Best online betting sites: guide to the top bookmakers 2023

The work involved in compiling the rankings takes a long time, as it includes in-depth review of all the South African betting sites. We are talking about a large number of operators, each of which analyzed in depth.

The rankings of sports betting sites

Below we have decided to summarize all the rankings with the best betting sites that we regularly compile into a single graphical element. The aim is to help our readers in choosing the ideal bookmaker according to their personal needs.

The evaluations contained in the above element are the result of analyzing every betting site for each category we deemed important. In the following paragraphs, we will explain in detail the criteria used in our research to determine the best betting sites in South Africa.

How to evaluate safe betting sites in South Africa

The criteria we used to find the best NRGB betting site available on the web were divided into ten categories in order to make the comparison between bookmakers as accurate as possible. The most important points, considering that those who play sports want a wide choice and potential economic return, are undoubtedly the offer proposed by the betting sites and the level of odds. However, this does not mean that they are the only factors and that a betting site that pays well and offers many betting alternatives is necessarily Сomeon than another.

Above all, those approaching the world of online betting should give weight to the proposed bonuses. Other factors not to be overlooked when it comes to sports betting sites are the quality of live and live streaming offers, the gaming platform, the functioning of the customer service, reliability and ease of use of mobile apps, the number of deposit methods and the security guaranteed by the site.

The variety of the betting offer of the NRGB bookmakers

Both novice and experienced bettors want to have a large number of sports events, leagues, and markets available to invest their money in. In fact, greater choice is directly proportional to the possibility of finding the right bet for your style. In the table below, we have listed the number of sports, national, European, and international football leagues, and pre-match markets available on the reviewed betting sites. We have also highlighted the types of available extra sports bets.

The table shows the reference bookmakers in this field, the different sports disciplines, and the variety of football competitions available to members. We find top NRGB betting sites for football and other sports markets. Operators all perform rather well with Bettabets, and intertops is slightly ahead of the others. While classic sports such as basketball betting or bets proposed by tennis betting sites are not lacking, it is pleasant to note that none of the examined bookmakers have neglected the inclusion of extra-sport bets in their range, as well as major events such as Olympic bets.

The odds on South African betting sites

One of the crucial points when it comes to reviewing a bookmaker is represented by the offered odds, that is, the potential earnings that the bettor can aspire to in case of winning. Betting sites, as we will see later in detail, do not redistribute all the money coming from the bets on an event, but retain a percentage that represents their profit. In the table below you can find a summary of the minimum and maximum payouts applied on the various sports by the reviewed bookmakers. The closer the percentage is to 100% the greater the economic return guaranteed to players.

All the best betting sites offer different odds depending on the league and popularity of the match. Operators have a team of experts who calculate mathematically, taking into account variables such as injuries, disqualifications, form conditions, historical results, home and away trends, and so on, the probability that a result will occur in the form of odds. The most popular leagues take priority, as well as a sport like Formula 1 in the case of motorsports betting sites or prestigious tournaments like the Six Nations in rugby betting sites: payouts for less-followed leagues are generally lower because bookmakers, aware that they cannot devote much time to them, want to protect themselves from potential errors in calculating the betting odds.

So, those above are the payouts of the most popular leagues among South African bettors. However, if you are not interested in a specific championship or sport, you can find below the betting sites with the best average payouts for 2023.

The live proposal

Today it is not possible for an online betting site to avoid offering its customers real-time betting events. Live bets are involving more and more fans and for this reason a bookmaker equipped with a good selection of daily matches. A significant number of real-time markets, good odds and a clear gaming platform with updated statistics for each match, including those proposed by golf betting sites or handball betting sites, can find more followers than those who instead neglect certain details.

In addition, importance is given to live betting sites that stream many events live (such as horse racing on horse betting sites but also matches offered by badminton betting sites) to be able to follow the evolution of the challenges moment by moment.

The quality of the bookmakers' mobile applications

If a few decades ago it would have been unthinkable to place bets from home using your personal computer, even less predictable would have been the ability to do so using a portable phone. Reality tells us that today, those who want to compete to be judged as the best betting site are required to offer their users the possibility of enjoying a mobile platform worthy of the best betting apps.

Some online betting sites have decided to develop applications that can be used on all the most popular operating systems, while others have left out some. It is worth noting that this choice has influenced our evaluation, but we have also taken into account the ease of use, speed, reliability, and graphics of the apps, as well as the consistency of the schedules between the two versions: if I can place American football bets from my desktop, I should be able to do so from a mobile device as well.

Bonuses offered by betting sites

A strong incentive for choosing the best betting site is the welcome bonus. It can be offered in various forms and amounts, and is subject to terms and conditions, as explained in the section of this portal dedicated to betting bonuses. Taking into account the criteria just listed, we report below what we consider to be the best welcome promotion currently available.

