Betting Sites in Nigeria 2023
Betting has become an integral part of the world. While many people see betting as a separate sport of its own, you can not quarantine it from traditional sports. That is why the best betting sites are tied to sports betting. In Nigeria, many things are driving the betting industry. It has been thriving in the last decade. Some bet because of the gains, while others see it as entertainment. Some others enjoy the challenge and thrill.
Top 10 Betting Sites in Nigeria
Bet9ja
Bet9ja came into being in 2013, with licenses from the Osun State Lotteries Board, Lagos State Lotteries Board, plus the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. There are more than 10,000 betting opportunities on the site. However, sports betting is their focus.
Their bonuses include a Welcome Bonus, Cash out Bonus, and Cut-One bonus. They also have the Win Points Loyalty Bonus and the 170% Multiple Booster. Their site is one of the most popular sports betting sites in Nigeria. They also offer mobile betting, live betting, and casino gaming.
1XBet
Owned by the Beaufortbet Nigeria Limited, this operates with a license from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. They offer betting services in sports, live betting in sports, casino games, live casino, esports, etc. Their customer service works 24/7, and they use Webmoney, Qiwi, and other e-payments methods for banking.
Betway
Betway got their licenses from the Lagos State Lotteries Board and the Country’s gaming ministry. Digi Bay Limited owns the company, and they have a physical office in Lagos, Nigeria. They offer virtual sports, betgames, jackpots, live casinos, casino games, sports, and live betting.
22Bet
The owner of this betting site is Arcadia Hospitality Ltd. It started offering gaming services with a license from the Oyo State Gaming Board plus the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. It has been there since 2017 and offers esports, jackpots, casino titles, live games, and sports betting.
MelBet
Melbet came into being in 2012 and belongs to Otrada Hospitality Limited. They offer games with licenses from the Oyo State Gaming Board and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission.
Here, you can bet on sports, esports, casino games, and live bets. They have more than 200 events with up to 1,000 options every day.
betBonanza
Betbonanza betting site operates with authority from the Lagos State Lotteries Board plus the national regulatory body. They offer virtual sports, casino games, live titles, and sports betting of different types. They frown at underage gambling and have one of the most responsive customer care among sports betting sites in the country.
History of Betting Sites In Nigeria
There were no betting sites in Nigeria before 2009. People engaged in crude betting on their favorite sporting activities, like the popular pool staking. However, no official and organized internet sports bookmaking firm existed in Nigeria until 2009 when Akin Alabi established the first organized sports betting site.
This act gave rise to an avalanche of betting sites in Nigeria in the coming years. Nairabet was the pioneer. However, many other betting sites like 1960bet and bet9ja followed immediately. Currently, Nigeria can boast of more than 50 registered and licensed sites where punters can wager on different games.
The allure and thrill of betting, and the fact that the country is hugely populated, gave the betting business the success it needed. The boom in the betting business in Nigeria comes to light when you consider the numbers. The National Lottery Regulatory Commission has issued more than 36 five-year licenses to different betting companies since September 2018.
One significant thing about betting companies in Nigeria is that they do not just run the betting sites alone. The majority of them also have physical betting shops. Nigeria is still developing and still encounters some challenges with the internet. The situation makes it imperative to have these shops. Agents of these online betting sites in the country operate these shops. They offer betting services to walk-in customers.
One of the most popular online betting sites in the country is Bet9ja. It is KC Gaming that operates this household name. Top Entertainment’s Nairabet, SV Gaming’s BETKING, Digi Bay’s Betway, 1960bet, and Wazobet are also popular. Others are Sportybet, iBet, Access Bet, Blackbet, Betbiga, Naijabet, Cloud Bet, BetLion, BETPAWA, 1Xbet, Msport, and Betwinner.
There are also BET24HRS, BETBONANZA, ZEBET, MSPORT, Interwetten, Betika, Melbet and Bangbet. We also have Booster 99, 22BET, merrybet, ILOT, FRAPAPA, N1, Star Bet, Betmojo, and many others.
All the top betting sites in the country have their licenses from the rightful national body. Some betting sites also register with state bodies like the Lagos State Lotteries Board. While most of them have local origins, others are international betting sites that decided to veer into the sports betting business in Nigeria.
