Best sportsbook South Africa 2022: Betway

CasinoPlay is proud to announce our top pick for South Africa’s best Sportsbook 2022: Betway!

This online betting site is a fantastic all-rounder that ticks all our boxes and then some… Betway is on the cutting edge of wagering technology and offers some truly revolutionary and intuitive features. See what they ‌offer in this review, and who knows, they might tick some of your boxes too!

Best sportsbook South Africa

Pros and cons

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  • The live betting page is well-structured and easy to use
  • Odds offered on a huge variety of sports, e-sports, virtual sports, lucky numbers, and Jika sports
  • BetTV, their live streaming service
  • Odds on over 700 soccer leagues and matches at any one time
  • Fantastic app

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  • Customer support has a slow response time
  • The website is built for function rather than aesthetics
  • The cash out feature is only available on certain matches and betting games.

User experience

Betway’s website is well designed with plenty of visible links to navigate your way through the sportsbook site. The homepage immediately opens up onto their live sports and betting grid, with all the game info and betting options clearly displayed for your perusal. Additional links let you bet on upcoming events and access even more betting markets.

A sidebar displays top live games and live game highlights, giving you a sneak peek into the hottest action of the day and an insight into your next bet.

The handy menu bar will take you to any of Betway’s fine features, including Betgames, daily jackpot, lucky numbers, promotions, and horse racing. Or you can click on the quick links menu to peruse the stats centre, promotions or insider blog to help you make an informed decision before placing a bet. 

We love the uncomplicated green, black, and white design. It might be simpler than your usual online casino aesthetic, but it means that the pages load quickly and there are no flashing images to distract you. This also translates well to their mobile site and phone app where quicker load times are essential.

Customer support

The Betway website is designed with its customers in mind. The quick links drop-down menu includes links to customer service information, FAQs, betting rules, and how-to blogs for those new to either the sportsbook or sports betting in general. These are all easy to access and very informative.

Betway offers 24-hour customer support 365 days a year. They have four contact methods: live support chat; Maxi Call: 0861 787 250; Facebook: /BetwaySouthAfrica; and Twitter: @Betway_za.

This would be great with a reasonable response time. Unfortunately, it took 45 minutes to get a response on the live chat app. However, the customer service agent was very polite and helpful.

Terms and conditions

A link to the terms and conditions can be found at the bottom of every web page, and Betway has kindly made this usually-pages-long document easier to navigate by splitting it into several sections by heading. So now, all you need to do is click the arrow next to the topic, and voila – you’ll get all the Ts & Cs on everything from multiple betting, Jika games, or even the betting rules.

Licence and ownership

Betway South Africa powers Raging River Trading (Pty) Ltd (2011/134505/07), which is licensed and regulated by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board. Their bookmaker licence number is 10181496-008.

Welcome bonus and promotions

Betway’s sport welcome bonus matches 100% of your first deposit up to R1000 as a free bet that can only be used to bet on sport. You will need to 3x the amount of the deposit on a sport in order to get the bonus free bet.

Their casino games welcome offer is even more impressive, matching 100% of your first deposit up to R2000. Please check the Ts & Cs before signing up.

Other promotions

Best sportsbook South Africa

Battle of the Surfaces

From 19 May to 11 September 2022, you stand a chance to win a full 2023 Wimbledon experience, a share of over R750,000 in prizes, including 1 of a hundred R100 daily free bet prizes.

How it works: you pick your champion and their opponent and bet R10 or more on the 3 upcoming tennis Grand Slam tournaments. You earn points for every bet you place, every bet you win, every opponent your champion beats, and for every match that ends in a draw. Ts & Cs apply.

Best sportsbook South Africa

Payout Boost up to R500

Place a minimum R50 bet on who will win any of the NBA finals games and Betway will give you a 50% payout boost up to R500 as a free bet. Ts & Cs apply.

Best sportsbook South Africa

Betway 4 To Flag

Place your free 4 to Flag wagers on every F1 race throughout the season. Choose your own drivers, or if you’re feeling lucky, let Betway’s ‘Random Pick’ button decide for you. Either way, choosing the right drive could win you up to R300,000 on every event. Ts & Cs apply.

