Sports betting is proving hard to resist

Brian Wachira’s heart is beating so hard it threatens to leap out of his chest.

And he doesn’t want to look at the screen in front of him any more.

He is panting, unsettled, praying. Manchester United 1; Arsenal 2. Minutes: 90+1. If United doesn’t score another goal, his favourite team will be out of the FA Cup. And he will lose Sh100.

Briefly, the 23-year-old buries his face in his hands, probably praying for a miracle. One minute to end the four extra minutes. But rather than United’s charges bedevilling the Arsenal defence, the latter is cocking its guns yet again.

“Ozil feeds Sanchez to his left in the area. He takes it wide and away from Rojo and takes aim at the opposite bottom corner. Another amazing save from De Gea,” says a live text update on the website of UK-based Telegraph newspaper.

Then referee Michael Oliver blows the final whistle. The finance student at Kenyatta University has lost yet another bet. He had predicted a draw.

Having bet on the outcome of football matches for the past year, Mr Wachira is one of the many Kenyans who have made gaming a part of their lives.

MONEY-MAKING VENTURE

To this group, it means business to predict which team will win a match, which side will have scored more than two goals by half time, how many corners will have been conceded by a team in the first 30 minutes, whether a team will win at home or away, among other outcomes.

“I used to be criticised for following football as though it pays my bills. Now with betting, my erstwhile obsession is becoming a money-making venture,” said Allan Omache, another Kenyatta University student who has been gaming for more than seven months.

The growing appetite of Mr Omache and other Kenyans for gaming has seen the rise and rise of betting sites like SportPesa and Elite Bet, a trend that David Moshi, the CEO of the Association of Gaming Operators, says is soon going to change the lives of many Kenyans.

For as little as Sh100 on SportPesa and Sh10 on Elite Bet, a person can bet on an outcome. If they get the bet right, they win an amount multiplied by a pre-determined number called the odds.

“If you bet with Sh5,000 for a team whose winning odds are 3.5, winning the bet means you win Sh5,000 multiplied by 3.5,” said Mr Omache, whose biggest win is Sh7,700 from Elite Bet.

“If you lose, your Sh5,000 is gone. You can also predict a draw or a loss. All those are assigned varying odds calculated on the basis of earlier clashes between the teams,” Mr Omache added.

Last week’s win of a Sh8.9 million jackpot by Standard Seven drop-out Paul Wainaina whetted the appetite of gamblers who are already having a go at the Sh5 million jackpot SportPesa has announced.

Mr Wainaina was the second winner of the jackpot since Pevans East Africa launched SportPesa in February 2014. Last July, Mr Andrew Mghanga was the inaugural winner, bagging Sh5.4 million.

THIRTEEN GAMES

Gamers who spoke to Sunday Nation said they are often careful about going for the jackpot, which requires one to correctly predicts the outcome of 13 games often played on several continents.

Eldoret-based student Collins Leton, whose biggest win is Sh47,000, said he usually bets on multiple games and not the jackpot.

“I won the Sh47,000 on my birthday: December 27, 2014. I had predicted the outcome of nine matches,” said the 21-year-old, adding that the biggest amount he has ever lost is Sh7,000.

Addiction has also set in among some. Susan Onyando, 23, a student at Mount Kenya University’s Nakuru campus, said everyone in her class of IT students is crazy about betting.

“Since last year when a colleague won Sh63,000, placing bets has been all the rage. Sometimes we contribute the money that we will use to bet and make the predictions as a group,” she said.

So, why is sports betting winning more and more converts?

SportPesa says it is because of the straightforwardness of their systems.

Its marketing chief Kester Shimonyo said that unlike other forms of gambling, their model ensures that the user knows they will win.

“There is a lot of transparency on our side, and we believe it is more like a stock exchange platform than a gambling one. Besides, we value speed and always yearn to send money to the winner as soon as their prediction comes true,” he said.

He added that the response the product has received is overwhelming.

“There are times when the users of our website and SMS platform are too many to handle. Sometimes it is a problem on our side, but it is often with the service providers we partner with,” said Mr Shimonyo, declining to divulge the number of active users.

“Our next plan of action is to invest in technology that will make everything more fluid.”

To cope with the ever-increasing number of users, Mr Shimonyo said SportPesa has employed more than 100 people who work in shifts throughout the day as “it can get very hectic”.

SportPesa believes that with the buzz created by sports betting, Kenya is on course to strengthen its football because in every country where the game draws crowds, gaming is at the core.

“All the big leagues have betting companies sponsoring some teams. Kenya is heading there,” said the brand’s marketing boss.

Elite Bet, SportPesa’s competitor that is run by Nairobi-based Mobile Zone Wireless, declined to discuss details of their business.

With more and more sports fans discovering the new way to riches, Mr Moshi, the chief of the gamers’ association, warns against users turning into gambling addicts.

“It is a matter of choice. But everyone should remember that it is not the only thing you need to do in life,” he said.

SportPesa said that in as much as there is something to bet on every day of the year, their cap of a maximum Sh20,000 per game is to ensure a person does not put their property on the line.

“Besides, the mobile money transfer services have their maximum amounts too. That means there is a practical limit of expenditure in a day,” Mr Shimonyo said.