Best Sports Betting Sites in South Africa

Welcome to BettingTop10! We independently review every one of the top online South African Betting Sites and publish detailed guides on placing bets across a wide variety of sports and markets..

Who we are?

Our team is made up of seasoned gambling experts who have searched the whole country for the best online betting sites in South Africa. Since we launched in February 2018, our mission has been to show punters why picking the right bookie matters. We bring you the best betting sites and examine every side of each bookie, the strong points and, at times, the weak ones too. We know you want to bet, and we want you to enjoy the thrill of sports betting without wasting hours hunting for the right sport betting sites. Our respected experts have checked out the betting sites and done that legwork, so all you need to do is enjoy your betting and rely on us to cover everything you need.

What will you find on BettingTop10?

BettingTop10 takes the hassle out of picking a betting site by searching for and reviewing the best online betting sites in South Africa. Our in-depth reviews of betting sites cover every part of an online bookie, from the welcome bonus right through to the mobile apps. We also score how well they cover every sport, from favourites like soccer and Rugby to some of the smaller sports.

Our reviews are fair and truthful because they are written by sports betting experts who bet themselves. Drawing on years of gambling know-how, they can spot the best betting sites on the South African online gambling market. We know what draws punters to a betting site and, just as importantly, what frustrates them when they bet. Because the punter's interests come first for us, we never hold back from telling readers where a betting site falls short.

Which bonuses do the various betting sites offer?

Punters always want the betting sites with the most rewarding bonuses. We have searched online for the best sites in South Africa and the bonuses each one offers.

Playabets Review

This betting site gives you a 1st deposit match of up to R1000. Their rewards programme also pays you 5% back on losing bets

Betway Review

Their excellent Daily Jackpot gives you the chance to take home up to R10,000 daily. Call the results of selected matches correctly and you could win

Hollywoodbets Review

Punters get a R25 no deposit welcome bonus, so as soon as you sign up you have R25 to start betting with

Gbets Review

You get a bet boost of up to 30 % on all of your bets

Supabets Review

Supabets makes your welcome extra special, with a first deposit match of up to R1000 and a R25 no deposit bonus when you register

Sportingbet Review

This bookie offers a strong 1st deposit match of up to R2000. It also boasts market leading tools such as Edit My Bet and Bet Builder

Which betting sites offer rewards and Loyalty Programs?

For a betting site to rate as great, we check that it runs strong promotions and bonuses that benefit the punter. Playa bets offers excellent rewards every time you bet, whether or not your bet wins. Playa bets pays back up to 7% of all losing bets on the Tuesday of the next week.
Bet Boost: Playa bets and Gbets use this fresh incentive to get punters placing multibets. The more legs you add, the bigger the boost on your potential winnings,
Welcome Bonus: Sportingbet has one of the strongest welcome bonuses among online betting sites in South Africa, with a first deposit match of up to R2000.

How do you claim a free bet bonus at betting sites?

At most of the best betting sites, claiming your free bet bonus works in much the same way. Once you have made your first deposit, you get in touch with the site by phone or email and the bonus lands in your account almost straight away. Certain sites only let you bet with your bonus on specific bets, while others let you use it on any type of bet. Terms and conditions apply.

How well do betting sites cover soccer, rugby, horseracing and cricket?

Soccer is without question the most popular sport in South Africa, and local betting sites offer a wide choice of markets on every match, with the best odds found at Betway and Playa bets. With Bet Boost you could get up to 30% more than your expected winnings. The best betting sites in South Africa have gone out of their way to meet local punters' needs by offering a deep range of markets on the biggest sports such as soccer, rugby, cricket and horseracing. Hollywoodbets is the leading betting site for horseracing because it knows the local racing scene inside out, having begun with horseracing outlets in the 1990s. It leads in this area.
Gbets may be the youngest of these betting sites, but it understands that South Africa is crazy about rugby and offers excellent coverage and bonuses for oval ball fans. It has the one leg feature in rugby and runs strong promotions on every Springbok game.

Are betting sites in South Africa secure and legal?

Before we recommend any betting site to readers, we first check that it is legal and secure. Security is vital because the site will hold your personal details. We look closely at the security systems each site uses to stop breaches. Every betting site we review uses firewalls and encryption software to protect your information.

Plenty of betting sites in South Africa have subsidiaries or began life overseas, so we carry out all the necessary background checks to confirm they hold a licence and, above all, whether that licence comes from one of our provincial gambling boards.

