How to Play Sportstake 8

Sportstake 8 is a gambling game conducted by the ITHUBA National Lottery. Your football knowledge and understanding will be tested in predicting the outcomes of fixtures. Since you have to make 16 predictions on one bet slip, this introduces elements of chance and makes the game more exciting. The football fixtures are taken from South African leagues and the best competitions of the world.

The minimum bet per board is only R2, which makes the game very affordable. If you are a high roller, you can play multiple boards and wager up to R2000.

The game starts with an official Sportstake bet slip from an authorised lottery retailer or the website. The slip will have eight selected football fixtures. The home team will be the first mentioned team and the away team will be the second mentioned. You have to predict the outcome of each half for each of the eight fixtures by entering the proper symbol in the designated box.

• If you think the home team will score more goals in the half, then enter – (1)

• If you think both teams will score the same number of goals, then enter – (X)

• If you think the away team will score more goals in the half, then enter – (2)

The scores are determined as follows for deciding the outcome. Scores are considered at the end of each 45-minute half, including the referee’s added time but excluding extra time or penalty shootout.

Retailer Options

• You can fill the bet slip and take it to the retailer.

• You can ask the retailer to enter your choices directly at the Terminal.

• You can opt for PROPICK selection, which is made in the Terminal. This involves historical outcomes between the teams mixed with a degree of randomness.

You pay the retailer for your board and receive a receipt for all your predictions. Enter your name on the back of the receipt. The results can be checked at the ITHUBA website or got from the player helpline at 0800 484 822.

Online Options
You can carry out the same exercise sitting at home from the ITHUBA website. You will first have to create a user account. You then log in, select the Sportstake 8 option and follow the instructions.

Single Board versus Multi-Play
The single board is the simplest bet where you select one and only one outcome for each half of each fixture.

But you can also select two or even all three outcomes for each event. This is referred to as multi-play.

• Select two options (say one and X) for one half and single options for the remaining 15. You will be then playing two boards.

• Select two options for two halves and single options for the remaining 14. You will be then playing four boards.

The wager per board is R2, which will not be a big amount for most punters. If you opt for multi-play, then you will have to pay R2 per board. If your multi-play amounts to 8 boards, then you will pay R16. There is a maximum limit of R2000.

Sportstake 8 tickets can be purchased at any lottery retailer on any day during their normal working hours. The sales will close half an hour before the first announced football match starts.

If a football match is abandoned, cancelled or it starts before the published end of sales, then any prediction you have made will be taken as correct for that particular fixture. This will appear in the results as follows.

• ‘C’ for cancelled

• ‘E’ for early fixture

• ‘F’ for both

There are a number of reasons that would entice you to give Sportstake 8 a try.

• As a football fan, you would have the skills to predict the outcome of matches based on your knowledge of teams and players. You can put those skills to the test.

• It is also an exciting and entertaining pastime where you can follow eight matches from all over the world for a few days. You have three draws a week, so the excitement is continuous.

• The biggest reason to play is the opportunity you have to make money and the amounts can be huge.

The weekly draws are as follows.

• A new fixtures list is announced every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

• The matches end on the respective Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

• Results are announced on the respective Wednesdays, Saturdays and Mondays.

Sportstake 8 Prize Pool

ITHUBA contributes 50% of the net sales from tickets to the prize pool. This amount is allotted to four divisions.

• Division 1 gets 40% of the prize pool, which is shared by players getting all 16 predictions correct.

• Division 2 gets 20% of the prize pool, which is shared by players getting 15 predictions correct.

• Division 3 gets 15% of the prize pool, which is shared by players getting 14 predictions correct.

• Division 4 gets 25% of the prize pool, which is shared by players getting 13 predictions correct.

It is possible that, on occasion, there may be no winners in a particular division. The prize money is not forfeited but is rolled over or reallocated according to rules formulated by ITHUBA.

• If there are no winners in Division 1, the prize amount shall be rolled over to Division 1 in the next draw.

• If no winners are in Division 2, the prizes roll down equally to the lower divisions.

• If there are no winners in Division 3, then the Prize Pool for that division will be allocated down to Division 4.

• If there are no winners in Division 4, the prize amount shall be rolled over to the next draw’s Division 1.

Prizes have to be collected from different locations, depending on the amount.

• Prizes up to R2000 from the lottery retailer

• Prizes greater than R2000 but up to R50,000 from the post office

• Prizes greater than R50,000 from the ITHUBA regional office

In 2015, the National Lotteries Commission appointed ITHUBA Holdings (RF) Proprietary Limited as the official National Lottery operator of South Africa.

Since then, ITHUBA has added a number of products to enhance consumer experience. Over the years, the jackpots have become bigger and better. As a result, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund has effectively contributed to the socio-economic development of South Africa through various charity initiatives.

As of date, the following are offered by ITHUBA.

• Lotto

• PowerBall

• Sportstake 4

• Sportstake 8

• Sportstake13

• Sportstake Cricket

• Sportstake Rugby

• Daily Lotto

• Raffle

• EaziWin

Complete details about winning numbers after each draw, jackpot prizes and how-to-play instructions are provided at the website. You can also play online.