The South African betting desk
Every bet has a price.
We publish it.
Your bookmaker takes a cut of every bet. It is hidden inside the odds, and the dearest comparable book charges 1.6 times what the cheapest does.
This week the cheapest is World Sports Betting at 6.50%. The dearest is TopBet at 10.36%.
VfB 1921 Krieschow v FSV Mainz
Backing Draw at R200
Same result. Same risk. R6 560 difference for opening the right app.
Playabets is cheapest this week
Playabets takes 8.12%, the cheapest book we can link you to. World Sports Betting measured lower but has no tracked link, and we would rather say so than pass off second as first.
Ranked on measured margin, never on what a book pays us. The method · how we make money. Costs you nothing; we may earn a commission. 18+. 0800 006 008.
Measured 21 August 2026
What each SA bookmaker charged this week
Lower is better. It is the cut they take before anything is decided. Every number here comes from the bookmaker's own prices and you can check it with a calculator.
SA Bookmaker Margin Index
Measured| Pos | Bookmaker | Their cut | Payout | Margin scale | Range | Markets | Open an account |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Sports Betting Cheapest No partnership | 6.50% | 93.50% | 1.89–11.43% | 1460 | No partnership | |
| 2 | SportyBet No partnership | 7.62% | 92.38% | 1.31–12.15% | 1432 | No partnership | |
| 3 | bet.co.za No partnership | 7.83% | 92.17% | 3.58–11.26% | 918 | No partnership | |
| 4 | Betfred No partnership | 7.90% | 92.10% | 2.72–10.33% | 1570 | No partnership | |
| 5 | Supabets No partnership | 7.98% | 92.02% | 5.58–8.52% | 248 | No partnership | |
| 6 | Playabets | 8.12% | 91.88% | 2.81–10.82% | 1623 | Open | |
| 7 | Lottoland No partnership | 8.36% | 91.64% | 4.29–11.76% | 1423 | No partnership | |
| 8 | Betway | 8.37% | 91.63% | 4.49–13.26% | 1255 | Open | |
| 9 | Mzansibet No partnership | 8.87% | 91.13% | 2.44–12.68% | 1177 | No partnership | |
| 10 | Sportingbet No partnership | 8.92% | 91.08% | 4.44–11.89% | 773 | No partnership | |
| 11 | Easybet No partnership | 8.93% | 91.07% | 3.47–15.53% | 1611 | No partnership | |
| 12 | BetBus No partnership | 9.06% | 90.94% | 4.94–11.74% | 314 | No partnership | |
| 13 | Sunbet No partnership | 9.49% | 90.51% | 3.69–14.88% | 572 | No partnership | |
| 14 | ApexBets No partnership | 9.59% | 90.41% | 3.86–12.35% | 1119 | Link being fixed | |
| 15 | Hollywoodbets No partnership | 9.98% | 90.02% | 5.65–11.91% | 671 | Link pending | |
| 16 | Lucky Fish No partnership | 9.98% | 90.02% | 5.65–11.91% | 694 | No partnership | |
| 17 | ZARbet No partnership | 10.01% | 89.99% | 4.27–12.35% | 982 | No partnership | |
| 18 | 10bet No partnership | 10.27% | 89.73% | 2.54–14.14% | 1643 | No partnership | |
| 19 | TopBet No partnership | 10.36% | 89.64% | 1.97–16.47% | 1454 | TopBet |
Each figure is that book's own average across its own three-way board, which is why the market count is printed beside it. It answers what a bookmaker charged, not who beat whom: the books priced different slates. The head-to-head, on fixtures at least two books priced, is in this week's case study, with the shared-fixture count for every pair. Why we publish both →
Margin, not odds
A 6% book hands back more of every market than a 10% book. It is the only fair way to compare bookmakers across different matches, because individual prices depend on who is playing.
Not every book is comparable
Supabets is flagged because the board we can read carries in-play and minor-league fixtures, which price dearer than a league slate. It is excluded from the like-for-like comparison rather than quietly ranked.
Listed, never hidden
Books we could not measure appear on the bookmakers page with the reason. Some block automated reading, and we respect that rather than working around it.
The whole trick, given away
How to spot it yourself in ten seconds
Ten seconds. Works on any odds, anywhere.
Take any three-way market. Divide 1 by each price to get the chance the bookmaker is implying, then add those up.
| Outcome | Price | 1 ÷ price |
|---|---|---|
| Home win | 2.10 | 47.62% |
| Draw | 3.40 | 29.41% |
| Away win | 3.60 | 27.78% |
| Total | 104.81% |
One of the three must happen, so a fair market totals exactly 100%. This one totals 104.81%. The 4.81% on top is the fee, charged before kick-off, on every bet placed into that market.
Why we never tip
Predicting results is guessing. Taking a better price on the same bet pays more every time you win, without needing to be right any more often. That is arithmetic, not opinion, and it is the only edge available to everyone.
What the fee actually costs
At R200 a bet, 200 bets a season, a punter running through a book that charges 4 points more than the cheapest hands over roughly R1,600 a year in fee alone, before a single result goes against them.
Every number is checkable
Take any price on this site, do the sum yourself, and compare. If it does not match, tell us and the correction gets published beside the original. The method is one page long.
The weekly case study
Every match, every book, one study
This week we priced 2570 fixtures that appear at two or more bookmakers and compared all 6712 outcomes. Here is what the field looked like.
Week of 21 August 2026
Fixture-by-fixture comparison, which book won each outcome, and the rand cost of choosing wrong. 2570 fixtures, 6712 outcomes, R507 796 of spread across all 6712 of them, which is R75.65 on an average R200 bet.
Read the case study → The receiptsEvery past week
Nothing is edited after publication. Old tables stay exactly as they were measured, so anyone can track whether a bookmaker sharpened up or drifted.
Browse the archive →Priced, not predicted
Find what your bet actually costs
Best price on every match, and what each book is charging you to take it.
Fixtures with prices
Premier League, PSL, MTN8 and cup football, with the best price on each match and what each book is charging.
All fixtures → PoolsSportstake 13
The thirteen-match pool, the fixtures, and how the pool's economics differ from a straight bet.
Sportstake 13 → Horse racingSA racing, all year
Turffontein, Greyville, Kenilworth, Fairview and the rest. Racing never has an off-season, so neither does the desk.
Racing pages → The big oneDurban July
Africa's biggest race day, priced months in advance, where the spread between books is at its widest.
Durban July odds → The fieldEvery bookmaker
Who we measure, what each charges, who blocks us and why. Licences, payout rates and the honest gaps.
Compare bookmakers → LearnGuides
Overround, payout percentages, why odds differ between books, and how to shop a price without becoming a mug.
All guides →Straight answers
Questions we get every week
Which South African bookmaker has the best odds?
What is a bookmaker margin, in plain English?
Does a lower margin actually mean better odds?
Does Edges take bets or hold money?
How often does the index update?
Thursdays, 08:30 SAST
The index refreshes before the weekend does
Prices move all week. A stale comparison is a wrong one, which is why the whole board is re-measured every Thursday morning, dated, and archived.