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Even though Zambia has regulated online gambling, it does not have any laws that would prohibit betting operators from offering their services to bettors. It created a situation where punters have access to hundreds of betting sites, ensuring they have more than enough options when picking a bookmaker.
Admittedly, with so much selection, there are bound to be some wrong bookmakers, but from our findings, most betting sites operating here are solid. That goes especially for international companies Betway and bet365. Still, plenty of domestic betting websites do a fine job, including Bet Lion, Super Bet, Baller Bet, and Elephant Bet, to name a few.
Betting bonuses and promotions are readily available on any betting site you visit, and Zambian bookies are no exception. Excluding some exceptions, all betting sites will offer a welcome bonus, which has become more of an industry standard than anything else.
The welcome bonus often comes in the form of a matched deposit bonus. Still, some bookmakers will offer other goodies with the sign-up, including free bets, odds boosts, or even accumulator boosts.
Besides the welcome bonus, there are other offers you will come across on betting sites, namely reload bonuses, special promotions during important events, and free bet offers, which essentially give you free wagering cash.
There are more than enough bonuses and promotions available, and most don't require you to do any extra work to claim them. Except for deposit bonuses (welcome and reload bonuses), all promotions are automatically added to your account.
⚖️ Is betting legal: | Yes |
📅 Sports Betting Legal Since: | 1957 |
🏢 Regulatory Body: | Government of Zambia |
🧾 Taxation: | 10% of gross stakes on betting |
⚽ Favorite Sports to Bet on: | Football, boxing, tennis, cricket |
🎰 Other Popular Gambling Markets: | Casinos, lotteries, poker |
⭐ Most Popular Sportsbooks: | Gal Sport Betting, Betway, 888Sport |
🔞 Legal gambling age: | 18 |
Betting in Zambia is as good as it can get. Not only do bettors have access to countless betting sites and all betting markets you would find in any other country, but they also can bet on local competitions such as the Zambia Basketball League.
Moreover, some betting sites in Zambia will even hold special promotions, adding additional betting markets on local events, athletes, or teams while they compete in important international events. There's always something to bet on, and there are always more than enough options to place your bets.
Sports are big here, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that local bookies do a great job offering sports betting markets. No matter which betting site you visit, you can expect to have as many types of bets as anyone else, even on sports that are not popular in the country, such as alpine skiing or ice hockey.
Yet, there's no hiding that the country's most popular sports, such as football and basketball, receive much more attention, which makes sense since most bettors bet on them. But as noted, that doesn't mean that other, more niche sports are forgotten by platforms that offer sports betting in Zambia.
Football is the most popular bet sport here and, naturally, one of the biggest sports in the local online betting scene. Every bookmaker in Zambia will offer football betting markets, and they'll all do an excellent job, mainly to satisfy the demand for online football betting.
Football betting sites will offer betting markets on local competitions and international events, offering the perfect betting experience for any bettor who wishes to bet on football.
Basketball might not be as popular as football, but it's still a big deal. Most locals watch basketball, and the vast majority also bet on the sport, which explains why basketball betting markets are readily available on all betting sites.
The offer of basketball betting markets includes the Basketball League, NBA, EuroLeague, and all other major competitions worldwide, ensuring you'll always have something to bet on.
Esports betting is still considered a niche activity but has risen significantly over the last decade. And the betting sites didn't need long to realize the potential of offering the Esports betting market.
So it's not surprising to learn that most bookies also offer Esports betting options for most of the biggest titles, including League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and others. Admittedly, not all Zambian betting sites will have Esports betting available, but as Esports become more popular, it's only a matter of time before they all do.
Zambian bookmakers do an excellent job covering all of the world's biggest sporting competitions. Rest assured that you won't be deprived of your options when placing bets. So no matter whether you register on African bookmakers such as Forte Bet or Bet Lion, or pick an international bookmaker such as Bet365, betting markets will be plentiful.
But not only can bettors bet on all the competitions other people can, but unlike bettors from Europe, punters also have access to a much more extensive selection of betting markets on local sporting events. You'll not find betting markets on Super League if you're betting from the USA, but bettors are just a couple of clicks away from placing bets on their local league.
And just like bookies tend to offer markets on local competitions, they also occasionally have particular betting markets on local athletes, giving bettors more than enough ways to bet on whatever they like.
The country is home to hundreds of bookmakers, and there is even a plethora of betting apps in Zambia, which might make it difficult to locate which are the best bookmakers for you. But while picking a single bookmaker from a long list of available betting platforms can seem daunting, you can speed up the process if you know what to look for.
Even though the best betting sites in Zambia have to check many marks to be considered as such, there are still plenty of bookies that do.
There are hundreds of betting sites, which makes that much harder to find the top betting sites in Zambia with the best odds. But even if the number of free betting sites were lower, that task would be impossible.
Unfortunately, no betting site offers the best odds, but many great bookmakers provide competitive odds. It's unrealistic to expect a single betting site to have the best odds on all betting markets since it would have a monopoly over the industry.
Moreover, it's impossible for any of the top betting sites to always have the best odds due to the market volatility, making it extremely difficult to track where the market average price sits. It's also important to consider that there are top betting sites for basketball, which will generally have better odds, while other bookmakers might have better odds on football.
