So you're ready to delve into the wide, and wonderful world of sports betting in South Africa. We don't blame you. South Africa is known for it's sporting prowess on the world stage.

Whether it's rugby, cricket, athletics or swimming, South Africans love to compete, which has given rise to a nation that is sporting mad.

With a love of sports comes a love of betting!

But betting can only be as fun as the betting site/s you have chosen to bet with.

• As a result, we have compiled a list of betting sites that each and every South African is bound to enjoy:

Betting Sites in South Africa

1. Betway - Our Favourite
2. Fafabet - Great range of soccer options
3. Gbets - SA's Biggest Sportsbook
4. Hollywoodbets - South Africa’s Favourite
5. Bet.co.za- Best Mobile Site in SA
6. World Sports Betting - SA’s free bet hub
7. Sportingbet - Best Live Betting Site
8. Supabets - Best Welcome Bonus in SA
9. Sunbet - Best betting site for promotions
   

Choosing bookmakers in South Africa can be tricky. The main reason for this is that there is so much to choose from out there, with each option offering something that appeals to every kind of punter.

Betting sites do their best to attract new users to their products

While some are better than others, they all have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. Like with anything, none of the SA betting sites is perfect. But some are simply better than others.

• These are just a few of the metrics we’ve used to select or top 3 SA betting sites:

Now that we’ve been well acquainted, and you are aware of the best betting sites in South Africa, you may have a couple questions. The main one being, how do you choose bookmakers, and how do you compare them?

We take a number of different factors into account when we decide between betting sites

But which factors you might ask? Plenty. And you’ll soon find out. What we do need to say however, is these factors are the ones that are important to us.

You may have other factors that make you choose certain bookmakers over others.

We also advise that if you’re new to South African betting sites, sign up with as many as possible, so you can get a good understanding of what’s actually available out there.

Below is a list of what we consider when choosing bookmakers.

Now that you know all of the factors we take into account when choosing and comparing bookmakers, you may have a better idea of how to choose one of your own.

Once you’ve chosen a betting site, the next step is to sign up with them!

Signing up with bookmakers in South Africa is a super simple process and involves providing a handful of details to betting sites. The process is free, and can be completed in as little as 2 minutes

The following details are what all betting sites require from you, so make sure to have them on hand if you don’t know some of these off by heart. We’ve listed the most important details:

Now that you know the details you need to sign up with betting sites, here’s the process that you need to follow in order to get the job done:

Steps to Sign Up with Betting Sites:

1. Click on one of the claim buttons from the list below
2. Click on "Sign up" on the betting site’s homepage
3. Fill in your personal details - make sure to get them all correct
4. Click on Confirm/Submit - it won't hurt to double check that all your info is accurate

Now that you’ve signed up, you’re most likely pretty eager to get your betting journey underway. The way you do that is by making a deposit. Depositing on betting sites is a pretty straightforward process considering you have a bank account, and access to online banking.

Betting sites work hard to accept as many deposit methods as possible.

Bookmakers want to cater to everyone, so you can often see some of the best betting sites offering more deposit methods than necessary, in order to ensure that all of their customer’s payment preferences are catered to.

The most important thing for you though, is that bet sites offer your favourite deposit method, or other convenient alternatives.

So you’ve chosen your betting site, signed up, and deposited. Great. The next step in the betting journey is to claim your welcome bonus from bet sites.

A welcome bonus is a betting site’s way of thank you for joining them

Claiming your welcome bonus in most cases is far easier than it sounds, because often, these bonuses just get credited to your account immediately by bookmakers.

In some other cases, you may have to make a deposit to receive your bonus, follow instructions, or send an email.

What this generally depends on is the betting site, and the type of bonus you are eligible for.

• Below are the different types of bonuses available in South Africa:

While both are appealing, you may want to consider bookmakers in South Africa that give the best of both worlds.

World Sports Betting and Supabets are two bet sites that don’t just offer one or the other type of bonus, but offer both!

1. Supabets - R50 Free Bet and 200% up to R1000
2. World Sports Betting - R50 Free Bet and 100% up to R10 000
3. Gbets - R25 Free Sign Up Sports Bet and 100% up to R1000

Now that you’ve chosen your betting site/s, signed up with them, made your first deposit and received your bonus from them, you will be ready to get into what you came here to do in the first place, to bet.

As a process, betting on betting sites is pretty straight forward

It may however be a little bit daunting if you’ve never completed the process before, and that’s understandable.

That’s why we’ve come up with a 5 step guide to show you exactly how to place your first bet with any of the bookmakers in South Africa:

Now that you have a good idea about how to bet, and how to complete all the processes prior to placing a bet, it's good to dive into some things aside from betting that are important to consider, the first being betting features.

To us, betting features are all the things aside from betting, that improve the betting experience

Everything from live streaming, betting games and live betting, to odds boosts and promotions; betting features make betting more fun. Bet sites really do offer it all.

Below are a list of betting features that the best betting sites cover

Betting games are an important inclusion in any betting site’s arsenal. If you’re unsure, betting games are the available games aside from sports betting that you can engage with on betting sites.

Betting games are a great way to take your mind off sports betting if you’re in a patch of bad luck

Each of the betting games offered by betting sites are legal, and are not considered to be online casino games (which are illegal in South Africa). This is due to the fact that users do not have any control over the outcomes of these events, and because they have fixed odds.

