(SPONSOR) THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A BETTING WEBSITE

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The concept of betting is something familiar to several persons regardless of whether they are new or old players. Unlike the earlier days, the number of betting sites that exist are too many to count. It poses a huge discomfort for interested users to avoid playing on the wrong sites or sites unworthy of time and investment.

This material was prepared by our team (OnlineBettingSA). Read more about how to choose a bookmaker on our website!

Published with permission from beahappymillionaire.com

However, knowing the right site to pick is pretty easy when one knows what to be on the lookout for. Read on and find out the things your online betting platform should have:

Reputation

You don’t need to sign up to know the reputation of any betting platform. You will always find reviews and opinions of their customers on the internet. Although the reviews cannot be all good, you will get a good sense of the general opinion of the masses.

If the negative remarks and reviews surpass the positive ones, you should avoid such platforms. You should also endeavor to check for licenses, previous sanctions, if any; such information will help you to know if the website is reputable.

It is important to note that before you join an online bookie, you check the legality of that betting site. They have to have a license from one of the provincial licensing boards otherwise they will be classed as an illegal betting site.

When you complete your registration at any legal betting site you will be required to submit your FICA documents for verification before you can withdraw any winnings. We can taken the time and researched all the South African bookies and found the 7 best bookies for you.

All these bookies are fully licensed and have a great reputation for fairness and honesty. You can read the full reviews on each of the bookies on this site.

If you have a complaint about a bet you must engage the bookmaker concerned. If the dispute could not be resolved you are entitled to formally lodge a dispute with the regulatory authority which is the Provincial Gambling Board in the Province where the bet was placed.

All bets placed with a bookmaker are subject to regulatory oversight by the Provincial Gambling Boards of which there are nine. Each Provincial Gambling Board legislates a set of Bookmaker Rules which serve as the minimum set of rules applicable to betting transactions. Each bookie is entitled to further determine additional rules, betting limits and general terms and conditions applicable to supplement the minimum rules. The additional rules must not be in conflict with the minimum rules.

These are the Provincial Gambling Boards that will investigate and adjudicate the dispute:

Available Bonuses

When looking for top betting sites, you have to pay close attention to the types of bonuses available to both old and existing users. With the advent of many casinos, casino operators put in new bonus offers for users who play on the site. It is a means to ensure continued loyalty on the user’s part to the casino.

However, users must understand that certain casino sites hide vital information necessary for you to cash out. You can always find this information in the terms and conditions of such offers. It could be in wager requirements or a time frame attached to forfeiting the whole bonus.

It makes it imperative for persons to read the terms and conditions for each bonus before accepting them.

This competition has been great for players as they have a wide selection of the best sports betting apps and offers. But with so many leading online sports betting companies offering similar odds and markets, it can be difficult to choose where to bet. One of the deciding factors is often the available promotions and these are some of the different types of sports betting bonuses available to players.

The Welcome bonus

Perhaps the most common sports betting bonus available to players today is the Welcome bonus followed by the risk free bet. 

The Welcome bonus promotion is only available to new customers and is usually in the form of a percentage based on the first deposit.

For example, you may receive a 100% bonus up to the value of R1000 on your first deposit at the online bookie.

Risk Free Bet

Some online sports betting websites will even give your money back as a free bet, should your first bet lose. 

This risk-free bet is the second most popular bonus available to players in South Africa, and some online sportsbooks offer risk-free bets as high as R500, with one bookie offering 2 risk free bets up to R1000.

Free Bets

Free bets is slightly different to a risk-free bet as it doesn’t require any wagering requirements, you just get a betting bonus to use as you want.

The free bet bonus is relatively low compared to bookies offering risk-free bets.

Birthday Bonus

Many bookies offer a deposit match on your birthday while others give you a free bet but these free bets are generally R50 with the highest birthday free bet being R100. 

These are not the only bonuses offered by local bookies and if you read our reviews then you can find how each bookies rates on our list of bookies with the best bonuses.

Multiplatform Availability

Gone are the days when online sports betting South Africa were limited to only web pages; now we have mobile and desktop applications.

Multiplatform availability comes in handy; you don’t have to stay glued to your computer screen all day long.

With your mobile phone, you can always play from anywhere and any time as long as you have internet access.

Before you sign up, check if they have a downloadable betting app with good features.If not, you should also access their website on a mobile device and make sure it has proper mobile optimization.

Customer Service

One major turn-off to many bettors is poor customer service. Customer support is the best option whenever you face issues on the betting site.

When you have slow, unhelpful or no response at all, it is a big red flag for such a platform.

You need to be sure that they are available when you need them.

Modern betting sites South Africa now have live chat which is much faster than email or phone contact.

You should prioritise live chat over the others if you want speed.

Sports Betting Markets

Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport to bet on in South Africa and naturally you would want to know if there is a particular bookie that has the best odds and promotions on football.

We will briefly compare two of the most popular bookies and their football offerings to punters.

Let’s take a look at how World Sports Betting and Sunbet go head to head in terms of football betting.

Both bookies have extensive betting markets available with football leagues from around the world extensively covered. They both also have an Odds Booster on all football multiple bets but WSB offers the better promotions on football especially when there are major tournaments coming up.

Before and during these events WSB always offers a bonus on all deposits while Sunbet very seldom have promotions for a specific football event.

Sunbet has a Match Tracker Feature for all live football matches while WSB goes one better and has a Live Streaming feature for selected football matches.

After careful consideration we will have to say that WSB is the best local bookie for football.

We have completed the comparison of two bookies for the most popular sport now we will compare to betting sites and their coverage of a less popular sport like basketball.

Playabets and Gbets both cover basketball extensively but there is a clear winner when you compare these sites. Gbets has all the major European and American basketball leagues covered and so does Playabets.

One of the major differences though is that Playabets have the widest range of betting markets on a single basketball game while Gbets have limited markets available.

Another area that Playabets outshines Gbets is with their superb odds and this is what punters consider the most important factor when choosing a bookie.

Playabets offer extensive handicap betting on all basketball matches while Gbets does not offer this. We can confidently say that if you want to bet on basketball then Playabets is the bookie for you.

Payments

Once you sign up with a bookie and you are ready to make your first deposit, the attention now turns to which method of payment you want to use to fund your account.

There are a multitude of payment options available to players. This method that you use is very important as some of them are not instant and you may have to wait as long as 24 hours before the funds reflect in your betting account.

One of the most popular ways to fund your account these days is the OZOW method as the funds instantly reflect in your betting balance.

The Voucher method is also hugely popular as it is instant and you don’t need a bank account to use this method as vouchers can be purchased at any retail store.

Withdrawals

There is nothing more frustrating for a punter than winning but not being able to have your cash straight away.

In recent times bookies have many options to withdraw your funds. Some bookies have retail shops all over the country where you can collect your winnings immediately up to R10 000.

They also do bank transfers into your account but the most impressive feature is the Instant cash or E-wallet as your funds become available within hours.

You have to have your FICA documents (ID and Proof of Residence) verified before you make your first withdrawal.