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Live Sport Betting in South Africa

South Africa has a long and illustrious sporting history. It is a nation that thrives on sporting achievements and gets behind sporting events. Live betting on sports goes hand in hand with watching them. In fact, taking out a wager on a game or race can add a whole new level of enjoyment to the proceedings. Fortunately for players, South Africa has a wide variety of online sportsbooks that offer fantastic live sport betting odds. 


But what exactly is live sports betting? These types of bets are wagers that can be taken out once the event has already started.


This review will look at some of the best sportsbooks for live betting. We will explain how to check if a sportsbook is trustworthy and how to assess live odds. Additionally, we will provide you with examples of the different types of live bets available and on which occasion you can use them. Read on to find the right live bet.

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🥇 The Best Live Sport Betting Sites in South Africa

In South Africa, there is an enormous variety of betting sites to choose from. They all compete against each other to attract new players and retain existing ones. However, with so much choice, it can be overwhelming to know which sites are legitimate and have the best offers. In this section, we will take a look at the best live sports betting sites in South Africa. Also, bear in mind that we list legal betting sites in South Africa only.

How We Chose the Best Sites for Live Betting

When compiling our list of the best live sports betting sites, we carefully considered a number of key points. We specifically looked at:

Licensing authorities ensure that the sites operate correctly and that players' data and money are safe and secure. Therefore, reputable sites need to hold a licence by respected authorities.

The site should offer a vast selection of recognised payment methods. Players should have access to reliable and efficient deposit and withdraw methods so that they can always reach their funds when they wish to.

The best sites should provide 24/7 customer support, with a variety of contact options. Generally, they should offer email, live chat, and a phone number.

It is important that the sportsbook gives players a wide choice of sports to wager on.

They also need to offer different types of bets.

The site itself needs to be visually pleasing and easy to use.

Live Betting vs. Pre-Match Betting

Live Betting Games for South African Players

The major difference between the two types of bet is that live betting happens once the event has already started, whereas pre-match betting stops once the event starts. While pre-match betting focuses much more on predicting events further in the future, live betting on sports focuses on a much shorter time period. This means that decisions by the sportsbook and the bettors have to be made much more quickly.

One consequence of this is that live sport betting odds can change drastically once the event has begun. With pre-match betting, the odds don't tend to change as much and certainly not over such a short period of time. However, with in live betting, the odds can change on every play and move dramatically.

These rapid changes in the odds can really work in a players' favour. If they see that something game-changing has happened, they can place wagers on events before the sportsbook has readjusted the odds. However, players can also get carried away with live betting. It is easy to think that you have spotted a good bet and rush to put money on it in the heat of the moment, only to realise it wasn't such a good idea after all.

How to Make a Live Sports Bet

Making this type of bet couldn't be easier. Just follow our step-by-step guide, and you should be able to place your first bet very soon.

Before considering registering with a sportsbook it is vitally important to make sure they're correctly licensed. This will keep your money and data safe.

Sportsbooks offer incentives to tempt players to register with them. Therefore, it is worth looking around to make sure you get the best bonus.

Click on the Register/Sign up button on the sportsbook of your choice. This will take you to the registration form.

Once you have registered, you can login and navigate to the event you're interested in. On most sites, live bets are clearly categorized. If you are betting on a game that is already underway, watch the odds that the sportsbook puts out before placing your bet.

When you have found a bet that you are happy with, click on it, and it will be added to your betting slip.

Your bet will be placed when you click on the submit button on the betting slip.

The final step is to sit back and enjoy the game.

🏆 Best Sports for Live Betting

Live Sports Betting for South African Players

Technological advancements have made live sport betting much more prevalent over the past decade. Increases in computational speeds and the ability to process large amounts of data mean that sportsbooks can calculate odds much faster now than they ever could manually.

Therefore, they can offer many more live bets on fast-paced sports than ever before. This has opened up betting on events that used to move too quickly for live betting. We will take a brief look at a few sports below and explain how live sport betting works in each one of them.

⚽ Soccer Live Betting

Apart from being played over a 90-minute period (with extra time and penalty shootouts in some matches), a traditional soccer match is also a low-scoring and fast-moving sport. Therefore, it is an excellent choice for live betting. A lot can change during a game, and because scores are often low, a single goal can make a big difference to the outcome.

Therefore, the odds can change a great deal while the game is unfolding. Moneyline bets are very popular with soccer games, as bettors can wager on the winners or losers. Bettors also often make prop bets on features like how many goals a certain player will score.