Below, instead, we have summarized in some points what needs to be evaluated in the welcome offers of the best betting sites.

• The necessary playing requirements
• The minimum deposit and compatible payment systems for the bonus
• The time available to request the bonus
• The validity of the bonus
• The amount of qualifying bets required
• The presence of markets or sports for which the bonus is not valid
• The minimum odds on which the offer is required to be invested
• The valid minimum and maximum betting limits

The most common way of offering welcome bonuses on sports betting websites is the bonus on the first deposit, followed by the bonus on the first bet and cashback bonuses. The first type consists of a fixed or percentage gift amount on the deposited sum after registration. The second follows the same principle, but the percentage is based on the amount of the bet placed immediately after opening the account. Cashback consists of a refund on lost sports bets, net losses (the difference between money won and invested) or total expenses. With all the different types of online betting bonuses and promotions, it can be difficult to navigate.

The best advice is to consider which bonus best fits our style of play: let's not be attracted only by significant figures, for example, but always consider the required playthrough requirements. Anyway, there are some “revealing factors” that allow us to quickly establish which are the best South African betting sites based on bonuses:

Keeping in mind these few relevant factors, especially the offer restrictions and the qualifying deposit, you can easily and quickly determine if a welcome bonus is of high standards. However, we clarify that these are not the only requirements to pay attention to. We emphasize that it is very important to carefully read terms and conditions of various promotions, even when you are on the platforms of the best online betting sites.

Best online betting sites and payment methods

The way in which money is transferred to and from online betting sites is not to be taken lightly when it comes to online betting. Safe, fast transactions with minimum and maximum deposit and withdrawal limits that are not too restrictive are the goals to strive for. A betting site that offers different payment methods in addition to the classic credit cards demonstrates attention to its customers and openness to new forms of online payment that guarantee greater peace of mind in terms of personal data protection and protection against possible fraud. In the table below you will find all the methods made available by the reviewed NRGB betting sites.

Electronic wallets, with PayPal leading the way, are a valid alternative, but not the only one. Some of the most innovative online betting sites allow the use of cryptocurrencies or contactless payments like Apple Pay.

Attention to details

In evaluating an operator, whether they are part of the industry veterans or the new betting sites, so many aspects come into play that sometimes it’s the little details that make the difference. Using an objective measuring stick in this case is a complicated operation, because a single user can be fascinated by a feature considered completely superfluous by another bettor and vice versa.

Even in this case, betting sites that combine abundance with quality have an advantage over the competition. The frequency with which special online bets are offered on non-sports topics or on lesser-known sports as is the case with baseball betting sites, giving members the opportunity to consult the results of matches played months ago, coverage of important events such as those offered by Winter Olympics betting sites, providing detailed statistics, match reports or probable lineups are some examples in this regard.

The security systems used by boommakers

The sports betting sites we have selected and featured on this website all have a valid license issued by NGB, which allows them to operate in compliance with South African laws. Obtaining this license is also tied to the security measures adopted by betting sites to ensure users have a safe gaming experience. For this reason, the ratings you find below are all extremely positive.

One of the components that makes a betting website secure is the system used to encrypt data to protect players' privacy and ensure secure payments. In this regard, all the best betting sites rely on specialized external companies such as Thawte, Symantec Corporation, or Starfield Technologies.

In our evaluation, we also took into account the attention shown by the best sports betting sites towards the prevention of gambling-related disorders, the way they encourage responsible gaming, the tools made available to players for self-limitation, and the support offered in case any user felt the need for it. Also important is the commitment and collaboration with entities and organizations that fight to prevent phenomena of sports fraud.

The best betting site can also be seen from the customer service

Sooner or later, for various reasons, you may need to ask for clarification on sports betting offers online, the status of a withdrawal or have a clear answer to any type of question that may arise during your gaming experience on one of the betting sites. Many underestimate the importance of customer service in judging a bookmaker, but rest assured that obtaining a quick and accurate response sometimes allows you to avoid annoyances and unnecessary waste of time.

Above, we have listed the various contact methods that can be used to communicate with online betting sites. Among them, one of the most appreciated is live chat. Many NRGB bookmakers offer this service even to those who have not yet opened a gaming account, but intend to request some information. Sometimes, however, speed is unfortunately not accompanied by competence.

The experience we have gained with various customer service activities has allowed us to identify some key factors in the quality of customer service. Obviously, we could not overlook the hours when assistance can be requested, rewarding online betting sites that can provide precise indications 24 hours a day, even on weekends.

How we tested the best betting sites

In order to have a precise and complete overview of the various betting sites, as mentioned before, we used a methodology that involves identifying relevant categories and conducting a thorough examination of each betting site within those categories. We spent hours analyzing odds, testing customer services, scrutinizing payment methods and conditions, and evaluating the functionality of the gaming platforms. Below, we will delve further into each aspect to help you Сomeon understand our process.