We should also note that while most betting sites are strictly sports betting companies in Nigeria, some also combine sports with casino games and other types of betting. To help you understand what the betting sites in Nigeria are like, we will review the most popular among them below. Read and understand the workings of the best betting sites in Nigeria.
How to Select the Best Betting Sites In Nigeria
Anywhere you find yourself in the world, if you are new to the act of sports punting, the best advice from people that have been there for a long time is to always bet with reliable betting sites. It determines many things, and your success in the betting business is one of them.
Because of this, we will let you know the things to consider, look out for, investigate, and ascertain before you choose betting sites to pitch your tent within Nigeria. Those are the attributes that make up the best betting sites in Nigeria.
Safety and Security
The web is a very porous place, and you can only make it safe by intention. Now, there are many things at stake in sports betting. When you sign up with any sportsbook, you are giving up your data and banking details as well.
You also leave some amount of money on a betting site. It could be in the form of your deposits for games, your winnings from games, or both. So, you have to consider the level of security they offer.
Ensure that the betting company secures its betting site with the highest level of security protocol. The SSL encryption protocol is the best for betting sites in Nigeria. It scrambles all the information and data online in a way that any third-party intruder cannot read or interpret. Make sure the betting site you are choosing in Nigeria has this. This way, your data, and funds are safe with them.
Licensing
Sportsbooks or sports betting sites in Nigeria can operate with two different licenses. The country has the National Lottery Regulatory Commission that issues licenses to providers of gaming activities here. All the states also have lottery boards or commissions like the Osun State Lotteries Board. These state boards can also issue licenses for gaming.
You must ensure that the betting sites in Nigeria under your purview have licenses from the federal body. State licenses are additional, and they help deepen the legitimacy of the betting company.
The reason is that these bodies regulate the activities of the sites or companies in Nigeria. They protect their customers from fraudulent practices by the firms. They also cushion them against losses in case the firm goes down.
Sports Betting Markets
While some of the best sites for betting in Nigeria might offer slots, casino titles, and other games, the primary focus of lots of these betting sites is on sports betting. So, if this is why you are on a betting site in Nigeria, you must ensure that the betting site you choose has a wide range of sports betting events, markets, and options on offer. If they have a scanty catalog or lobby, you might run out of options at some point.
Lack of options can breed boredom. It may also hamper your success in online sports betting. So, research and see that they cover a lot of sporting activities, events, and markets, especially the ones you like. If you cannot find everything you want in one place, then that site may not be the best for you, and it is not the best betting site in Nigeria.
Promotions and Bonuses
Many people will tell you that bonuses are essential in online sports betting. They are the salt with which you eat games. The more bonus offers you have, the more exciting the gaming exercise. So, you have to study their bonus policy and see how generous it is. If a firm does not offer something as basic as a welcome bonus, it might be a dent in its claim as one of the best betting sites in Nigeria. So, they must find a wide range of other bonuses to make up.
The bonuses allow you to try out, learn and master new games and the workings of the betting sites before staking your own money. The welcome bonus is essential because the free bets help you kick start easily. It is usually a 100% bonus up to a particular amount. They give you the chance to study and understand new betting sites. So, you have to consider it paramount.
In checking the bonus or free bets offer, you should not only consider the number and sizes. You also have to consider their conditions. If the bonuses have extreme requirements, they may not be good enough for you in Nigeria.
The Betting Odds
The odds determine what you gain from the best Nigerian betting site. So, it is also a serious thing to consider in choosing the best betting site in Nigeria. To get as much potential profit as possible, you have to choose platforms with higher odds.
Check the prices on the markets on a site. Compare with what you have on the others, and see the one that pays you more. Also, check according to games because some might offer better odds in a particular sport and fail in another. See the Nigerian betting site with the best odds in the sport you want to wager and consider it alongside other factors.
Live Betting and Live Streaming
These are two other essential features to look out for in choosing the betting site to stick to in Nigeria. Live streaming has become a big part of the world of sports betting. Advances in technology have made these things more accessible. Every serious betting site should consider them.
Streaming the games allows you to get firsthand information about events. It gives you the chance to place your in-play bets accordingly. In-play bets on their angle give you a new vista of opportunities to bet and win on ongoing sporting events. Even if the best Nigerian betting site does not have live streaming, they should allow in-play bets.
