Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Have any questions or queries?

Have questions regarding football betting or the website or anything else then feel free to reach out to us! We are happy to help. However, we have some answers to commonly asked questions (FAQ) listed here so if this helps answer your queries then great. If not, then feel free to contact us.

General

DOES IT COST ANY MONEY TO REGISTER ON A BETTING WEBSITE?

The simple answer is no. Registration is free. You only have to deposit money into your account before you bet.

WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT FOR BETTING ONLINE?

One needs to be 18 years or 21 years old depending on the local laws in their respective countries to be eligible to bet.

WHAT SPORTS CAN I BET ON?

Betting websites have so many sports options that you will be spoilt for choice. Football is the most famous for betting not only in Africa but also around the world. Basketball and tennis are also very popular.

WILL I GET PAID MY WINNINGS?

Of course! As long as you create an account with one of the licensed bookmakers, your money is safe.

Licensing and Regulations

IS THE ONLINE BETTING INDUSTRY REGULATED?

Yes, in countries where betting is legal and recognized under the law, has a regulated online betting market. In such markets, bookmakers are required to obtain a license that permits them to set up a betting platform and facilitate betting. There is no single authority that regulates betting globally.

Regulations are maintained and put into place by local authorities/governments as per their online gambling jurisdictions. Licensing authorities within these jurisdictions have the power to issue betting licenses and set the rules for how betting sites must operate.

WHAT IS AN ONLINE BETTING LICENSE?

Online betting licenses are issued to sites that meet the criteria of their respective licensing authorities. To operate legally, sites must hold this license. The license allows them to offer their services to customers and makes them subject to regulation.

The criteria for licenses may vary from one licensing authority to another. Licenses are issued to those companies that demonstrate fair and ethical ways of operation. Licenses can be suspended or revoked if a company fails to meet its obligations or regulatory requirements.

DOES IT MATTER WHETHER A SITE IS LICENSED AND REGULATED?

Yes, absolutely! Unless you want to put your money at risk. A site that is unlicensed is operating illegally. When a site is not being regulated, they are free to do as they like and are under no obligations. These sites must be avoided at all costs.

There is no reason for a legitimate site to be operating without a license as it is not expensive to get one. These sites may be very unethical and should not be tread upon.

HOW DO I KNOW IF A SITE IS LICENSED AND REGULATED?

Most sites that are licensed and regulated display their licenses on their website. This information is usually found at the bottom of each page on the site. It will include details of any licenses they hold, and the authorities that they regulate under.

Here’s an example from one of Africa’s leading sports betting platforms and #1 football betting website – SportyBet. SportyBet is licensed in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, and each jurisdiction requires a separate license.

New to Football Betting

HOW DO I JOIN A BETTING SITE/PLATFORM?

Once you identify the bookmaker of your choice, all you need to do is visit their website and click on “register” to begin the process of creating your profile.

You will have to provide some of your personal details and create a username along with a password to activate your account and become a registered user.

WHAT INFORMATION AM I REQUIRED TO PROVIDE?

The usual, really. Nothing untoward.

Full name
Address
Email ID
Mobile number
Date of birth

Some betting sites may ask for more information but these are generally the details required by most websites. There will be a need for documentation uploads when depositing money for the first time into your betting account or when you attempt to withdraw your earnings. This is a formality to make sure that it is not fraudulent and is nothing to worry about from a registration perspective.

HOW MANY BETTING SITES SHOULD I JOIN?

This is totally up to you. Some prefer using one site while there are many who use multiple sites as well. Using multiple sites may be more advantageous as you will have access to multiple odds for the same match. You can then pick the best odds amongst these and have a chance of higher returns.

Deposits and Withdrawals

HOW DO I DEPOSIT FUNDS?

Depositing funds into your betting account is simple.

Log in with your username and password set at the time of registration on the betting website
Visit the “Cashier” or “My Account” page, as may be as per the betting website
Select a Deposit Method
Input the payment details
Enter the deposit amount
Click on “Submit” or “Confirm”

Voila! There you have it. As soon as this process is complete and the transaction is confirmed, the funds will reflect in your betting wallet/account.

WHAT DEPOSIT METHODS ARE AVAILABLE?

The different deposit methods available on most betting platforms are:

Credit card
Debit card
Prepaid cards
E-wallet
Bank wire transfer
Cheque
Cash transfer

WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AMOUNT I HAVE TO DEPOSIT?

