Best Sports to Bet on in Zambia
If we sit down to list your top 5 entertainment sources, what would they be?
Well, let us rephrase that question. If we sit down to list five entertainment sources for you, would online gambling be one of them? If the answer is yes, you’re where you should be. It is our take on the best sports to bet on in Zambia.
The idea of betting comes paired with legal betting sites. “Legal” is critical here because you risk a lot if you spend money on an unlicensed betting site. To help you out, we have a list of betting companies in Zambia right here.
Betting experts vet all the brands you can find on the list for security, reliability, and enjoyment factors. You can sign up for any of them after reading our list of the best sports for online betting in Zambia.
Guide on the Legality of Betting in Zambia
As part of the African continent, Zambia shares many characteristics in terms of economy and consumer behaviour with other countries. However, gambling is a little different.
If you look across the countries in the continent, most of them don’t have adequate laws for gambling. One of the reasons is that most of these countries became independent recently. While a long time has passed on paper, it’s not enough for a country to develop a new culture.
As a result, most governments don’t bother regulating gambling as it is now. Or, they outright criminalise it to not deal with the growth.
Zambia, on the other hand, has a refreshing take on things. The government has legalised pretty much all forms of gambling in the country. There are lavish land-based casinos you can walk into. The same goes for betting shops.
However, our topic of discussion for this post is not land-based gambling. Instead, it’s online gambling. What’s the situation of that, you ask?
As of now, online gambling is not regulated by the Zambian government. So, it’s “unregulated”. But the fact that legal land-based gambling has reflected well on the locals. A lot of people participate in online betting.
All the sites that accept punters from the country are offshore. It means they’re based outside Zambia but can still operate legally within the country. All the sports betting sites you see on the list are also offshore.
No records have been of the government prosecuting any citizen for participating in real money gambling. It’s just that no local company can offer gambling services.
From what we’ve covered so far, it should be apparent that online gambling is entirely safe in Zambia as long as you stick to basic safety guidelines. Let’s come back to this at the end of this post.
List of the Most Popular Sports in Zambia for Betting
If you’re new to sports betting, you might have a cloudy idea about how it works. Let us help.
Simply put, when you wager real money on a sports outcome that you predict, that’s sports betting. “Legal” sports betting is doing the same thing through approved platforms. That’s what the betting companies in Zambia are for.
One of the online sports wagering first steps is choosing what sports you want to bet on. It’s crucial because you need to understand the ins and outs of that sport.
Here are the best sports to choose from as your first one.
Football
In a similar fashion to the majority of African countries, football is the most popular sport in Zambia. Not only that but it’s also considered the country’s national sport. Although the Zambian national team is yet to make a remarkable presence in international football, the general people are heartfelt supporters. Here is an interesting review of Zambian football:
The popularity of football in Zambia goes hand to hand with your wish to bet online. It’s because no matter what online bookmaker you look at, you’ll find the highest concentration of markets for football.
Among popular markets, you’ll find:
- 1×2,
- draw no bet,
- match-winner,
- top goalscorer,
- number of corners,
- over/under,
- even/odds,
- and a few others.
Multiple big-name tournaments like the UEFA Championship, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and many international friendlies are available for betting throughout the year.
Boxing
It might seem like an out-of-place sport, but boxing is significant in Zambia. While no boxer from Zambia has made it to the big leagues, they’re still big fans. Many take boxing classes as kids because of their passion for this sport.
It also means that boxing is an excellent prospect for online betting too. The most common market is the match winner for this sport. At the same time, you should be able to bet on the potential method of victory, the number of rounds the match will last, and a few other markets.
Basketball
Basketball is also a globally accredited sport, just like football. So, the fanbase is just as significant. Although there are no premier basketball leagues in Zambia, the bettors get more than enough events to choose from.
All betting companies in Zambia offer NBA (National Basketball Association) markets. It’s the biggest showdown of basketball in the world! Apart from that, you get tournaments like the FIBA Basketball world cup, NCAA basketball,
The most intriguing thing about betting on basketball is the intensity of the odds. For high-voltage tournaments like the NBA, the odds sometimes go through the roof! We’ve seen that most events come with longer odds than usual.
If you know how basketball works and how to read the odds perfectly, you can expect to do very well in basketball betting.
Tips for Online Gambling Safety in Zambia
As promised in an earlier section, we’ll round up safe online gambling practices. These tips apply not only in Zambia but across the world! So, pay attention.
- Always look into the legality of the betting site you’re going for. Generally, a platform is considered legal if it has a valid license. Reputed licensing authorities include the Curacao government, Malta Gaming Authority, Kahnawake Gambling Commission, the UK Gambling Commission, and so on.
- It’s best to cross-check the license number on the regulator’s official website. You should find the licensing information on the footer section of the site. The section would mention the operator’s name, the licensing authority, and the license number.
- After the license is ensured, look into the website encryption. Most modern websites have SSL 128-bit encryption dialled in with the domain. Look for the padlock symbol on your browser’s address bar to verify.
- Look into the payment methods. Never use any unknown payment providers. A reputed online betting site always offers honourable payment methods. So, if you can’t find any, it may be best to stay away from that site.