10 Tips for Soccer Betting in South Africa | Strategies to Stand the Test of Time

Here’s something you might not know—soccer betting is as much about patience, budgeting and managing your expectations as it is about understanding the intricacies of the beautiful game itself. 

Soccer tips are fun to follow but nobody wins every time. Anyone can predict the result of a soccer match correctly if they're lucky, but betting advice you can always use—no matter which teams are playing—is much more valuable. And that's what we'll give you here...

Not quite ready for strategy yet and want to understand various soccer betting terms? Find out more.

From bankroll management to finding the best odds and value, what you read below will not only make you think about soccer betting differently but can also help you win more often too!

Here are 10 tips and strategies for soccer betting in South Africa:

1️⃣ Strategy comes first

You can improve your chances of winning by using a soccer betting strategy instead of making random bets from one weekend to the next. We recommend taking a certain betting angle and constantly reviewing your results to see what’s working and where you need to improve. This means researching and practising a few soccer betting strategies before you find one that works for you. 

For example, you might discover that betting on EPL teams to win at home when the odds are between EVS (2.00) and 15/10 (2.50) is a bet that wins more often than it loses. If that's true, then you're onto a good strategy because winning at least half your bets at these odds will make you money in the long term.

Here are more soccer betting tips and strategies you can try out!

2️⃣ Find the best odds

Taking the best odds available is the easiest way to make more money from soccer betting. Always look on as many different sites as possible to find the best odds for the soccer bet you want to place. It's simple—every time you take a bet at smaller odds than you can get with another bookie, you leave precious money on the table! If you find the best odds on a site where you don’t already have an online account, that’s a great reason to sign up and claim their welcome bonus!

Learn how to compare soccer betting odds in South Africa.

3️⃣ Manage your money

Having a betting budget is not only the safest way to bet on soccer but it's the only way to ensure you stay on top of the bookies. Set a spending limit for every day/week/month depending on how often you like to bet. Also keep track of your deposits and withdrawals so you can quickly see how well you’re doing overall, i.e. if you're making a profit or a loss.

But managing your money isn't only about whether you're up or down, it also means deciding how to divide your money across your bets. You might try a level-stakes strategy and wager the same amount on every bet (no matter the odds). Other punters prefer to use the Kelly Criterion strategy, whereby the size of your bet depends on your edge. However you choose to manage your money, having the discipline to stick to your budget will improve your long-term betting results.

Read more about how to manage your money when betting on soccer.

4️⃣ Value is everything

The difficulty with sports betting is not necessarily picking winning teams. The odds can give you a fairly good idea of who might win. The hard part is finding undervalued teams or soccer betting outcomes where the odds are slightly bigger than they should be. Finding value means digging through results and statistics to find a bet where the bookies haven't taken all the factors into account. Any evaluation is subjective, but if you look especially at alternative or exotic markets, it's easier to find value.

One of the trickiest things to understand about value in soccer betting is that winning is not everything, although it's always better to win. Your bet might lose this time around, but if you keep placing bets where the odds are inflated, you'll win more in the long term. So if the odds for a team are bigger than they should be—even if that team is not very likely to win—it’s always better to back that team rather than their opposition.

Read more about the importance of value in soccer betting. 

5️⃣ Bet with your head, not your heart

Putting your emotions aside when betting is key if you want to be successful. For example, betting on a soccer team you love and support unconditionally is never a recommended strategy. Your natural bias can easily get in the way of thinking clearly and you might not see faults with certain players or situations, even when they are right in front of you. 

At the same time, betting with your head also means gambling responsibly. Some tips for safer gambling include learning to stop playing while you're winning, not to chase your losses, and being aware of how much you spend (not only in terms of money but also time away from your family and loved ones).

Read about some biases we all have and how to avoid them. 

6️⃣ Claim bonuses and promotions

This will be obvious to some of you but the more bookmakers you sign up with, the more free bets and deposit match offers you can claim! Every time you use a sign-up bonus to bet you're playing with house money. If you lose, it's no skin off your back—and if you win, it's free money in your pocket! So make the most of these offers by depositing the maximum to claim the full welcome bonus and do whatever you can to get free bets.

You can also use soccer betting promotions like Enhanced Odds, Cash Out, Build A Bet and Multibet Bonuses to your advantage. Depending on the size of payout boost or refund available, offers from bookies like Betway South Africa and Hollywoodbets can make soccer betting a lot more profitable!

Read about the best welcome bonuses in South Africa.

7️⃣ Don't be afraid of single bets!

We all love seeing a big potential payout at the bottom of our betslip but winning a 15-leg multibet with massive odds isn't easy. There’s nothing wrong with betting a few bucks on a 1000/1 shot, but it's always a good strategy to reduce your risk by taking some bets at smaller odds at the same time.

What's your favourite bet for the weekend? Make that bet your biggest one and take it as a single. The payout might not be huge compared to your stake but there's a better chance you'll win and have something to show for it! 

It's also advisable to stake more on smaller odds and less on bigger odds because this strategy will help create a balance between your riskier multibets and the ones that are more like a coin flip.

Read how a single bet strategy can help you win more often.

8️⃣ Know your betting markets

Knowing how different soccer betting markets work is also key to being a successful punter. Betting on something you don’t understand is a terrible idea, so always ask someone knowledgeable or do your research online to find out how a bet works before getting involved. For example, betting on a market like 'Who Wins The Rest of the Match' can be devastating if you don't realise that the score resets to 0-0 as soon as you place the bet. 

Read more about soccer betting markets and how they work.

9️⃣ Pick your battles

When the weekend of soccer begins, it's completely normal to want to have some money riding on every game. But as tempting as it is to bet the entire board, it's wiser to restrict your involvement to games you’ve had a chance to analyse carefully. One advantage punters have over bookmakers is that they have to set the odds for every match, whereas we have the luxury of picking our battles and can choose to bet only on games where we think the odds are favourable. 

🔟 Think outside the box

If you're like most soccer punters, you like to bet on popular leagues like the EPL and UEFA Champions League. These matches are easy to watch on TV or stream online, so naturally, there are more eyes on them. Although when it comes to soccer betting, this popularity comes at a price!

Because bookies do most of their research and pay more attention to the top leagues, the odds are more accurate and it’s harder to find value bets (read above) when compared to lower leagues. Therefore a good soccer betting strategy is to become an expert in a league like the Úrvalsdeild (Icelandic first division) where it's easier to make money.

For more about online sports betting, casino games and lotteries in South Africa, visit the Betting Guide homepage to find bookmaker reviews, promotions, betting tips and more.