Best sportsbook South Africa

Daily Jackpot

Earn an entry into Betway’s daily jackpot by betting R10 or more on specific events and use your ticket to guess the outcomes of the fixtures provided and you could win up to R10,000 daily. Ts & Cs apply.

Betting features

Live streaming & live betting

Betway is one of only 3 sportsbooks that offer live streaming. So you can watch the game and the odds as it’s happening, giving you the chance to adjust your betting strategy based on the live event. However, this is only available to account holders, so no freebies until you commit!

Betway’s live betting feature gives you the edge over other punters and could win you some serious dosh! It opens up additional betting markets that are specific to this feature, such as the next team to score, the next player to get booked, the time of the next goal, or the team to win the next corner.

The bets are ongoing, so as soon as the goal takes place, the bet is settled, and then the next betting market opens in time for you to bet on the next goal, corner, or player to get booked. Small, well-placed bets could build up your purse as the game goes on.

Betting games

Betting games are the extra entertainment offered by sportsbooks to make you spend more time on their website once you’ve placed your bet, which we don’t mind in the slightest, especially since Betway has more games on offer than almost any South African online bookmaker.

We’ve got the run-down on all the games on offer:

  • BetGames – 14 on offer including Speedy 7, War of Bets, 6+ Poker, Lucky 7, and Dice Duel
  • Lucky numbers – choose from hundreds of international lotteries and bet on the outcome of the draws
  • Slots – 70 slots by Habanero Systems
  • Live casino games – roulette, game shows, blackjack, poker, baccarat and Sicbo
  • Virtual sports – bet on virtual soccer, horses, racing, or lotto numbers

Build-a-Bet

Betway Money-Back-Boost

This nifty feature comes into play when making multiple bets using a multibet betslip. If you bet on six or more events and one of those bets goes sideways, Betway will refund up to 20x your bet depending on how many events you bet on – definitely a feature worth looking into, especially for EPL fans. Ts & Cs apply.

Betway Build-A-Bet,

This is a great feature for those who like to hedge their bets, as it allows you to place up to 10 bets on the outcome of one game. It’s a multi-bet based on what you think could happen in the game, ranging from both teams to score, next goal, over time, and many more.

 Bet My Way

Bet My Way is a fantastic feature for loyal patrons of the sportsbook as it’s based on an algorithm that assesses your betting history and from that data suggests bets for you. Betway is the only sportsbook in South Africa that offers this advanced feature.

Betting markets

Betting markets or bet types are the various odds an online bookmaker offers on sports, casino games, or lotteries (also known as lucky numbers betting). We love a wide range of betting markets as it keeps things interesting and gives you exciting new ways to explore the world of sports betting.

Betway has a truly massive array of bet types on offer for both sports and lucky numbers. The sports bet types range from odds on the outcome of a game to more sport-specific bets like the first goal in a soccer match or the first kill in League of Legends.

In Lucky Numbers, Betway gives you odds on which numbers appear in the draw, whether the sum of the numbers will exceed 150 or if that number will be odd or even. What’s not to love?

Phone app

The Betway app is fantastic for sports fans on the go. It’s a slick design that loads quickly and is incredibly user friendly. So you can watch live games, keep an eye on your bets, or just scope out your next betting opportunity!

Banking

Deposits

Betway, like most betting sites, offers a number of ways to deposit your money and have it immediately available in your Betway account. They accept Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards, Ozow, MTN Mobile Money app, vouchers, EFTs, SiD, USSD, and you can even make a deposit while doing your shopping at Shoprite or Checkers – talk about convenience!

Withdrawals

Withdrawal methods are a bit more limited, but Betway does offer an instant payout option if you would like quicker access to your winnings. We’ve created the list below for your convenience:

  • 1ForYou Voucher: Immediate
  • ABSA Cash Send, FNB Ewallet, & Nedbank Send iMali: 24 hours
  • EFT and credit/debit cards: 1-2 business days
  • Standard Bank Instant Money: 24-72 hours

Our conclusion

Betway is a fantastic sportsbook with all the bells and whistles you could wish for, and some you didn’t even know you needed! We love their features and varied betting markets, and though their customer service could certainly be improved on, this sportsbook really does cross the finish line first!

Tell us what you think

Have you visited Betway? Tell us all about your highs, lows and everything in between. Become part of the online gambling community and let someone else make the most of your wisdom.