Mobile Betting
Of course, this is one thing any right-thinking betting company cannot afford not to offer in Nigeria. The world has gone completely mobile, to the extent that almost everything happens on mobile devices. The nature of betting makes it even more of a mobile thing.
So, any betting site that wants to stand among the best in Nigeria must have a mobile presence. They either have a mobile betting app that you can download and play games on or offer a mobile-optimized website where users of different mobile devices can also play games.
Support
There will always be the need to contact the betting site you have an account with and make some inquiries. If the website has only a few avenues to get to them and lay your complaint, they are not good enough for you.
If they cannot respond to your queries as soon as you drop them, do not use them. If the platform cannot offer plausible solutions when you contact them, they are not good.
So, be sure that there are many avenues to reach their agents and that your inquiries get a prompt response. If they work 24/7, better, and their agents must offer workable solutions.
Unique Features of Betting Sites in Nigeria
Some features distinguish the betting sites in Nigeria from those you will see in other parts of the world. When we say this, we are talking about indigenous betting sites. These features set apart the best betting sites in the country, and they endear customers to these sites.
You may not find all of them on each betting site. However, the sites pick the ones they can and offer them to the players. The features make gaming easier for the bettors and draw them closer to their wins. They are among the things to consider before choosing betting sites in Nigeria. We have listed and explained how they work below.
Betting Shops
This feature is a unique one in the betting sites in Nigeria. It was an initiative of one of the pioneer betting companies in the country and has become a norm among the big-name betting sites in Nigeria. While offering betting on their websites, they also work with agents who establish on-ground or physical betting shops in different locations in the country.
Many people believe that it was initiated by the 1960bet. However, betting companies like the household name bet9ja, Betking, Betway, and others have them. Even the new betting sites in the country have thousands of betting shops in different locations.
They serve people who may not have the means to place bets on their mobile devices and people who are not yet internet savvy. They can easily walk in, place their bets with these agents and collect their betting slips as evidence. This singular practice gave rise to the boom in sports betting in Nigeria in the last two decades.
Cash-out
There is a Cash-Out feature that many people see as the most beneficial in the best betting sites in Nigeria. If you do not offer this as a betting site, no one rates you among the best in the country.
Cash-out gives you the chance to win something from every bet. This feature helps you take out your profit halfway. With this, you to get back some part of your stake amount. You can also cut the loss that is due to an unsure ticket.
What happens is that you get the chance to end the bet and take whatever remains on anytime you wish. It could be before the start of the events or in the middle of the events. It works for both single bets and accumulator bets and is available in all the elite betting sites in Nigeria.
Betting sites with this option give you the chance to take a payout as early as you wish. Here, you get the opportunity to get a money-back before the end of the events on your slip. Through this method, you can never lose all. So, it is a win-win situation for you on any betting site.
For instance, when you bet 1,000 Naira on Manchester United to defeat Arsenal on a single bet with three odds, you will have 3,000 naira potential winning. If Manchester United takes the lead after 30 minutes, you may be given a cash-out option with 1,800 Naira. You can take this profit and leave or wait for the game to run its course and see if Manchester United will win.
Accumulator Multiple Boosts
The best betting sites in Nigeria have as much as 250% Accumulator Boosts. These betting sites struggle to deliver the best accumulator bonuses in Nigeria. Some of them offer around a 150% bonus boost. Some take it up to 170%. However, the most generous decided to take it a notch higher to a 250% bonus boost.
When you see such a massive feature on any site, you will not have any reason not to include them among the best platforms for betting in Nigeria. For you to access this bonus, your accumulator bet must have a certain number of selections and sizes of odds.
When you meet the requirement, you will gain some percentage of bonuses on each additional selection on the ticket. You qualify for this when you have up to 5 picks on your accumulator slip. After the 5th selection, any other market you select with 1.3 odds or more gains you a 5% boost. Pick up to 40 of such in any betting site in Nigeria, and gain up to 250% of your total stake.
Risk-Free Bet
Risk-free bet is another feature of the best sites that offer sports betting in Nigeria. A Risk-Free bet is an offer that all new players get from some of these betting sites in Nigeria. It could be a 10,000 naira, 5,000 Naira, or even 1,000 Naira bet for all new players. We can describe it as an additional welcome bonus.