The minimum deposit amount varies across betting platforms/sites. Please check the betting website terms to find the amount.

WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT I CAN DEPOSIT?

Surprisingly, there is a maximum amount although very high. Get in touch with the betting website’s customer support to check their threshold for handling high amounts of deposits.

Why is my deposit not reflecting in my account?

Contact customer support who can guide you and confirm if the entry has been approved, pending or rejected by the bank or card issuer.

Why was my money deducted from my account all of a sudden?

If a booker of the betting site provides the wrong information for the results of bets, bets will then also be cleared in accordance with the wrong results. When this happens, a rollback notification is sent if such a situation occurred to any of your bets. Then, the bets are re-settled in line with the correct final results. This process usually happens either during the match, or shortly after the game ends, when it is being reviewed.

The balance of your account may turn out to be negative after a rollback. This happens when a customer spends their winnings or has withdrawn their winnings before the rollback. The betting site compensates for this and rectifies the amount back to 0 for the customers.

HOW DO I WITHDRAW MONEY FROM MY BETTING ACCOUNT/WALLET?

The withdrawal process varies from site to site. However, it often entails the following process.

Visit “My Account” or “Cashier” or any other term that may be applicable as per the betting site
Select a withdrawal method by clicking on “Withdraw”
Enter the amount you wish to withdraw
“Submit” or “Confirm” or “Withdraw” depending on the site to complete the withdrawal

WHAT ARE THE WITHDRAWAL METHODS THAT ARE AVAILABLE?

This varies again for different sites but most options should be available similar to the deposit methods.

Credit card
Debit card
Prepaid cards
E-wallet
Bank wire transfer
Vouchers

IS THERE ANY WITHDRAWAL FEE CHARGEABLE?

Usually, yes there is a small charge. It is common for the first withdrawal every month to be free, and then all subsequent withdrawals have a nominal fee attached to them. Some sites, however, do not charge a convenience fee at all while the most charge for each individual withdrawal. Some sites only charge for withdrawals when specific banking methods are used.

WHAT IS THE USUAL WITHDRAWAL PROCESSING TIME?

Withdrawals can be processed immediately but can also sometimes take a couple of weeks depending on the betting sites and methods of withdrawal. SportyBet.com is one platform that processes withdrawals immediately up to a certain amount and in case the amount is not processed immediately then they advice contacting their support team.

Below are the typical processing times for each mode of withdrawal.

E-wallet: 2-3 days
Debit/credit cards: 1-5 days
Cash transfer: 5-10 days
Bank wire transfer: 1 to 2 weeks
Cheques: 5 days

Placing Bets

HOW DO I PLACE A BET?

You can place different kinds of bets in sports: single, multiple and system (combined) bets. Multiple and System bets may be placed by combining different sports like football, tennis, basketball, etc.

After you log in to your account, select the sport you wish to bet on. This will bring up a list of upcoming matches. Select the event you would like to bet on, and all the odds will be displayed. Take your pick, enter the amount you wish to stake, and click “confirm” or “place bet”.

CAN I CANCEL A BET ONCE PLACED?

Unfortunately not. A bet once placed cannot be cancelled so be sure of the bet you want to place.

CAN THE BOOKMAKER/BETTING SITE CANCEL MY BET?

Yes but this is very rare and if it were cancelled, there must be a genuine reason for it or some glitch with the odds and lines but you need not worry if it is a licensed website.

WHAT ARE THE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM STAKE FOR A BET AND FOR A TICKET?

This again depends on the betting site you select. You do not have to place high stakes to be able to bet online and the lowest amount is very nominal.

The maximum stake limit is extremely high and it may only be a concern for some of the really high rollers but it may exceed their limits too so no need to worry on this front.

Understanding Odds

WHO SETS THE ODDS AND LINES?

Most betting sites hire oddsmakers who set the odds. These are experts who are extremely knowledgeable about the sports they cover, and it is their job to make sure that the opening odds and lines are as accurate as possible. They are also responsible for adjusting the odds and lines based on various factors that could potentially affect the outcome of the game.

WHY DO ODDS CHANGE?

Odds fluctuate because of 2 major factors:

Situational changes like team changes, player injuries, weather, team/player form, etc. Pretty much anything that could have an impact on a match leads to changes in the odds.
Betting volumes are another major reason for fluctuations in odds.

The initial odds and lines are initially set basis the probability of the result. Therefore, all external factors are taken into consideration when finalizing the odds. If any factors change then the odds undergo changes too.