The list below will provide you with the betting games that are most popular across South African betting sites, as well as a brief introduction into how they work:

1. Live Games - Interactive casino games
2. Bet Games - Interactive Live dealer Games
3. Virtual Sports - simulated versions of the real thing
4. Lucky Numbers - Fixed odds lottery draws from around the world

The number of betting markets offered by South African betting sites is another factor that is incredibly important when it comes to choosing betting sites, especially when choosing specific betting sites for specific sports.

Betting markets refer to the number of different outcomes in an event you are able to wager on.

There is far more beyond the customary match result bets. Betting sites offer hundreds of different markets on particular sports, and as a general rule of thumb, the more markets the better.

If you’re looking for the best markets, click on the green claim button below 👇

Betting odds are another extremely important factor that should go into determining which of the many South African betting sites is the one for you. Betting odds directly impact the amount of money you stand to win, meaning they are of utmost importance.

The higher the odds, the higher your profits, simple as that!

While there is more to betting sites than their odds, it is a feature that is impossible to ignore.

Betting sites with the best odds tend to be more popular than betting sites with odds that aren’t as good. Plain and simple.

That’s what makes Bet.co.za such a power house.

Live betting is one of the jewels of the betting world, and is so big that we even have a live betting sites page on this website

Live betting is the ability to place bets on events that have already begun.

You can follow a game closely and place bets based on what is going on in the game.

Live Betting is one of the greatest advancements to online betting, and betting overall. It must be said however, that live betting is not for complete beginners. We recommend moving on to live betting once you've become comfortable with making pre match bets.

Once you feel it is time to make the jump, it's important to gain as many insights as possible to boost your live betting strategy.

• Take a look at some of the best sources of data and features that are provided by some of the best betting sites!

South Africa is a sport loving nation, there’s no doubt about that. As a result, there are plenty of sports that South African punters like to have wager on.

In this section, we’ll briefly explain the sports that are most popular and why

Soccer is well loved by South Africans, and it is proudly supported by many in our nation. Whether it's the premier league, the PSL or La Liga, South African love to have a punt on some football.

South Africans love Soccer!

This is what makes soccer betting sites like Betway so popular.

There is a huge demand for soccer betting in SA, and betting sites that offer the sport well are amongst the most popular

South African horse racing is steeped in rich history that dates back to before the country’s birth as a republic.

These days, South Africa plays host to some of the most popular horse racing meets around the world, with a loyal community of punters following all of the action.

Horse racing has been the most popular sport to bet on for decades!

Horse racing betting sites still have a heavy stake in the South African betting industry, and the activity of horse betting still accounts for more revenue than all other sports combined.

South Africa is known for a handful of things, and one of those things is rugby. The Springboks have dominated the world stage for decades, always being in the mix with the top three or top four teams in the world.

South Africans are rugby mad! The sport has played a massive role in unifying our nation

No one can forget the fact that we’ve won the world cup 3 times, and the legacy of each of these Springboks teams will live on forever.

Rugby betting sites remain some of the most popular in the country.

Last but not least, Cricket is another one of the most popular sports to bet on in the country.

The proteas have supplied a highlight reel of the ages that has made many a South African chest burst with pride.

Nothing accompanies that special summer feeling more than watching a game of cricket.

Whether it's the Mzansi Super Smash, IPL, or International Test Day Cricket, Cricket betting sites offer it all, and are loved by all those who love betting on the sport.

User experience on betting sites is arguably the most subjective factor that comes into play when choosing betting sites. What may look and feel good to me may not look and feel good to you.

That’s why we encourage signing up with a bunch of betting sites

This way you can really test them out and get the hang of using them, and to judge for yourself whether or not they are worth using further.

When assessing a betting site’s user experience, think about how you’re feeling when you’re interacting with the interface.

Do I feel normal? Annoyed? Happy? These all play roles in User Experience

Mobile experience, similar to user experience, is a very subjective factor. It won’t matter how much analysis and work we put into comparing different mobile betting sites, you won’t care if you’ve already found a mobile betting site that works for you.

Our favourite Mobile Betting Site is Betway, but yours may very well be different

The reason we go with Betway is because they offer an amazing mobile website, along with a fantastic app, and a data free version, that keep you going when you’re out of data.

If you’re interested in learning more about mobile betting sites, click on the button below

One of the most important steps that you can take in your betting journey is to FICA your account with betting sites. Without doing so, you will be unable to withdraw your winnings and will essentially only have limited account access.

FICA is South African betting sites’ answer to account verification.

By law, betting sites are required to know who they are doing their business with in accordance with requirements set out by the FIC (Financial Intelligence Centre), making it an even more important process to follow through with.

The process involves uploading or sending ID and Proof of residence documents to betting sites.

While it may seem to be a bit of a hassle, the process can be completed relatively easily on each betting site, and some even give a number of ways to complete the process.

The final step in this amazing adventure into all things bettings sites is withdrawing with them. The process is fairly simple given that you have had your FICA documents approved, and have winnings to withdraw.

Withdrawing requires clicking a few buttons, and following a couple of instructions.

Its far easier to withdraw on some South African betting sites over others, but rest assured, the betting sites that have been listed through this page all have withdrawal processes that are easy to follow, and have pay out speeds that are fair.

Now that you know all there is to know about South African betting sites, all you need to do is go ahead and sign up with each of the betting sites from this list, give them all a try, and see for yourself which is the best for you!