So if you're after Zambian bookmakers with the best odds, you should preferably register with multiple betting sites. This way, you can price shop and look around to find which betting site has the best offer for the match you want to bet on.
The country has little to no restrictions on online gambling, including no regulation on which bookmakers can operate in the state and no rules preventing you from using specific deposit methods. As a result, bettors have plenty of options for depositing money into Zambian bookies. Yet, few of the options stand out as the most popular.
Most bettors prefer to use Zanaco Xpress, Airtel Money, and MTN Mobile Money as 3 of the most popular payment methods among local bookmakers. But if you use betting sites with welcome bonuses, then payments such as ecoPayz are better suited for the job.
There are even crypto bookmakers, so if you're looking for the best bitcoin online betting experience, you'll have plenty of options. You can pick any payment method you wish since there are enough options available, from sportsbooks that accept Neteller to those that accept Visa, ecoPayz, and anything in between.
Although there is no single best payment method, you might want to consider crypto if you're after speed and anonymity of your transactions.
Mobile betting is not quite as popular as computer betting, but that depends on which regions of the world we're looking at. African countries have a much more sizable number of mobile bettors, mainly because smartphones are far more accessible than computers.
It also explains why all betting sites offer mobile betting – some provide a mobile website, and others offer a mobile betting app. Due to the high demand for mobile betting, most bookies will have a betting app available, which is excellent news for those who bet exclusively from their mobile devices and the “traditional bettors”.
Mobile betting apps are very convenient, especially in comparison to mobile websites, which tend to be much less stable. Moreover, with a mobile betting app, you can place bets, deposit, or even watch live games via live streaming options anytime and anywhere.
If you don't intend to bet from your phone, you don't need to sign up for the best betting sites with a betting app. But it indeed has its advantages.
Live betting and live streaming is hardly new invention. Nowadays, all online betting sites offer live betting options; granted, some do a much better job at it than others. But while there's a large discrepancy between the top betting sites in Zambia that offer in-play betting and those that do a subpar job, live betting is generally available on all online bookmakers.
If you're interested in betting on live games, you must find a good betting site for the job. Most importantly, the sportsbook should have live betting markets and live streaming, an essential tool all in-play bettors need at their disposal.
But even if you don't plan to bet in-play regularly, you should consider looking for the best betting sites in Zambia with live betting available since you never know when you'll want to place a live bet. Or maybe you'll have the urge to try something new, and live betting certainly is a form of betting any bettor should experience.
Live betting offers an alternative way to bet on sports, but it's also fascinating and potentially very lucrative. That is mainly because bookies often struggle to provide accurate in-play odds on games, giving bettors plenty of ways to find excellent betting opportunities.
There's no harm in registering with a solid live betting site since all football betting sites used for live betting are also excellent for pre-match betting.
The online gambling landscape is generally very unregulated across Africa, but local scene, just like betting industry in Namibia, stands out as one of the few ones that have heavily focused on regulating gambling. Having accepted 3 acts to make online gambling available – the Betting Control Act, The State Lotteries Act, and Casino Act – the government has done a surprisingly good job legalizing gambling and sports betting in Zambia.
All the gambling activity – legal – is overseen by the Ministry of Finance, which also issues licenses to Zambian betting companies. Notably, all new betting sites need to pay 18.000 ZMW for a one-year license, while the renewal costs 9.000 ZMW + a 10% fee on the GGR. Today, only a handful of bookmakers hold a license, namely Premier Bet, GSB, and CastleBet. You can also use other big brand bookies such as Bang Bet, Elephant Bet, Baller Bet, Super Bet, Cola Bet, or international bookmakers in Betway, 10bet, 1xBet, and others.
On the topic of taxes, those who use sports betting companies in Zambia to bet on sports have to pay tax on winnings at 20% for residents and 10% for non-residents. But it's important to note that the tax applies only to land-based bookmakers.
On the other side, if you're sports betting from online bookies, you don't have to pay any tax. It's also important to note that due to a relatively lenient online framework, the country has no restrictions on which sportsbooks can operate in the country, nor are there any restrictions on which payment methods you can use to deposit onto Zambian sportsbooks.
The country took care of legalizing gambling very soon, but it has not entirely succeeded in putting down the legal framework for online sports betting in Zambia. That's not very confusing, considering the internet penetration rate is at just 20%. Still, with time, they should consider accepting new rules to oversee the online gambling industry.
There were ideas in that direction, most recently in 2019, when a draft was pushed forward in hopes of improving the online gambling environment, but to date, it has yet to accept any changes.
Although an unfortunate situation, this doesn't affect bettors too much. For years, locals were allowed to bet online without restrictions, both with which payment methods they use and which Zambian betting sites they sign up for an account with.
Without any regulations, bettors can choose to set up an account, log in, and bet with any betting website, including international bookies like Bet365, Betway, or 1xBet, as well as a plethora of African betting sites in Castlebet, Gal Sports Betting, Bola Bet, Sporty Bet, Betpawa, Extreme Bet, and others.
Below there are some international companies and organizations that can help you in case you are struggling against gambling problems.
Before we conclude our article, here are some interesting facts about the country and its industry you might not know about.
Zambia has quite a healthy online betting scene, with hundreds of online betting sites and wagering acts in place to keep the industry safe and legit. By reading our article, you now learn everything there is to know about online betting here, so now you're ready to register with the best betting sites and start betting!