No gambling fanatic would find it easy choosing a betting site in South Africa. A lot of head-scratching would be involved when choosing between Betway and Hollywoodbets, the biggest betting names in SA.
Who’s the best between Betway and Hollywoodbets? This is the most asked question among South African punters. From face value, the two are equally persuasive in all betting dimensions. But this article will set apart each one of them. We’ll paint a vivid picture of what each has to offer, and you’ll be the judge.
In this article, we have taken time to measure each betting site against core betting metrics. We’ve explained all the key points against each metric so that you can judge easily. Let us see the pros and cons of each site at a glance.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Looking at the pros and cons, you could already pick a favorite. But there’s more that we have for you that you could use to make a more informed choice. Let’s dive deeper and look at both sites’ welcome bonuses.
A .glance at both sites would have you believe that the two bookies have the same welcome bonus. Both sportsbooks offer a R25 no deposit free bet as a welcome gift to new players. But there’s more about the offer than meets the eye.
As we’re about to see, the sites differ in several ways from what’s required of players to win the bonus, the validity period, and the wagering requirements. Here are more details on each site’s welcome bonus.
Every player that signs up at Betway is eligible for an R25 free bet. To unlock this offer, though, the player needs to upload their FICA documents for verification. Betway’s FICA function is an automated system used to verify the legitimacy of players’ info at sign-up.
Once verified, a voucher code is sent to the player’s mobile phone. The player should enter the code to the Betway site to receive their R25 worth of free bet. The best thing about Betway’s welcome bonus is there’s no wagering requirement. This means you can withdraw any amount won from the bet less than the free bet amount.
Another thing, Betway welcome bonus has a 180 days validity period from the sign-up day. This means there are three months at your disposal to decide when and how to use your free bet. Other than the 18 years age legal requirement, the rest are indicated at the site’s Welcome Bonus terms and conditions.
As you may have gained by now, the only similarity in the Betway-Hollywood welcome bonus is the free bet amount. Everything else from the wagering requirements, claiming process, and the validity period is different for each bookie.
At Hollywoodbets, you only need to register to receive your welcome bonus. That is one of the things that sets the bookie apart from Betway. However, the free bet expires after 24 hours, unlike the Betway, valid for up to 180 days. So, a player has to claim it and use it fast, or as soon as they register with the sportsbook.
In addition to a short validity period, the offer comes with some wagering requirements. The bonus amount has to be played in full with at least 0.5 odds per sports event. Other requirements are similar to Betway’s and are listed on the bookie’s terms and conditions.
If a player chooses either of the bookies as their favorite, the pointers above will help make the decision. Of course, it’s already easy to tell who any player would pick, but you’re the judge here, right?
There’re still more pointers that could inform your choice in the Betway Hollywoodbets face-off. Let’s take a look at both sites’ features when it comes to their betting products. What we have for you is carefully selected metrics that you can use to determine which bookie is the best for you.
Here are the features we’ll use as metrics in this comparison guide:
One of the reasons bettors click on a betting site is the availability of various sports events. As the biggest names in SA’s betting market, Betway and Hollywoodbets offer a wide variety of betting events. But there’s got to be the superior sports events provider. Is it Betway or Hollywoodbets?
Betway, for example, offers players with over 24 sports disciplines. They range from popular games like soccer, tennis, rugby, basketball to the not-very-popular ones like futsal and handball. Betway also prides itself as the leading soccer betting site as it offers over 60 different soccer leagues.
Hollywoodbets also has a fair share of games that it offers to players. The bookie offers a large selection of betting games with multiple betting options. There are 23 sports available at the bookie, ranging from soccer, horse racing, tennis to the less followed snooker and futsal games. The bookie is famous for horse racing betting, and it offers the best coverage of the sort in South Africa.
Comparing the two sportsbooks, they both offer premium satisfaction to SA punters. But in terms of the number of sports events, Betway carries the day.
For starters, betting markets are the outcome options on a sports event that a bookie gives you to bet on. It’s one of the things a punter looks for in any betting site. More betting markets give you more chances of betting. So, the range of a site’s betting market is an essential metric in the Betway-Hollywoodbets showdown.
To decide this case, we shall consider three sports events from each bookmaker and a match from each sport. We’ll count the betting markets in each bookie and see which one beats the other. Let’s take soccer, horse racing, and rugby. These three are SA’s most popular sports.
If we do the math, Betway continues in the lead with 199 betting markets over three sports events, while Hollywoodbets has 126 markets on the same number of events. One might have thought Hollywoodbets would have won since it focuses more on horse racing. But Betway still shines as far as betting markets are concerned.
Another metric to measure the two site’s muscle is the odds offered by each sportsbook. Odds are the main determinants of how much a player can win in a bet. The better the odds for an event, the better your chance of winning. Let’s say a bookmaker A has 2.3 odds on a Man United VS West Ham match, and another bookmaker B has 1.7 odds on the same bet. A player betting on bookie A gets more money than one betting on B if the bet wins.