🏀 Basketball Live Betting

This sport offers bettors great opportunities to place live bets. Again, the game is very fast-paced and happens over a relatively short period of time. However, it is different from soccer as it tends to be high scoring. This means that a 10 point lead can disappear very quickly.

So, bettors can take advantage of these changes and find good odds. Bettors frequently use moneyline and prop bets in this sport. Another bet often used in basketball is the over/under, because the scores can be high, so there is more margin for estimating a score than in a low-scoring game.

🥊 UFC Live Betting

Not for the faint-hearted, UFC is a combat sport. It is totally dependent on the skills and resilience of each fighter. The best live sports betting sites will carry a broad selection of live bets on UFC matches, as there is so much action in each one. In fact, a fighter can be knocked out with one punch, or it can be obvious if one person is becoming tired. So, these matches lend themselves to live moneylines, props and over/unders.

🏏 Cricket Live Betting

This sport has been around for centuries and is played worldwide. In its classic form during a Test Match, cricket is played over a 5-day period. However, there are also One-Day Internationals or Twenty20 games that last about four hours.

Cricket is a wonderful sport for online live sports betting, as there are so many kinds of wagers you can make. Because the match takes place over a longer period, bettors can create more unusual bets like parlays. This is a combination of bets, where all wagers must be predicted correctly for the bettor to win.

🕹 Virtual and Esport Live Betting

Esports are multiplayer video games that are usually played between professionals. They are broadcast live to allow the spectators to watch the action in real time. Betting on these games and tournaments is very similar to betting on traditional sports. Classic virtual sports betting live can be standard moneylines on who will win the tournament or over/under on the number of kills a player will make.

Other Popular Sports

Live betting can be an exciting way to add even more enjoyment to watching a game. It can also be lucrative if you have in-depth knowledge of the sport and understand the odds.

More and more sportsbooks are offering an increasing number of online live sports betting. The sportsbook is always looking to attract players, so if they think there is a market for a certain type of bet, they will offer it to bettors.

📱 Live Sports Betting With Apps

Nowadays, many bettors access betting sites from their mobile phones. They enjoy the convenience of being able to login in and make a quick wager without having to sit at a computer or go into a betting shop. A live sports betting app will allow bettors to use their phones in the most efficient way. They are designed to work well on phones, therefore it can be better than visiting the website.

Live Betting Bonuses

Sportsbooks are always trying to attract new players and retain existing ones. In fact, one method they use to achieve this is to offer impressive bonuses. We will take a brief look at these bonuses and how they work with live betting.

Welcome Bonuses

Sportsbooks offer these bonuses when players sign up to the site. Often, the welcome bonus will reward players with free bets once they have signed up and made their first wager.

Reload Bonuses

These offers are available to existing customers, and they can be very helpful to players who enjoy live bets. Bettors can see how the game is proceeding and then look for bonuses that suit the match play. For example, there can be bonuses based on how many goals a player will score in a soccer match.

Crypto Bonuses

The great advantage of using cryptocurrency for online live sports betting is that transactions are instant. This is great for live betting, as it means that their money is available to them immediately.

Risk-Free Bets

These bets come with welcome bonuses. The sportsbook refunds the player if they lose their first wager. Therefore, the player doesn't actually lose any money as the bet is free, therefore, there is no risk. This bonus can be a fantastic way to hedge a live bet. If the bettor uses this bonus on their live bet, they will get a refund if the bet loses.

Live Sports Betting Tips

All betting involves an element of strategy and live betting is no different. Live sport betting strategy is about making betting work in your favour. Let's take a quick look at some of best live sports betting tips:

  1. Research the game beforehand.
  2. Pinpoint the bets you're interested in before the event starts.
  3. Look for bonuses and other methods to hedge your bets.
  4. Only bet on games you are watching live.

FAQ About Live Sport Betting

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What is live sports betting?

As the name implies, live sports betting is betting on events that have already started.

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Is live betting profitable?

Like all forms of betting, live betting can be very profitable, however, it can also lead to losses. Therefore, bet responsibly at all times.

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How are live betting odds calculated?

Sportsbooks use a combination of teams of experts and computer algorithms to calculate the odds.

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Can you live off live sports betting?

When it comes to any kind of betting, you should always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose.

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What are the best live betting sites?

Some of the best sites for South African players are Sunbet, Hollywoodbets, and Betway.

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