The Best Sportsbook Welcome Bonuses For South African Players
The Welcome bonus, often also referred to as the Sign-up Bonus, has truly capitulated its status as one of the most powerful weapons in any sportsbook’s arsenal for attracting new punters. For punters, the benefit of the Welcome Bonus is equally valuable, it presents the perfect incentive opportunity to dip your feet into the wonderful world of online sports betting without the risk.
At Probets, our specialty is of course to bring you all the latest online sportsbooks available for South African punters, but that is by no means all we do. Our aim is to bring you everything sports betting related in between as well, that includes providing a huge selection of the very best online sportsbook bonuses we think you need to know about.
As punters ourselves we know that you want to spend less time looking and more time actually placing your bets, it is for this reason that we have set up a designated team solely responsible for scouring the web in search of the latest sportsbook bonuses. Our team identifies, reviews, and sifts through the detailed T’s & C’s of each and every sportsbook bonus so you don’t have to.
What Is A Welcome Bonus?
As its name implies the Welcome Bonus is an incentive or welcome gift that is created and made available by a sportsbook to new players who successfully register or sign up. Welcome bonuses are intended for new players only and are limited to one player, so if you have created an account before at a sportsbook and claimed a bonus the welcome bonus won’t be available to you.
Welcome bonuses can come in different forms, which means that they are likely to vary from sportsbook to sportsbook, differences can come in the form of their value, how they are structured, and most importantly their T’s & C’s. The type of welcome bonus used is at the discretion of the sportsbook, and it is important to note that a sportsbook is by no means legally obliged to offer a welcome bonus to new players.
What Is The Reason For A Welcome Bonus?
There are a few reasons why the welcome bonus exists, for sportsbooks, it is a massive opportunity to stand out amongst the heavy competition and in doing so attract would-be new punters to their offering. For punters, the welcome bonus is a chance to fully experience a new sportsbook with little to no risk depending on the bonus, for example, Supabets offers all new players who sign-up with them a free R50 bet, meaning that as soon as you sign up, you can immediately go ahead and make your first bet completely risk free.
Punters are able to claim the Welcome bonus and in doing so receive an added boost to get their online playing journey off to a head start.
Types of Welcome Bonuses
Although a Welcome bonus will always be just that, a bonus designed to welcome the sign-up of a new player, the format and type of Welcome bonus can differ slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook, remember, the welcome bonus is created at the discretion of the sportsbook, so it is really up to them on how they would like to structure the bonus.
There are 2 general types of Welcome Bonus
- No Deposit Welcome Bonus, also known as a free bet
- Deposit Welcome Bonus
No Deposit Welcome Bonus
The first type of Welcome bonus you are likely to encounter is the no deposit bonus, this is one of the most sought-after welcome bonuses anywhere around based on the fact that it requires absolutely no deposit of your own funds in order for it to be activated. In the sportsbook world, the No Deposit Welcome Bonus will normally come in the form of a free bet, which will be set at a certain amount, usually around the R25- R50 mark. This “free bet” will be activated once you successfully register, from which you can then go and place a bet of your choice on a specific fixture or event.
How to Claim The No Deposit Welcome Bonus?
Claiming the No Deposit Welcome Bonus is incredibly simple, all that you need to do is create a free players account with one of the sportsbooks that offer this incentive, once you have created your account you will receive your bonus in the form of the free bet amount. When signing up you may need to select the welcome bonus during the process, if this is the case the sportsbook will make sure to clearly indicate what you need to do in order to activate the bonus in the process.
Step 1
Visit the sportsbook you would like to create a profile with, and make sure that this sportsbook offers you a welcome bonus. View our Welcome Bonuses above to easily find out what is available to claim. For this example, we are going to sign-up and claim with Supabets. Once on the homepage of the sportsbook, simply click on register to open up the sign-up form
Step 2
Once the registration/sign-up page has loaded the next step is to provide some of your basic personal details, NB! It is really important that you make sure to provide all the correct details as you will need to enter an OTP pin sent to your cellphone number in the next step. Additionally, if your information does not match your profile you will not be able to deposit money, place a bet, or even withdraw any winnings
The information you need to provide in this step is as follows:
- Username – which you will use each time you would like to log in
- Your ID number (South Africa) or passport number (Rest of Africa)
- First and last name
- Phone Number
- Email address
- Password – this will be used each time you want to login
Step 3
As mentioned in the previous step, it is super important that you provide the right cell phone number and email address when signing up as you will be sent an OTP pin which you will need to enter to complete your sign-up. Once you receive the OTP pin go ahead and enter this, then click “Submit” to finalise the process.
How To Use Your No Deposit Welcome Bonus.
As mentioned, your No Deposit/Free Bet Welcome Bonus will be credited to your profile once you have successfully registered/created your player’s account. Before you make use of your bonus it is important that you know the terms & conditions, the bonus T’s & C’s will give you information on what type of fixtures, odds, and games you can play using your bonus, it will also indicate the wagering requirement of the bonus, this stipulates the number of times your bonus amount needs to be played before you can cash out any winnings.
To use your No Deposit Welcome Bonus simply:
- Make sure you are logged into your player’s profile
- Select the fixture/event you would like to bet on
- Place your bet – make sure that you are aware beforehand if the bonus is applicable to only a single bet, or if it allows for multi-bets
Deposit Welcome Bonus
The second most popular type of welcome bonus you are likely to find is the Deposit Welcome Bonus. Again as its name implies, the deposit bonus requires you to first make a deposit using one of the many ZAR-friendly deposit payment options before you can claim your welcome bonus. Both the No Deposit and Deposit forms require you to sign up with the sportsbook beforehand.