When you sign up, make the first deposit, and make your first bet, you will get a 100% refund of up to 10,000 Naira if the first bet fails. So, if you make a first deposit of 5,000 Naira and bet with it, and it fails, you will get a 5,000 refund.
It makes your first bet risk-free on these betting sites in Nigeria. With this offer, you will see that the best betting sites in Nigeria try to give players the chance to win and the incentives to stick with them.
There is nothing as exciting as offers that make the players feel a sense of belonging. That is one thing these sites are good at. This feature turns betting sites into household names in Nigerian sports betting.
One Game Cut or Cut-One
The Cut 1 Bonus is the feature that pays you even if you lose one of the predictions on your accumulator bet. It is another commendable feature of the best betting sites in Nigeria and an extension of a hand of compassion to the players.
In some betting sites, the ticket must have five selections or more. When one game fails and others succeed, they will recalculate your winning with the odds of the winning selections and payout issued accordingly.
You will not lose everything again just because of one game. In Nigeria, this prevents you from the heartbreak of playing up to 10 games and losing everything just because a single selection failed. In this case, they will still pay you, minus the odds of the losing market.
Chance Bet
Chance Bet is another feature you will find in some of the best betting sites in Nigeria. In most cases, this goes to people who select 11 events of up to 1.30 odds in their accumulator ticket.
If you have this type of bet and one of the selections fails to win, the betting company will not leave you empty-handed. So, instead of losing everything, they pay you 10% of the total odds on the ticket, divided by the odds of the event that lost.
However, the chance bet does not involve any form of cash-out. Before, people lost the entire accumulator bet when one market failed. It broke the heart of many bettors in Nigeria and pushed the betting sites to swing into action.
Some of them have come with this opportunity to help players get something from their efforts. It has some similarities with the cut-one feature, but cut-one is more beneficial than this.
Edit Your Bet
Another beautiful feature in betting sites in Nigeria is the Edit Your Bet feature, which gives you the chance to edit your already placed bets. It is possible in every sport on these sites, so far as your bet contains an accumulator of up to five selections.
You can add and remove bets from your selections. You can also increase your bet amount. However, there is one thing you cannot do with the ‘edit your bet’ feature found on betting sites in Nigeria. You cannot reduce your bet amount. You can only increase it on Nigerian betting sites.
Customer To Customer Transfer
This feature helps players or punters to transfer credits to their friends in some of the betting sites in Nigeria. Nairabet is one of the most innovative betting sites in Nigeria, and the name of their customer-to-customer transfer is Epp Ya Padi. This feature allows you to send money from your account to another account with the name and account number. It is a way of allowing people to help their friends to place bets when they do not have money in their account.
The Bet Builder Feature
The Bet Builder Promotion is one of the newest features in Nigerian sites for betting. To be among the best betting sites in Nigeria, they embrace innovation. The bet builder feature allows you to combine multiple markets from a particular sporting event or game. The reason is to give you a unique outcome.
You only need to choose different markets from the same game and wager them in an accumulator. For instance, you might pick the football match between Arsenal and Chelsea and bet on various markets as separate selections in the same game.
Active Blog
It is also good to note that some of the betting sites in Nigeria run very informative blogs. They know that this is a relatively new sector in Nigeria, and many bettors or punters still do not have adequate information on betting and how best to go about it.
These sites run educative blogs. They use them to give punters the information they need. It helps them to enjoy the entertainment that the exercise brings. These blogs center on details about their new products and services, how to bet responsibly, news and information about the sports world, the best picks and odds for the day or week, etc.
Odd Less Than
This feature is also among what you might witness on some Nigerian betting sites. Many people describe it as a unique feature of sports betting. It gives users or account holders some seamless betting experience.
All you need is to select an odd as your preferred margin. The betting site will keep sending the relevant events to you. Those are the events whose odds fall within the odds level you picked.
For instance, you can choose 1.30 as the maximum odd to show for each event on the betting site. The platform will notify you of any event on it with 1.30 or fewer odds. It makes betting on these sites easy because you get informed about your preference on time. You do not need to go in search of those on the sites.