Calculation of payouts

Previously we mentioned the issue of odds and we saw how these differ from each other depending on the sport, country and caliber of the match. The payout table showed us instead how each of the betting sites offers more or less advantageous percentages depending on the sport and market on which you intend to make predictions.

A small difference in odds can drastically change a player's earnings in the long run, which is why it is important to always ensure the highest odds on the market offered by the best South African betting sites. In this regard, it is essential to fully understand the mechanisms by which bookmakers manage to secure a margin on all the events they offer on their schedule. The higher the house edge, the lower the player's profit will be.

Our intention now is to illustrate in more specific detail how betting sites structure their odds. The first step to getting a clear idea of how probability calculations are applied to the betting world is to understand the concept of the board. It is calculated using the formula that you can see in the image below and will be used to find exactly what margin the bookmaker ensures on every event, match or race they offer.

The formula can be used for every type of sport: soccer, basketball, hockey, and horse racing. The calculation consists of adding up the percentages of all the odds of a specific market. In the case of soccer, you will need to add the percentages of 1, X, and 2, while in a tennis match, only two percentages need to be added. To help us understand what is meant by board and payout, let's look at the odds of a match in the Serie A championship between Juventus and Roma.

Juventus' victory (1) is given at 2.12, draw (x) at 3.75 and Roma's victory at 3.05. You should know that each odd is nothing more than the expression, in decimal terms, of the probability that a given event will occur. To calculate the chance that the bookmaker has assigned to each single odds of the match between Juventus and Roma, it will therefore be enough to use the following formula: 100/odds.

The betting website has assigned a winning probability of 47.1% to Juventus, 26.6% to a tie and 32.7% to Roma's victory, percentages obtained using the previous formula. At this point, the slate is given by the sum of the 3 percentages: 47.16% + 26.66% + 32.78% = 106.62%. Through this calculation, we can easily determine the payout.

The payout of a sports betting website is simply the percentage of the total amount of money bet that is returned to the player and must be calculated using: (100/odds) * 100. In the specific case of the match between Juventus and Roma, the payout will be as follows: (100/106.62) * 100 = 93.79%. Subtracting this figure from 100 gives the difference that represents the margin that the bookmaker pockets. In this case, it is 6.21%.

The effective incidence of different payouts

At this point, you may be wondering how these small percentage differences in payouts offered by betting sites can affect a player's overall balance. The short answer is, "they have a significant impact," even in niche disciplines such as table tennis betting. The first part of the following table shows the change in odds as the payout varies. Specifically, we have proposed 5 distinct levels of payout that differ from each other by only two percentage points. Now imagine that each step is related to the odds of a different betting site. As you can see, there is a significant difference between one operator and another.

Looking at the second part of the table, which shows the return obtained on each share for every €10 invested, you can realize how the choice of a bookmaker with good payouts affects your winnings. Some of you will certainly have been surprised by these numbers. It should be said that players who are used to betting modest amounts do not pay much attention to this kind of calculation, since the difference on small sums of money is quantified in a few tens of cents. A different story for those players who invest significant amounts on betting sites. On amounts exceeding €100, in fact, the difference begins to be felt.

types of customer service

Telephone, email, and live chat are the three methods available to bettors to contact the customer service of bookmakers. Some of the best NRGB betting sites have chosen to include all three types of contact in their offer, while others have reserved the chat only for members, and others have excluded it completely. The opening hours have been very important in the overall evaluation, considering that being able to rely on the support of a customer support representative day and night, every day of the week, undoubtedly makes the difference.

Relying solely on these parameters to offer an objective evaluation would have been too simplistic. For this reason, taking out our stopwatch, we took the trouble of contacting customer service of the best tested betting sites to evaluate waiting times and the accuracy of the responses received. Speed is useless if not supported by expertise.

Payment methods

When it comes to money, the topic becomes extremely delicate. Transferring money from one's pockets to the account of online betting sites using the preferred method, and above all making it return in the shortest possible time is an extremely important factor. Needless to say, having to pay any commissions on transactions can be disadvantageous, and the minimum and maximum limits within which no transaction can be made either in or out can sometimes discourage a potential customer.

With great patience, we have therefore gone to visit the pages related to the game account on online betting sites to find all the data regarding deposits and withdrawals. This has allowed us to offer you a complete and detailed overview of all aspects related to the various systems made available by various online betting sites to replenish your betting account, so that you can get an idea of which one is most suitable for satisfying your needs, avoiding unpleasant surprises.

The online platform

One detail that may seem insignificant at first glance, but which can become increasingly important in evaluating a bookmaker, is the online platform. The colors used and the way in which odds are highlighted and relevant events are proposed can greatly change the gaming experience on a sports betting site. It is also extremely important to be able to easily find the matches on which you intend to bet.

