Sportstake 8 is one of the games offered by South Africa’s National Lottery operator, Ithuba. This is one of the lottery’s most popular games as it combines both the excitement of gambling and the action of soccer. For a sports-mad nation like South Africa, Sportstake 8 and its partner game, Sportstake 13, are the perfect choice.
Unlike a regular lottery game, Sportstake 8 tests your knowledge and understanding of soccer – both local and international. The more knowledge you have of the teams, the higher your chances of making correct predictions of the outcome of fixtures. Of course, there are elements of chance in the game since no knowledge in the world gives you the power to know what the real outcome will be. The minimum and maximum betting ranges on this game make it an excellent choice for all levels of players. Just a few Rand gives you the chance to get into the betting action, while highrollers will love the opportunity to really put their knowledge of the game to the test and hopefully win big rewards.
To decide the outcome of a half-game, the National Lottery determines scores as follows: At the end of each 45-minute half, scores are considered. These include added time decided by the referee. It does not, however, include penalty shootout or extra time.
We explained above the basic premise of Sportstake 8 predictions – you select one outcome for each half of each fixture. This is known as the single-board option. What we didn’t expand upon in the ‘How to Play Sportstake 8’ section is the multi-play option. Essentially, this option allows you to choose two or three outcomes on each event.
If you select two options for one half and just one option for the remaining 15 halves, this is considered as playing two boards.
If you choose two options for two halves and one option for the remaining 14 halves, it is considered as if you are playing four boards.
The price for single-board play on this game is just R2, which is an affordable amount to pay for such an enjoyable game. Multi-play gaming increases the price according to how many boards you play, multiplied by R2. So if, for example, you play 8 boards, the price you will pay is R16.
There is a top limit of R2,000 per ticket, which should satisfy any highroller.
There are several ways that you can play Sportstake 8 at a licensed retailer.
In all three of these cases, once you pay the retailer for your game, you should receive a receipt which shows your predictions. It is important to write your name on the back of the receipt. In case you are a winner, this will help protect your bet slip from falling into the wrong hands and ensure that you get the funds.
Another option that you have is playing Sportstake 8 online. This is a safe and convenient way of playing the lottery game, as long as you buy your ticket through Ithuba’s official website. To do so, you will need to create a real-money account. Use your password and user name to set up an ewallet and transfer real money into your account. Log into your account. You’ll then choose Sportstake 8 as the game of your choice (or others if you prefer playing something else). The system will prompt you on how to proceed.
It sometimes happens that changes to a planned football match take place. It could just be that the match is rescheduled to before the published end of sales. It could also be that the match has been abandoned or cancelled. When this happens, the results will reflect the reason:
It is important to note that any predictions you make are considered correct when the games are cancelled, abandoned or changed.
The popularity of Sportstake 8 also lies in the fact that three weekly draws take place, so that the action is always happening around you.
A new fixtures list is announced three times a week – Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.
Matches end on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Results are then announced on respective Wednesday, Saturday and Monday.
The amount of the weekly Sportstake 8 prize pool differs from draw to draw, and depends mainly on net sales. The National Lottery operator will essentially contribute half of the net sales to the prize pool and players are paid out through four different divisions: Division 1, 2, 3 and 4.
This division is illustrated by Ithuba on its official National Lottery page:
Sportstake 8 works on a rollover basis. This means that if there is no winner in a division, the prize isn’t forfeited. Instead, it rolls over according to particular rules and regulations dictated by the lottery – either to a lower division or a future draw.
The National Lottery rounds prize amounts to the nearest 10 cents. For example, a prize of R1.54 becomes R1.50 but R155 becomes R160.
Sportstake 8 works on a rollover basis. This means that if there is no winner in a division, the prize isn’t forfeited. Instead, it rolls over according to particular rules and regulations dictated by the lottery – either to a lower division or a future draw.
If your prize is worth anything up to R2,000, you can head to any National Lottery retailer and claim it there.
Prizes that are worth between R2,000 and R50,000 will need to be claimed at your local post office.
Any prize over R50,000 needs to be claimed at an Ithuba regional office.
You can find them published at all National Lottery outlets, on the National Lottery website, in the local press and on social media. You can also call the Ithuba Player Helpline (0800-484-822).
Sportstake 8 uses a software feature called PROPICK – essentially a quick-play option which is based on multi-play bets. The system automatically chooses match resulted on behalf of you, the player. Play PROPICK by choosing the bet size directly from the bet slip or on the online playing platform. Available bet sizes are: 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 64, 128 and 256. This goes for online bets as well.
No. The terminal will reject your bet slip if you do this. In order to play both, you need to make your own selection directly on the bet slip and then request the Propick with the size of your choice over the counter.
No, it does not.
If a match (or one of the halves) gets cancelled, suspended or interrupted, your predictions will be considered correct and valid.