Bonuses in Betting Sites in Nigeria
It is good to note that betting is a local exercise. So, many things are unique about betting in each locality. Some things are different about betting sites in Nigeria and what they offer.
Even the bonuses and promotions you will find on most of these sites are unique to the country’s betting arena. That is why we need to look at some of the promotional offers found on most betting sites in Nigeria. We have listed the ones we came across in the country’s betting scene below. They include:
- Welcome Bonus
- Types of Welcome Bonuses
- Terms and Condition
- Champions League Bet Bonus
- Cash Giveaways
- Jackpots
- Improved Odds on Big Games
- Cashback Bonus
- Birthday Bonus
- Free Data Bonus
Types of Betting Services Offered in Betting Sites in Nigeria
Different betting sites in Nigeria are structured similarly. We found a recurrent trend while reviewing them. From what we experienced during the review, they focus on sports betting.
However, if you want to enjoy casino games and other online games on the best betting site in Nigeria, you will get your fill. They offer virtual Sports, E-Sports, Betgames, live casinos, and other types of games.
However, you can not have as many of those games as you would have sports betting events, markets, and options. Some even offer betting services on sporting events only. So, we will have a comprehensive look at the types of betting services available in the Nigerian betting sites.
Sports Betting In Betting Sites in Nigeria
Sportsbetting takes the mainstream of betting in Nigeria. Because of this, it is practically impossible for you to want to bet on any sporting event in Nigeria and not see where to do so. If you do not find it in one bookmaker, check the next.
Popular Sporting Events
The most popular sports that you can bet on the best betting site in Nigeria include soccer, tennis, basketball, cricket, football, golf, boxing, ice hockey, darts, volleyball, futsal, handball, and snooker. Apart from these, there are some not too popular sporting events you can also bet on these sites. They include Aussie rules, rugby league, rugby union, floorball, water pool, alpine skiing, auto racing, surfing, cycling, formula 1, and biathlon.
Popular Football Leagues
Soccer is the most popular sporting event in betting sites in Nigeria, just as it is on other betting sites. So, there are more soccer events than those of other sporting activities in Nigerian betting sites.
The famous football leagues to wager on these sites are the Nigerian professional football league, UEFA Champions League, and Europa League. Others are the FIFA World Cup, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, The Spanish La Liga, The English FA Cup, The German Bundesliga, and the English Premier League.
Live Sports Betting
Nigerian betting sites also offer live or in-play betting in the most popular sports and leagues. Live betting is one of the attributes of websites in Nigeria with sports betting sections. It gives players the chance to wager on ongoing games. You can choose any available option from live games and wager on them. They may even settle your bet before or after the end of the games.
When it comes to live-betting, you need to pick an action you think will happen in the game and bet on it. You win once that happens. You can do live betting in the NBA, UEFA Champions League, and the Europa League. Live betting in the five big domestic leagues in Europe, their cup competitions, Olympic Games, and the Nigerian Professional Football League are also available.
Casino Games in the Betting Sites in Nigeria
We have said in this review that some of the betting sites we have in Nigeria offer casino games on their site, albeit as an additional service. However, you can still enjoy all the popular casino titles on these websites if you need them. There is a wide range of titles on the sites that offer casino games in Nigeria. They are similar to what you find in other big-name international betting sites.
Slots
Lovers of slot games will have many of them to enjoy on these betting sites. They include slots of different types like the video slots, the classic slots, jackpots slots, and Megaways slots. Some popular slot games that you can play on these betting sites are Magic Princess, Extra Hot, Sizzling Hot, and Book of Ra.
Table Games
Of course, no casino site is complete without table games, and betting sites in Nigeria know this. In Wazobet, for instance, you will have access to varieties of these table and card games. The same applies to sites owned by other Nigerian betting companies that know their onions.
Video Poker
There are a lot of video poker titles like the Three Card Poker, the Joker Card, and others.
Baccarat
Baccarat titles found on these betting sites include the Golden Baccarat, Baccarat Zero Commission, and Queenco Baccarat.
Blackjack
When it comes to roulette and blackjack titles, they are also available on these sites in their numbers.
Specialty Games
Other specialty games like scratch cards are also available. They include the 12k Deluxe Scratchcard, the 25k Deluxe Scratchcard, and even the Everlasting Scratchcard.