In South Africa, betting online on sports and horse racing is legal when you use a bookmaker licensed by a provincial gambling board. Online casino games are not legal in South Africa, so stay with licensed sports and racing betting.

Which betting sites are best for particular sports?

Our best betting sites offer the sharpest odds and the broadest range of markets. Playa bets covers a remarkable number of soccer matches each day, with up to 1300 matches on offer. Every major soccer league across the world is included. Top European competitions such as the English Premier and Champion league get in-depth coverage. The Europa League also gets plenty of attention simply because of how many matches are played on matchdays. Supabets has the best betting odds on rugby matches and broad coverage of the major sports leagues worldwide. They offer rugby betting on every Northern and Southern hemisphere league and competition.

How do you get help from customer service at Betting Sites?

We understand that nothing annoys a punter more than running into a problem with a betting site and being unable to reach customer support in good time. Punters bet around the clock, 24 hour, on markets all over the world, so customer support needs to be just as responsive and available whenever it is needed. Hollywoodbets understands that help is needed at all hours, which is why it offers customer support 24 hours a day across several channels including phone, live chat and social media. After you finish registering, all that is left is to fund your account. Not long ago betting sites offered only a handful of ways to load your account, but today there are loads of deposit options. The best online betting sites in South Africa recognise the need for different ways to put money into your betting account. You get all the standard options such as direct deposits, electronic funds transfer and credit card payments. A few of these can take up to 24 hours to reflect in your account at the betting sites. Our top rated betting sites also offer alternatives like vouchers for punters who have no bank account or would rather not use it. Vouchers credit your account instantly, start from as little as R10 and are sold at every retailer and even at spaza shops. With a banking app you can also use newer instant payment methods such as OZOW and UPAY. When punters win, they want the cash in their hands, and some betting sites really deliver on this. Gbets offers the quickest payouts of any online betting site in South Africa, guaranteeing payment within 60 mins. When we tested their Instant Money Withdrawal, the money arrived in 28 minutes.

Betting made easy with Mobile Apps in South Africa

Most punters now bet on their phones simply because it is convenient, and the mobile apps offered by betting sites have improved enormously lately. The best online betting sites even provide a data free version of their mobile app, although it comes with fewer betting options. Most mobile apps mirror the main website, which makes betting sites far easier to find your way around. The Supabets app ranks among the best betting apps. They have done a superb job, as the app runs faster than the main site yet still includes every feature of the website. What really impresses is the speed of the interface, which makes betting on live games and live sports matches a real joy. We know how pricey data is, and Supabets kept that in mind by building a Data free version, though Live betting isn't available on it.

Each betting site we reviewed has its own special features that set it apart from rivals, which is great for punters, because we have explained which features we think matter most and, hopefully, best match your betting needs.

Build A Bet at betting sites: Soccer punters love this feature because it lets you combine several bets on one match. For example, you could back the match winner and also pick the first goal scorer. Certain betting sites let you add up to 10 selections on a single match. Betway and Sportingbet are the betting sites that offer it.

Fantasy sports betting: Fantasy sports betting has exploded in popularity. Rather than simply betting on a match result, you pick a fantasy team and take on other players who have built their own fantasy teams. You earn points when the players in your fantasy team do well in their real matches.

Edit My Bet: This is the latest feature betting sites have added, and it lets you swap a selection partway through, but few betting sites offer it. Among online betting sites in South Africa, we have only found it at Sportingbet.

Cash Out Feature: Cash out used to be a novelty, but these days most leading betting sites have it. It lets you Cash out your multi bet before every match has been played. It comes in handy when you sense your remaining selections might not come in.

Esports betting: This is another type of betting that has boomed lately and become a big hit with betting site customers. You can watch players from all over the world on live streams, which adds to the excitement and naturally makes betting more fun. Every leading online betting site in South Africa offers a wide range of Esports markets.

How do I join a betting site: Signing up at betting sites has become much easier. At most betting sites, registration takes under two minutes. Go to the betting site you want and hit the register button, usually in the top right corner of the home page. All you need are basic details such as your ID number, Mobile number and email address. Your FICA documents must be verified before you can withdraw any winnings.

How to deposit and claim your welcome bonus at betting sites: We have already covered the many ways to fund your betting account, from bank transfers to instant vouchers. Claiming your deposit bonus works differently from site to site: some betting sites add the bonus to your account automatically, while others need you to phone them before it is switched on.

