Live Games and BetGames at South African Bookmakers

BetGames is a supplier of live studio games: short draws, wheel spins, dice and card rounds filmed with a real presenter and streamed to bookmaker sites, where you bet on the outcome before each round. Many licensed South African bookmakers carry BetGames next to live dealer tables for roulette and blackjack and game shows such as Crazy Time. This page explains how each format works, what the odds look like and why these games sit in a legal grey area in South Africa.

Which licensed bookmakers list BetGames and live games

Several provincially licensed bookmakers name BetGames or live dealer games in their published game sections: Sportingbet, Gbets (as BetGames TV), YesPlay, SunBet, Topbet, Bettabets, Vegas Bets and Lulabet list BetGames, while World Sports Betting, LottoStar, Betshezi and Scorebet describe live dealer tables or game shows. Providers named include Evolution and Ezugi for live tables. Lobbies change, so check the bookmaker's games section for a specific title.

The legal position of live roulette at bookmakers

These games are offered under provincial bookmaker licences, not casino licences, and their status is contested. In October 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a Gauteng bookmaker may not take fixed-odds bets on the outcome of roulette games without a casino licence. The National Gambling Board reads that ruling as applying nationally and says winnings from such games can be confiscated; the Western Cape board says the judgment has no bearing on its licensees. National policy is still pending, so availability depends on the province that licensed the operator and may change.

How BetGames rounds work

A BetGames round runs on a fixed timetable. Betting opens, closes a few seconds before the draw, the presenter runs the draw on camera, and results settle automatically. Typical formats include number draws similar to keno, a wheel, dice, and card games such as baccarat-style or poker-style hands. Because rounds repeat every few minutes, all bet games run continuously; there is no natural end to a session unless you set one.

Each bet has fixed odds shown before you place it. Those odds are set so the game keeps a margin over time, the same way a bookmaker builds a margin into sports odds.

Roulette: the wheel, the bets and the edge

Live roulette uses a physical wheel spun by a dealer. On a European, single-zero wheel there are 37 pockets: 1 to 36 in red and black, plus a green zero. You can bet on a single number, groups of numbers, red or black, odd or even, or high or low.

The payouts are calculated as if there were 36 pockets, but there are 37. That missing pocket is the zero, and it gives the game a house edge of about 2.7% on every bet on a single-zero wheel. An American wheel adds a double zero, with 38 pockets, which pushes the edge higher. If a table offers both, the single-zero wheel costs you less over time.

Roulette tactics and systems

Systems such as doubling your stake after every loss look convincing on paper. In practice they only change the shape of your results: many small wins, then an occasional run of losses that wipes them out, especially once you hit the table's maximum bet. No sequence of bets changes the 2.7% edge, because every spin is independent. A roulette simulation or simulator will show you this quickly, which is the most useful thing a free roulette demo can teach.

Blackjack online with a live dealer

In live blackjack you play against the dealer's hand, not other players. The aim is to finish closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Number cards count at face value, picture cards count 10 and an ace counts 1 or 11. You choose to hit (take a card), stand, double down or split pairs; the dealer then follows fixed rules for drawing.

Blackjack is the one live table where decisions affect the return. A basic strategy chart, which tells you the mathematically best play for each hand, reduces the edge compared with guessing, but it does not remove it. Side bets usually carry a higher edge than the main hand. Rules such as how many decks are used and whether the dealer stands on soft 17 also change the numbers, so read the table's rules panel.

Keno and number draws

Keno is a draw game: you choose a set of numbers from a larger pool, and the game draws a batch of numbers. The more of yours that come up, the higher the payout, according to a paytable that depends on how many numbers you picked. Keno-style draws appear both in BetGames and as standalone instant games. Like lottery-style draws, they are random; no number is due.

Game shows such as Crazy Time

Game shows mix a money wheel with bonus rounds and multipliers, hosted in a studio. They are entertaining to watch, but the more complex the bonus structure, the harder it is to see the real odds. Our Crazy Time review breaks down that game's wheel and bonus segments.

Free roulette and free blackjack demos

We do not host demos. Live dealer games usually have no demo version, because a real person runs every round. Some providers publish free demos of their animated roulette and blackjack games, and certain bookmakers offer a demo mode for logged-in players. If you want to learn the rules without staking money, those are the places to look; see our free slots and demo games page for how demo modes work.

Keeping live games in proportion

Live and BetGames formats are fast, continuous and social-looking, which is why they can absorb more time and money than a sports bet. Decide your budget and stopping time before you open a table, and do not raise stakes to recover losses. You must be 18 or older to play, and if live games are taking over your evenings, our responsible gambling page explains limits, self-exclusion and the free 0800 006 008 helpline. For crash formats such as Aviator, see our crash games guide.