While comparing the odds in Betway and Hollywoodbets on the same events, Betway seems to retake the lead. Betway’s odds for the Tottenham VS. Southampton had better odds than the Hollywoodbets odds. The same applies to rugby. The horse racing on Hollywoodbets had better odds but couldn’t match up with Betway on the total score. What do we say? Betway is still leading the pack.
For more experienced punters, the live betting feature is always a favorite spot in any sportsbook. This is where you place bets in real-time and catch the action simultaneously. In the showdown between betway and Hollywoodbets, there has to be one with a better live betting experience than the other.
Looking at Betway, it has a fantastic live betting feature that comes with clearly displayed odds. Odds are well colored to help you see the fluctuations easily and bet seamlessly. For Hollywoodbets, the experience is as thrilling as its opponents, with even better odds. But it beats Betway hands down because it offers its gaming suite from two gaming service providers. Hollywoodbets have a more extensive selection of live betting games than Betway. On this one. Hollywoodbets takes the lead.
The build-a-bet feature is an excellent way to multiply your winnings even on a small stake. With a bet builder, you can predict multiple outcomes from the same event. For these two rival sportsbooks, we need to check the bookie with the best bet builder feature. The only yardstick good bet builder is the number of outcomes that a bookie offers per event.
Betway’s bet builder allows players to select up to 10 outcomes in a single game. On the other hand, Hollywoodbets has over 12 outcome options for players to bet on. Without a say, Hollywood carries the day.
Show me a site without customer rewards and promotions, and I will show you a site with zero players. It is rewards, bonuses, and promotions that keep customers coming back to a betting site. In SA, big-name betting sites like Hollywoodbets and Betway know and appreciate the value of promotions.
So between Betway and Hollywoodbets, which one has the best customer promotions? We start with Betway. Apart from the welcome bonus offered to new players, Betway also offers a win-boost bonus that can boost your multi-bet winnings by up to 150%. Then there’s the money-back boost that can have you get 20 times your bet back if one selection in your bet slip fails you. Also, the bookie has referral rewards and loyalty club rewards.
On the other hand, Hollywoodbets has over ten promotions, including soccer bonus bonanza, the Irish objection, the refer a friend bonus, soccer mini-jackpots, lucky numbers, daily prizes, and more. When compared to Betway, Hollywoodbets got a plus here.
When looking at a site's mobile experience, you’re looking at how well the betting site can work on a mobile device. The two main things you want to check are ease of use and navigation. Also, whether or not a bookie has a mobile app and the data-free mode availability.
Both sites have gone out of their way to provide players with some great mobile betting experience. About the app, only betway has an app available for both iOS and Android devices. Hollywoodbets has no app, but its website has a great mobile user experience. Also, data-free betting is only available on betway. Overall, betway has the best mobile betting experience and easily one of the best betting apps in South Africa overall.
Another metric we’ll use in drawing the line between these betting bigwigs is the Bet TV games they offer. There are several major TV games that we’ll consider;
To determine how each sportsbook performed in each category, we looked up reviews from different betting sites. Here are the results
Live Casino Games: A peek at Betway’s live games revealed they have a decent offer. But Hollywoodbets beat them hands down as their live games suite comes from two popular providers.
Lucky Numbers: Without a doubt, Hollywoodbets prides itself as the best lucky numbers sportsbook in SA. Betway can not match up, and that record remains unbeaten.
Virtual Sports Betting - Here’s where we’ll leave it up to the players to decide. Both bookies offer equally impressive virtual games.
Payment and withdrawal methods are among the first things to check after signing up on a betting site for any bettor. Many deposit options give players a wide range of choices and preferences.
To decide the winner in the Betway-Hollywoodbets contest, check out how these SA deposit options rank for both sites.
Betway
Hollywoodbets
Betway has the most deposit options, making her the lead in the payment category of this contest.
Here’s where the cards shift as Hollywoodbets take the lead. Have a look at both sites' withdrawal methods.
Betway
Hollywoodbets
While Hollywoodbets have over eight withdrawal options, including banks and mobile money transfers, Betway has four methods.
Deciding the winner of the great contest between the two betting bigwigs in SA is no easy task. But after the deep analysis in this guide, the king can be crowned without dispute. We measured the bookies against the metrics outlined in this comparison guide and awarded each site their due points.
That said, Betway beat Hollywoodbets hands down and is declared the best betting site in South Africa. Make no mistake! Hollywoodbets is equally good and cannot be downtrodden. It has some features that Betway lacks and is still the best horse racing betting site. But the overall winner in all other aspects is Betway South Africa.
James is responsible for the South African market on BettingGuide. He has a keen interest in sports betting and Gambling laws in particular. James is a Lawyer practising in East Africa, loves writing, and has a Law Degree from Makerere University, Uganda and a Post Graduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, Kenya.