How to place your first bet online: Once you have registered and deposited, this is the moment everyone looks forward to. The steps are much the same at most betting sites. Sign in to your account and pick the sport or league you want to bet on, which you will usually find on the left side of the home page. Next, make your picks, and they will appear on your bet slip, either on the right side of the page or at the bottom of the screen. When you are satisfied with your selections, hit the bet now button. That's it, you have placed your first bet at your new betting site.

South African punters are drawn to the biggest sports such as soccer, rugby, horseracing and cricket. These sports are played and followed all over the country, and below we look more closely at the best betting sites for each of them.

Soccer

The English Premier League and our very own Premier Soccer League are the leagues South African punters bet on most. Every betting site covers them in depth, but Playa bets and Betway stand head and shoulders above other soccer betting sites for markets. They also offer the sharpest soccer betting odds.

Horse Racing

Sports betting only really took off in South Africa over the past decade; before then, horseracing was the only sport punters could bet on. As a result, a huge number of punters still love a bet on the horses. Some betting sites have decided not to offer horseracing and others cover it only lightly, but Hollywood bets is clearly the leader among online betting sites when it comes to horseracing. The brand got its start in the gambling market in the 1990s, focusing purely on horseracing.

Rugby

Home to the World Champion Springboks, South Africa has an enormous rugby following, which makes the rugby betting market massive. Gbets is the bookie that impresses us most with its creative rugby betting offers. They always run great promotions ahead of big matches. They have promotional betting on every Springbok game. They even pay bonuses if your team loses by less than five points

Cricket

South Africa has always turned out world class cricketers, which guarantees a big following for both domestic and international cricket. Punters back the game by betting on its many competitions, and the arrival of T20 has made cricket betting hugely popular.

English Premier League

There is no question that the EPL is the most popular sports league on the planet. It boasts the best players in the world and hugely supported clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester United. South Africans adore the EPL, and betting sites saw the need to cover every single match in depth. A single game can carry hundreds of different betting markets.

Premier Soccer League

Next in popularity for betting is our local PSL. It is the top division of South African soccer and includes Soweto heavyweights Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. Those two clubs ruled the game in the country for decades, but the past decade has been owned by new champions Sundowns. That shift has made local soccer betting more thrilling and less predictable, and has delivered great payouts for punters.

Champions League

Europe’s top club competition brings together the best sides from the various European Leagues, which makes it a huge favourite with soccer punters. It puts the greatest players, such as Ronaldo, Messi and Salah, on one stage, something no other soccer league can match. Betting sites offer every market you can think of in a match, from who will score first to whether a team will hit the post.

Europa League

This league features 32 teams yet is a punter’s dream, because every team plays on the same matchday, so the matches and markets to bet on are endless. Clubs don't always pick their strongest line-ups, which leads to plenty of upsets in this competition.

The BettingTop10 expert team loves keeping up with top sports action across the globe. Keep reading to learn more about the most popular leagues, events and competitions.

Africa Cup of Nations

Organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is an international football championship played every two years.

Egypt is due to host the 2019 edition after Cameroon lost the hosting rights, and it will be the first tournament with 24 teams.

In contrast to earlier editions that overlapped with the major European leagues, the 2019 tournament takes place in the summer instead of early in the year.

In total, 51 teams entered the Africa Cup of Nations, and a preliminary round plus group stage cut the field down to 24.

At the finals, the qualified teams are drawn into six groups of four, with the top two from each group and the four best third-placed teams going through to the round of 16.

From there it is straight knockout all the way to the final, and the best bookmakers in South Africa will offer thousands of markets throughout the month-long event.

Premier League

In South African sports betting circles, the Premier League ranks among the most popular domestic soccer competitions.

Betting operators put a lot of focus on the league, with hundreds of markets on every game across the season, such as first goalscorer, correct score and half-time/full-time bets.

There are 20 teams in the Premier League, and each one plays every other side home and away over a 38-game season.

Big names such as Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal usually fight it out near the top, and the team with the most points is crowned champion.

The top four sides at the end of the season earn a place in the next Champions League, while fifth place goes into the Europa League. The bottom three drop down to the Championship.

Champions League

First launched in 1955 as the European Cup, the Champions League has grown into a massive money-maker for elite clubs.

Qualifying rounds get the tournament going in July, and eventually 32 teams make it into the group stage, which kicks off in September.