Live Casino
They try to offer everything possible in the betting and gambling world. So, the betting sites also have live casino sections. Of course, some people like to enjoy their casino games and get the same feeling of playing in a brick-and-mortar house. These platforms try to make this possible by offering live casino games. Live dealers handle these games, and you can stream them live.
Here, players can view the dealers while they handle these games. They can also interact with them as the case may be. It may also be possible for the players to see their opposing players while viewing the games. There are live blackjack, live roulette, live baccarat, video poker, and video slots.
Virtual Games
Most of the betting sites in the country offer virtual games. Of course, people who love to bet will not relent even when there are no live events to bet. That is why virtual betting is popular in the Nigerian betting arena.
In almost all the betting sites in Nigeria, you will have the chance to wager on many virtual events. They include dancing derby, table tennis, euro cup, football league, tournaments, greyhound racing, horse racing, speedway racing, and motorbike racing.
E-sports
We also observed that most Nigerian betting sites also offer esports titles. This option made us understand that betting sites in Nigeria have come of age and maturity. So, if you are a lover of the esports games like CS: GO, Dota, and League of Legends, you will see betting sites to wager on esports games and competitions in this country.
Extra Betting Services
There are also some unconventional betting services offered on each betting site here. They are events and competitions that come up rarely. The good thing about these is that they usually come with very high odds.
If you are a lover of music, politics, and other areas where there is competition in life, you can also wager on their outcomes in some betting sites in Nigeria. They offer bets in political elections, music awards, and other competitions.
Banking In Betting Sites in Nigeria
Banking in betting sites in Nigeria is made simpler by using indigenous payment methods, but there might still be some loopholes. On most betting sites, withdrawals are strictly through your bank account.
There are many ways to make deposits, but this might not be the case with withdrawals. You can deposit into these sites with many options. They range from e-wallets to bank transfers, debit and credit cards, etc.
Some popular methods are Paystack, Opay, WebPAY, Gtpay, GT Bank Mobile App, GTWorld App, and GT Bank Online.
Deposits in a Betting Shop, Palmpay Agent, and Quickteller Paypoint Agent. You cans also use Quickteller Web, Quickteller Mobile App, Quickteller USSD, and ATM. Others are UBA emailMoni, FirstMOnie, Flutterwave, Verve, Visa, MasterCard, Paycom Online Transfer, Pay-direct, Polaris Collect, and bank transfers.
Mobile Betting In Betting Sites in Nigeria
As it should, almost every betting site in Nigeria offers mobile betting. Some of them have mobile-optimized websites where users of mobile devices can log into their accounts through the mobile browser on their device and play games.
Others have iOS, Android, or Windows dedicated apps that players can download and bet. Some may not have the apps for all the operating systems. They may have for some, while the others work with their mobile-optimized website.
Customer Care in Betting Sites in Nigeria
Betting sites in Nigeria take their customer service seriously. It is a country where the internet is still not very strong, so people need to complain when they experience issues. They have the right to get a solution to these issues.
Phone Support
These sites usually have phone lines that punters can call to help them rectify issues about their accounts and betting. Some also have Whatsapp and telegram numbers. You can send messages to these, and they will reply.
Email Contact
They all also have email addresses for your complaints or inquiries. There is also 24/7 live chat support in some. These seem like the most effective of them all.
Social Media Support
Moving forward, we also found out that most of the betting sites are very active in the social media space in Nigeria. They have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even YouTube accounts. They interact with customers through these accounts.
Conclusion
Betting sites in Nigeria may differ from their counterparts in Europe and America, but they serve the masses. They are efficient in offering essential betting services. They tailor their components towards the local populace. So, after a thorough review, we are commending them. They achieved this level of excellence within a short period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do mobile betting in Nigeria?
Yes, all these platforms have mobile versions. They are either downloadable software or web apps where people can log in with their mobile devices and play.
Are Nigerian Betting Sites Safe?
Yes, betting sites in Nigeria are safe like their counterparts out there. They use high-end SSL encryption to safeguard the funds and data on their site.
How can I get my winnings from betting sites in Nigeria?
They pay winnings through bank accounts in Nigeria. When you apply, they will send your winning to the bank account on your profile.