Category Archives: Gambling

Sports Betting Comes of Age in Kenya – Part II

$1 = ~Kshs 100

Looking at the terms and conditions of the sports betting companies listed in part I

Betin

  • Betin Kenya is part of the GoldBet Group, one of Europe’s largest and most successful betting and gaming Operators, and Gamcode Ltd trading as Betin Kenya is a company incorporated in Kenya while Konicom Ltd is owned by Gamcode Ltd and provides payment and SMS solutions for Betin Kenya.
  • The service is of a personal nature, and is to be used purely for personal entertainment. Any commercial and professional interest is discarded
  • All winnings are subject to taxes that Betin will withhold and pay on your behalf
  • You’re only allowed one account (if they find multiple they will close you out)
  • The minimum bet is Kshs 50, the maximum is 500,000
  • The maximum payout is Kshs 10 million on any ticket
  • Has betting rules and opportunities for American football (bet over/under, missed field goals), athletics (can bet on winners or which countries will place on a podium), baseball, basketball (bet against the spread, highest scoring quarter) , boxing, golf, horse racing, motor sports (who will be on pole, who will have the fastest lap, who will be the first retiree, if the safety car will be deployed) , soccer (predict outcome of each half, total goals scored, next goal, penalties, yellow/red cards issued, clean sheets, own goals)
  • Customer service/complaints should be sent by email to info@betin.co.ke.. the complaint shall be assigned to an advisor (..and offensive or rude language, as well as malicious or damaging comments, will not be tolerated while contacting our staff..this will result in a suspension of an account)

Betway

  • Jambo Marketing Limited t/a Betway is licensed and regulated through the Betting Control and Licensing Board of Kenya
  • The minimum bet is Kshs 50, and the maximum win per bet slip is Kshs 450,000
  • The  maximum daily winning is Kshs 900,000 (or Kshs 1,800,000 per week)
  • Only one  account allowed
  • If you use a credit/debit card and/or a financial/bank account for transactions at Betway, the account/cardholder’s name MUST be the same as the name you used when registering a Betway account.
  • You must prove identify through other documentation within a month
  • No transfers between  individual accounts
  • You must provide ID before you can withdraw from any account, and withdrawals may be spread over several days if large. They will verify any withdrawal over Kshs 200,000
  • If you win more than 5X your lifetime deposits you are capped at Kshs 400,000 per week
  • Don’t allow arbitrage and money laundering or people to play in a professional capacity, or in tandem with other customers as part of a group, or place bets in a coordinated manner with other customers involving the same selections
  • You are solely responsible for any applicable taxes on any prizes and/or winnings
  • Other examples of irregular betting include, but are not limited to, placing single bets equal to or in excess of, 30% or more of the value of the bonus credited to your account before the wagering requirements for that bonus have been met.
  • With soccer, you can bet on goal scorers, correct scores, corners, yellow cards etc.
  • Can view your statements for 30 days to see bet history

Mcheza App

  • Operated by Acumen Communications Ltd (trading as MCheza)
  • We may have to contact You and ask You to provide further information to us directly in order to complete the Checks. For this purpose, we will be entitled, at our sole discretion, to require that You provide us with a notarised ID, proof of address, utility bills, bank details, bank statements and bank references. Until such information has been supplied to our satisfaction we may prevent any activity
  • Funds are deposited for bets only. Should you attempt to withdraw funds that were deposited but not used for wagering, the Company may levy a processing fee of 10% upon such withdrawals.
  • No maximum withdrawal per day but amounts more than Kshs 100,000 may require special arrangements
  • To the extent required by your local law or tax or other authorities, you are responsible for reporting your winnings and losses
  • You agree to not in any way treat the Company as a financial institution. This includes using the Company as an intermediary to transfer funds, unused or used, from one source to another one with or without ill intentions as well as using the Company as a currency exchange bureau
  • The Company may actively monitor traffic to and from the access devices, website and all other media/electronic platforms. The Company reserves the right to block access where evidence indicative of automated or robotic activity is found
  • You can bet on football (match winners, over / under, goal scored, scorers, penalties, cards, corners) basketball (most 3 pointers), tennis, baseball, American football, boxing (method of win, and round the fight ends), cricket, (top bowler, top batsman, partnership, dismissal method), golf, rugby, motor sports (pole , winner, retirements)

