How betting works and terminologies used

by Enock Bett · Published November 24, 2019 · Updated November 24, 2019

Betting is a risk of a sum of money or valued item against someone else’s on the basis of the outcome of an unpredictable event such as a race or game. This is according to Google dictionary. Meaning there has to be an occurrence or an incident that is going to happen that both the involved parties are not sure of the outcome, and so can make a random guess in exchange for money or any item.

Kenya in the last 6 years or so has become the hotspot of betting activities. From the youth to the old men and even some women, all have turned their entire attention to betting. We have witnessed weird cases of betting-gone wrong, that the participants even go to the extent of taking their own lives, fighting or placing ridiculous prizes such as their wives with the opponents. This high spirit of betting in Kenya led to the instant growth of betting companies, with profits turning of billions of shillings in a short time. This makes you wonder, how such companies can overtake very established manufacturing businesses that have been in existence for years, but oh yes, it is the passion for betting that Kenyans have developed and nurtured as if it is their only source of income.

While you can place bets on anything, sports betting has proofed to be the main activity most people like to engage in. Like recently I argued with my friend on whether Eliud Kipchoge would succeed in running the INEOS Marathon under 2 hours, I was very certain that it was not humanly possible. To end the long phone call argument, my friend asked me to place a bet of KES 4000, he promised not to switch his phone off in case Kipchoge fails to beat the record, we agreed but unfortunately, I lost and had to pay him.

So what is a sports betting? This is when you place a bet on a sporting event to gain a fixed amount of money if the team or player you chance on wins, and lose the amount if they don’t win.

Read: What is fuelling Sports Betting in Africa.

Terminologies used in betting

Accumulator bet– This is the combination of four or more single bets to offer longer odds and potentially bigger winnings. May also be referred to as multiple bets.
Odd – This is the determinant of the probability of a team or player winning and therefore enables you to work out how much money you get if your bet wins.
Double bet – Placing two single selections as one bet and combining the odds for better chances. The two selections must be realized in order to win.
First half bet: A bet placed solely on the first half of a game.
Fixed odds – This is the kind of betting in which the amount of money you can win does not change regardless of odds fluctuation after you have placed your bet.
In-play betting – This one offered in the online sites allows participants to place a bet on a particular outcome after the match has started.
Outright bets – This is the placing of bets on all matches rather than a single match.
Against the Spread – This is a bet you place to determine which team will spread and win in the case of right placing even if the team has not won the match.
Cash-out – This is when participants decide to settle the placed bet before the match ends. If you cash out after winning some placed bets, you take home a lesser amount but not like when you wait for the match to end in order to win or lose the whole amount.
Draw – When the match you have placed the bet on, draw, meaning both teams ended up in the same scores. Bet participants will get their money back.
Drift – When the bet selections increase in price.
First Goalscorer: A bet placed on a player to score the first goal in the event.

Njoki Chege rubbished betting out of ignorance – Here is the economics of betting.

How to place a bet

There are different ways to place a bet with different companies, for example for Betika, the minimum bet amount is Kshs 49 and the maximum limit is set according to their terms and conditions. There are three possible results in any football match, i.e win, draw or lose. One can place a bet by sending a short message BETIKA to 29090 and to receive the current football match fixtures and their ODDS, after which they will be able to place their desired odds. While others can do so by accessing their created online accounts to select bets from the game line-up using the computer mouse. The selected bets will appear in the form of a bet slip on the right hand of the homepage. The participant can proceed to specify the amount they wish to wager and preferred category of bet, whether single or multiple before clicking next to submit. Most sites allow the players to cancel their bets 10 minutes after they have submitted.

The results are displayed on the timeline as the match continues. When the participant wins, the company they are dealing with will deposit their gain in their accounts after which they can decide to withdraw at their own will, and if they lose, the company takes the money placed on the bet.

Also Read List of betting sites you can still use now that Sportpesa and Betin are down