the sites that prioritise soccer betting, and a whole lot of action.
Europa League Betting
The Europa League is another one of the standout soccer betting tournaments in the world, and draws some of the more niched teams from across Europe’s top leagues.
What makes the competition that much more interesting is that the certain teams that fail to qualify for a round in the Champions League join up with the Europa League, making the competition that much stiffer.
While the Europa league is secondary to the Champions League, it's still immensely popular
Bets in the Europa League can be a little more straightforward, as the competition level shows a lot of variance. That being said, upsets certainly still do happen, especially on those cold nights in Eastern Europe.
Our Top Soccer Betting Tips
We felt that a page that covered soccer betting would be incomplete if we didn’t leave you with some of our top tips. We’ve come up with a list of things that we feel should be your main take aways from this page before you go off to do some soccer betting.
Our goal is to ensure that you have all you need to start betting successfully on soccer.
You can take a look at the tips that we feel to be the most important in the list below:
Our Top Tips for Soccer Betting
🚦 Start With Match Result Bets
If you’re new to betting on soccer games, we suggest that you start out with the classic match result bets.
These bets are by far the most common within all of online betting, and are great for getting to grips with understanding odds, making use of betting platforms, and all in all getting started.
It’s always good to start here, and build.
✖️ Use Multi Bets/Bet Builders
The reason we have added this to our list of top tips is because using multi bets or bet builders is a great way to turn your stake into absolutely massive winnings.
It’s easier said than done, because with every selection you add to the bet slip, the probability of you winning your bet reduces slightly.
That being said however, if you do win, you will win big.
💡 Diversify Your Bets, and Try Other Markets
Once you have a good hold over betting on the match result, you can look to start diversifying your bets, and you can start looking to bet on other markets.
Some really fun markets to bet on are first goal and next goal, overs/unders, and eventually, handicap betting too.
As you begin to feel more confident and comfortable, you will come to realise that these markets no longer feel intimidating, and more approachable.
📖 Always Do Your Research
Always always always do your research.
Research is the difference between a good bet and a bad bet. If you’re betting on the favourite just because they’ve got a bigger and better reputation without analysing the team’s forms, homeground advantage, injured players, and the like, you may find yourself losing your bet.
Make use of different sources of information. Some of the better resources that you can consult for statistics include: Soccerway (just google soccerway) and Total Corner (also just a term you can google).
👨🏫️ Bet on the Lesser Known Leagues
While the big leagues can be fun to bet on because of how well known they are, betting on some of the lesser known leagues can be excpetionally profitable.
The reason for this is that odds are determined by experts, and big betting operators are more inclined to send their very best experts to these games, and usually, they get the odds spot on.
On the lesser known leagues however, they are more inclined to make a few more errors, giving you the opportunity to take advantage and make some really great returns.
🎓 Become a Master of One League
Many make the mistake of betting on a variety of leagues, and simply go with who they think will win without doing enough analysis.
Proper winning analysis takes time, effort, and lot of dedication, making it exceptionally difficult to reach a level of mastery when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of different leagues.
So pick one. Pick one that’s lesser known with high potential value. Like the Australian A-League, or the Icelandic 4th division.
And That's a Wrap!
Now you're well equipped with all the tools to go off and try your hand at soccer betting.
Allthat's left for you to do is to go ahead and create a betting account, and get involved!
Trust us, if you're a soccer fan, you'll love betting on the sport!