Now we probably know what your immediate thought is, “What’s the point of a Welcome Bonus if I can only claim it once I have deposited?”, well, you see, the benefit to the no-deposit bonus is that it actually acts as a boost to your deposit amount, giving you a much-needed kick start to your online betting journey, additionally, the more you deposit the higher the bonus amount will be.
How Does A No Deposit Welcome Bonus Work?
The No Deposit Welcome Bonus is activated once a punter successfully creates a free player’s account with a sportsbook and makes their very first deposit. Deposit Welcome Bonuses work on a percentage scale, which is normally 100% up to a certain amount, this means that for every amount you deposit the sportsbook will match your amount by 100%. For example, If you deposit R250, the sportsbook will then credit you with another R250 as a bonus amount, your player’s profile will then instantly reflect a total playable amount of R500.
As you can see this is a great way to get far more bang for your buck, deposit bonuses also generally come with few terms and conditions that again stipulate the fixtures, events, and odds you can make use of, terms of the bonus will also indicate how many times the bonus needs to be wagered before you can withdraw any winnings.
How to Claim A Deposit Welcome Bonus
2 key things actions are required in order for a deposit welcome bonus to be claimed
- You must create a free player account with the sportsbook you would like to claim the bonus from
- You need to make your very first deposit with that sportsbook using your own funds
Once you have created your player’s account, log into your profile and navigate your way to the deposit payment options, you can easily do this by clicking on the “DEPOSIT” button located on the homepage
Step 2:
Once you have clicked on the Deposit button you will then be redirected to all of the available ZAR-friendly deposit options you can make use of. To make a deposit simply select the deposit option you would like to use and follow the easy steps to complete the process.
Once you have successfully made your first deposit your account will be instantly credited with your bonus amount.
Who Can Claim A Welcome Bonus?
Thankfully Welcome Bonuses are pretty accommodating to all punters, there are of course a few rules and regulations that you need to consider, these include:
- You must be over the legal gambling age (18+ in South Africa)
- You must successfully create a new players account
- All personal information supplied needs to be accurate and truthful
- A welcome bonus can only be claimed once by a single person
- Welcome Bonuses can not be transferred from one player to another
- You must be able to supply the relevant FICA Documentation for account verification, this can include ID documents, proof of residents, driver’s license, and passport
- No players can sign up for multiple accounts using the same credentials
Understanding Bonus Terms & Conditions:
No matter the type of sportsbook bonus there will always be a set of terms & conditions attached, T’s & C’s are nothing to be feared, their role is both beneficial and actually fairly simple, they are there to make sure both players and sportsbook are clear on the details, and that both player and sportsbook are legally protected.
The T’s & C’s of any Bonus are designed to help outline the details of how the bonus is structured and used, this includes details such as the types of bets you can place using the bonus, i.e. single vs multiple, how many times the bonus amount needs to be wagered or played, and finally the value of the bonus and it’s expiry date, understanding the T’s & C’s from the outset will help manage your expectations, and in doing so also avoid any frustrations or confusion when it comes time to use it.
Understanding the Wagering Requirements
So what are bonus wagering requirements? If you are a regular punter you have most likely come across this term before, for new punters though you may not be too familiar. The Wagering requirement, also often referenced by the initials “WR”, is a very important part of any bonus as it stipulates the number of times the bonus amount needs to be wagered or played before any winnings can be claimed.
For example, if you receive a R50 Free bet Welcome Bonus that has a wagering requirement of x3, this means that you need to wager or place bets to the amount of R50 x 3 = R150 before you can claim any of your winnings. If you receive R50 and your wagering requirement is x20, you will need to place bets to the value of R1,000 before you can claim any of your winnings.
Wagering requirements were introduced to help prevent money laundering and fraud, it prohibits players from claiming bonuses and immediately withdrawing without ever playing. Wagering requirements will vary from bonus to bonus, and from sportsbook to sportsbook, but regardless will always be clearly outlined for you to know.
What Happens If I Don’t Meet The Bonus Wagering Requirement?
If you happen to not meet the minimum wagering requirements of a bonus you simply won’t be able to convert your winnings from the bonus into any real money, i.e. you won’t be able to physically request a withdrawal of any winnings from the sportsbook.
How To Avoid Wagering Requirements?
It is inevitable that most, if not all bonuses will come with some wagering requirement attached to them, so avoiding them will mean that you will need to unfortunately avoid claiming a bonus of any kind altogether, which is not recommended. There are a few things that you can sense check beforehand to reduce any unwanted frustrations.
- Pick Your Sportsbook Bonuses Clearly – Wagering requirements will differ from sportsbook to sportsbook, and often certain sportsbooks will offer more favorable wagering requirements than others. Sift through our selection of bonuses across all sportsbooks to easily identify which are more favorable than others
- Choose bonuses known to have lower Wagering requirements – There are certain types of bonuses that will carry lower wagering requirements than others, thankfully, when it comes to sportsbook welcome bonuses these generally come with the lowest wagering terms, usually in single digitals, first deposit bonuses applicable to casino games generally come with the highest WR.
- Read the fine print – you can avoid a lot of unnecessary frustration by reading the fine print before claiming. We understand that this may be a waste of time, so for your convenience, our team clearly outlines each and every bonus detail for you to easily compare. Simply click on any bonus to find out more.