BetYetu

  • Operated by Oxygen8 East Africa Ltd (O8 Betting)
  • Kenyan mobile phone number (+254) is your customer identity
  • The minimum withdrawal is zero, and there is no maximum (but this will be limited to mobile money company thresholds)
  • You can bet on soccer (UEFA champions league, ) basketball, tennis

SportPesa

  • SportPesa is a trading name of Pevans E.A. Ltd
  •  You agree to not in any way treat the Company as a financial institution. This includes using the Company as an intermediary to transfer funds, unused or used, from one source to another one with or without ill intentions
  • Your Username must be your registered telephone (mobile) number
  • The Company prohibits and takes measures to prohibit use of devices, such as robots, computers that distort normal and fair game play. Should the use of such electronic added devices be discovered, the Company will disqualify such player(s), close all such accounts and confiscate all funds and earnings due to such accounts
  • The minimum bet Kshs 100, and the maximum Kshs 20,000
  • A maximum bet single win is capped at Kshs 200,000 and multi-bet is  Kshs 1 million (and max per person is 1.5 million per day)
  • You can bet on boxing, basketball, tennis, rugby

Sports Betting Comes of Age in Kenya

Sports betting used to be done at the Ngong horse races, and in a few casinos around Nairobi that have red carpet entrances. Now you don’t have to visit the casinos to place bets, as the mobile phone has become enables this.

Sports Betting in KenyaEvery day, the sports pages of the newspapers have about four (4) color half-page advertisements by different mobile sports platforms, enticing fans to bet on various matches, usually the English premier League. That’s a serious investment, and some are probably already making it back from the sport-betting public. The companies all have busy social media accounts, sign up via SMS, and mobile money payment options – mainly Mpesa.
Here are the main ones making a splash now (in no particular order):
Twitter: @betyetu
Phone: SMS amount to 29111
Payments: mpesa paybill 850704
The new arrival has media personalities Julie Gichuru and Carol Radull as promoters and had the (under-performing) sport cabinet Secretary, Dr. Hassan Wario, as the chief guest at their official launch this month. Bills that you can bet on 277 different leagues, including Australia, Belgium, English (BPL),  Scottish etc. using their platform.
Twitter:  @MchezaKE #chezanamcheza
Phone: SMS cheza 29888
Payment: Mpesa top up 295525
Bills that they are the official sponsor of West Ham United, you can bet on the BPL and Italian leagues, and that they have a Kshs 9 million (~$90,000) jackpot
Twitter: @betway_ke #betwayinkenya
Phone: SMS fixtures to 29029
Payment: lipa na mpesa 880185
Bills that they have a Kshs 10 million jackpot and that they have Kenya’s best betting service. I get their email alerts even though I’m not signed on any league and it’s interesting that you can bet on many diverse events such as rugby and American Football, tennis, and, even politics like who will be the new US president in 2016 Sports Betting in Kenya 2
Twitter: @betinkenya
Phone: SMS join 29456
Payments: paybill 997270
Bill that they are Africa’s number one sports betting platform and official sponsor of the SportPesa premier league in Kenya. Also that they have a Kshs 18.5 million ($185,000) bonus and one can bet on the BPL, Euro, Middle East, and other leagues.

Twitter: @sportpesa

Phone: SMS game 79079 (Kshs 2 per SMS)
Payment: Mpesa paybill, airtel money, orange money
It’s amazing that even in faraway places, in rural Kenya, you find young men who are on the platforms. They may not even be able to watch the matches but can bet on them – even in places where it costs kshs 20 – 50 to watch an afternoon’s worth of English Premier League matches. If there are simultaneous matches, the kiosk owners change the channels to the different matches every few minutes to keep up with the action.

Bankers Predict the World Cup

In March this year, an Economics team made some interesting predictions about the now on-going World Cup. While the likely outcome then was that Brazil would defeat France in the final, the team predicted that the entire world economy would benefit most from Italy defeating Germany in the final 3 – 1. Interesting read, since Italy, Germany and France are all in the semis now. (PDF here)