Betting volumes affect betting because betting sites try to maintain a “balanced book”. A balanced book is where the payout is roughly the same for each outcome so that the betting site does not lose any money and makes the same amount of profit regardless of the result.

WHY DO ODDS VARY ACROSS SITES?

Odds and lines are manually researched by oddsmakers and their opinions reflect the odds for an event. Everyone has their opinion and each person uses different metrics for providing their odds hence, given the dynamism of oddsmakers, they are bound to differ.

Betting volumes are different for every site and that contributes majorly to the difference in odds across betting platforms.

WHERE CAN I GET THE BEST ODDS AND LINES?

No betting site/platform can always offer the best odds for every event. Hence, having accounts with multiple betting sites may be the best way to figure out which is offering the best odds for that particular event.

WHAT HAPPENS IF/WHEN THERE IS AN ERROR IN THE ODDS?

Betting sites do make errors at times when it comes to odds. After all, they are set by people and not automated. Mistakes are often noticed and rectified quickly but not always before some users place their bets. In such cases where there was an error in judgement on the oddsmakers’ part, sites accept the bets. In cases where there is some error other than a human error, bets are generally voided.

Bonuses and Gifts

WHAT IS A WELCOME BONUS?

Refer to our glossary to understand more – http://www.footballbetting.org/glossary

WHAT OTHER TYPES OF BONUSES AND GIFTS ARE USUALLY AVAILABLE ON BETTING SITES?

There are various types of bonuses and rewards available for bettors on betting websites.

Let us use an example of SportyBet – Africa’s leading sports betting and live streaming platform.

SportyBet is a platform that provides not only the First Deposit Bonus also known as the welcome bonus but also a couple of other promotions like the “Refer a Friend” bonus and “Match of the Day“. Match of the Day gives a boost to the odds for pre-match betting and live betting in a bettor’s payslip.

SportyBet.com also provides a dynamic multibet bonus rate. The bonus amount is based on the number of qualifying selections in the bet as well as the leagues and markets the person is betting on.

The platform offers three types of gifts:

Cash Gifts – These are reduced from the value of the total stake and do not have any constraints when placing a bet.
Coupon Gifts – These offer a discount when spending the stipulated amount of money when placing a bet. It is of the conditional use.
Free Bet Gift – These can be used without any spending condition. The amount of the free bet gift used will be deducted from any potential winnings. For example, if you have 4.0 odds and use a 50 free bet gift, your potential winnings are 150 instead of 200.

WHY DO SITES OFFER BONUSES?

Who does not like gifts and rewards? Customer satisfaction is the most important and promotions help attract new customers. Incentivising the public is a key strategy for betting sites. The “Refer a Friend” initiative is one such successful bonus program that assists companies to build their user base.

HOW DO I CLAIM BONUSES?

Many bonuses and rewards are applied automatically so nothing is required to be done but there are certain bonuses/rewards that may require you to enter the code but those may have certain criteria that you must fulfil to be able to utilise it.

Check the terms and conditions of the bonus to make sure that you do not miss out on any.

WHICH SITES OFFER THE BEST BONUSES AND GIFTS?

Most betting sites offer similar bonuses and rewards since the online betting industry is so competitive. You can have a look at all the reward programs before deciding which bookmaker you want to leverage.

Additional Queries

DO I HAVE TO PAY TAX ON MY EARNINGS THROUGH ONLINE BETTING?

Yes, winnings from online betting are taxable in many countries.

However, there are some countries where betting earnings are not subject to tax. These countries are:

Australia
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Germany
Italy
Malta
United Kingdom

CAN I BET ON MY PHONE OR TABLET?

Yes, mobile betting is on the rise and has become popular specially, in Africa. Betting sites are heavily investing in developing mobile applications that can be accessed on-the-go.

WHAT IS LIVE BETTING?

We have created a Glossary for commonly used terms in betting. You can find learn about live betting by visiting our glossary page – http://www.footballbetting.org/glossary/

WHY IS MY ACCOUNT LIMITED/RESTRICTED?

Betting sites restrict certain accounts by limiting their activity. There are many reasons as to why this could be. Here are a few of the common ones.

Breach of terms and conditions
Too many wins, too frequently
Suspected for arbitrage betting
Abuse of the bonus and rewards programs

For any other queries, feel free to reach out to us over email!

FAQ