Sides such as Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and Man United have a proud Champions League history and are always favourites with punters.

The best bookmakers in South Africa offer loads of sports betting options throughout the tournament, with markets on every match from qualifying all the way to the final.

Whether you like betting on results, goals markets or outrights, the Champions League is a brilliant way to enjoy soccer betting.

Europa League

Sitting behind the Champions League as UEFA’s second club competition, the Europa League has become steadily more popular over recent seasons.

It kicks off with qualifying rounds in July, and the teams that qualify join the seeded sides in the group stage.

The group stage has 48 teams in 12 groups, and the top two from each go through to the next round. In the round of 32 they are joined by the eight sides that finish third in their Champions League groups.

After that it is a straight knockout, until two teams reach a one-off final staged in May.

Betting ante-post on the Europa League can be tough, mainly because extra teams drop in from the Champions League once the tournament is already running.

Super Bowl

Played every year, the Super Bowl is the National Football League’s showcase game that crowns the competition's champion.

The NFL regular season runs for 17 weeks, after which three play-off rounds decide the divisional champions in the AFC and NFC. Those two teams then meet in the Super Bowl on the first Sunday of February.

The Super Bowl winner lifts the Lombardi trophy, named after Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, who guided the Green Bay Packers to wins in the first two Super Bowls.

The game pulls in a massive TV audience, and Super Bowl 2019 between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams drew more than 100 million viewers around the world.

The Patriots rank among the most successful Super Bowl teams and are often near the top of the outright betting market.

Historically, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboy and San Francisco 49ers have also been big favourites with punters.

You need to have your FICA documents verified before you can withdraw any money from your account. Most betting sites make this easy, but Gbets pays out the fastest.

Here is the easy process to follow:

What is FICA?

FICA is short for the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. Betting sites need FICA to make sure no illegal or fraudulent activity, such as money laundering, is going on. FICA verification can take anywhere from an hour to 24 hours. Playabets verifies FICA documents within an hour of you sending them. For FICA registration you need a copy of your Identity Document and a Proof of Residence, which must be no more than 3 months old.

FICA requirements for SA betting sites

Because the South African government has gazetted the FICA ACT, every betting site in the country has to FICA both new and existing players. Be careful if a betting site never asks for FICA documents, as it may be unlicensed and operating illegally.

Live betting is hugely popular, letting players bet after the action has started. Most South African bookmakers offer live betting across many sports, with soccer, American football, golf and cricket among the favourites.

It is perfect if you missed the start of an event or want to bet while watching the game play out on TV or at the stadium. Plenty of markets are available, with odds that keep moving the whole way through.

Certain online betting sites also offer live streaming, so customers with a bet on can follow their pick by watching the action on the sportsbook’s desktop or mobile site. Usually only a limited number of leagues and competitions allow pictures to be shown this way, but many top Soccer leagues, ATP/WTA tennis tournaments and NBA Basketball games are streamed regularly.

Gambling should be an enjoyable pastime you do for entertainment, never a money machine you expect to make you rich. Like alcohol and drugs, gambling can turn into an obsession that ends in addiction.

Here are a few easy tips to help you avoid addiction:

Remember! Gambling is Entertainment

Never treat gambling as a way to pay your bills or fund your holidays. The key thing to keep in mind is that you play for fun and entertainment, and any win is simply a bonus.

Set a Money Limit

Keeping track of your money in the heat of the moment can be tough. That is why you should set a gambling budget that still leaves enough for your everyday expenses, and stick to it. Once that money is gone, it is time to call it a day.

Don’t Chase Losses

In our view, this is the most important rule. Some days you win and some days you lose. Before you start, set aside an amount you would be comfortable losing. If that money is gone, don't dip into more cash to try to win it back. Accept that losses will happen; losing within your budget is fine, but once you start chasing losses, it becomes a problem.

Don’t Play with Money You Borrowed

Only gamble with spare cash or money set aside for entertainment. Never borrow from friends or family to gamble. If you find yourself taking loans on your credit card, treat it as an immediate warning that your gambling is getting out of hand.

Sports betting in the country has never been more popular than it is today, and punters make up a massive market. A flood of overseas and local betting sites has entered the local market. Punters are spoilt for choice and picking an online bookie has become hard. We have put in the time and used betting experts to do the research for you, so all you have to do is choose one of the best betting sites we reviewed and start enjoying your gambling journey.