On some portals, such a search can actually prove to be rather long and frustrating. Infographics on the evolution of live matches and the way statistics of ongoing games are presented are finally another needle in the balance. In this case, our job was to test the platforms of the top ten NRGB betting sites taking into account the aspects just listed.

Other factors we have considered

Previously we mentioned that in our analysis, we decided to consider online betting sites that stand out for the completeness of their offer, have received recognition from industry magazines mainly for work done in South Africa, make good use of social networks, and offer interesting news about the world of sports and betting through a blog or internal news section. From our experience, the most important points among those listed are the breadth of the streaming event offer and that related to information.

In the first case, our role was to count the events broadcasted live every day by individual bookmakers and calculate the average annual amount. Based on the results obtained and the quality of the proposed events, we evaluated the operators more or less positively. We did the same with updates and social media and based on the awards received, especially during the latest editions of the EGR South Africa Awards. Finally, we gave more consideration to the NRGB betting sites that offer sports betting on virtual events and horse racing.

Betting online and in the agency: pros and cons

Betting exchange and cash out

Online betting differs from sports betting in agencies for its higher rate of technological innovation. Among the biggest trends in the industry in recent years, we can rightfully include betting exchange and cash out. These are new modes of gameplay introduced by some betting sites and options for early exit from bets.

Betting exchange: a brief overview

Betting exchange is a new way of betting launched for the first time in the early 2000s by the English betting website Bettabets, which later introduced it in South Africa in 2013. Thanks to the Punta&Banca, as it is called in South African, the same bettors can act as bookmakers, by directly proposing odds to other users.

These betting sites work like real online sports betting exchanges, where players can speculate like traders on even the smallest odds variations. In this case, the bookmaker only plays the role of intermediary. The odds, on the other hand, are decided by the laws of the market and are therefore decidedly better than those of traditional bookies.

The cash out option

Thanks to the cash out option, bettors can decide to "exit" a bet before the event they have bet on has ended, accepting the bookmaker's economic offer. A sophisticated algorithm calculates the payout, which corresponds to a more or less significant part of the possible final winnings, based on the progress of the event.

The cash out option was initially developed for betting exchanges. Top NRGB bookmakers subsequently extended this tool to traditional online betting as well. It allows players to cash out their winnings before the end of the game and is an ideal solution if you realize that an event is not going as planned, or to protect yourself from unpleasant surprises in the last few minutes of a game listed on the betting site.

NRGB license and rules for online bookmakers

In South Africa, the authority responsible for regulating the sports betting market is NGB. National Governing Bodies (NGB) of Sports are non-profit, non-governmental organizations responsible for promoting and developing a particular sport within a nation. They control key assets such as national team brand, support youth and elite level national teams for both genders, develop Olympians, collaborate with International Federation of the particular sport, national Olympic Committee and IOC to qualify athletes and national teams to participate in international events.

Responsible Gambling in ZA

For several decades, the psychological problem of gambling has been a serious one, especially since online gambling became popular among ordinary players who had never tried it before. Gambling addiction has long been recognized as a type of illness by advanced medical institutions, which is both rational and painful. On this basis, most betting markets provide primary care in order to remove a person's desire to immerse themselves further in gambling and suffer even more. This type of betting market offers various types of self-help, allowing you to control the maximum amount of money you spend in the future or limit your account on your own.

In either case, this may not be sufficient in practice. We also take a close look at responsible gambling because we understand how difficult it is to treat a psychological problem in the future. If a bookmaker devotes his entire energy to this aspect, it will be one of the most advanced for us. By the way, some of the bookmakers we recommend, which are fully legal in South Africa, automatically restrict a player's account if they notice suspicious financial activity on his account.

Credit cards, by the way, are prohibited in most legal bookmaker territory because they usually lead to debt and frustration. We consider this fact, and we do not recommend those betting markets who freely accept credit cards on their premises, because this is the wrong approach to gambling in general.

In any case, we advise you not to procrastinate with this problem if you or your relatives have detected signs of gambling addiction. You must marshal all of your resources and seek skilled assistance by contacting specialized institutions that assist people like you. Remember that there is no shame in seeking assistance because you are not the only person suffering from this disease in the world. The sooner you seek professional assistance, the better and more colorful your life will be without gambling. You can get qualified psychological help in South Africa by calling the phone numbers listed below.

South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF)

• Helpline: 0800 006 008
• Tel: 011 026 7323
• Email: [email protected]

National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP)

• https://www.ngb.org.za
• Gambling helpline: 0800 006 008

Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board

• Tel: 021 480 7400
• Fax: 021 422 2614
• Email: [email protected] (general enquiries)