A few years ago the Kenyan media was awash with stories of punters winning huge bets of up to over Ksh200 million.
Stories of betting success have significantly dried up of late – with bettors now confined to winning small amounts with the highest amount in the recent past being Ksh11 million according to available data.
The disturbing question many bettors are asking themselves is ‘Why has the betting taps suddenly dried up? Is it that Kenyans have run out of lady luck?
Those who spoke to Mwanhabari.co.ke still remember vividly three lucky Kenyans; Samuel Abisai, Gordon Oluoch and Cosmas Korir who jointly won nearly a billion in a span of two years from betting.
It was Abisai who broke the kola nut when he became the first Kenyan to win Sh221 SportPesa Mega Jackpot in May 2017 by correctly predicting the outcome of 17 games. His name sneaked into the annuls of history as the first Kenyan to ever win such an amount in betting.
Reacting after his win, a jubilant Korir said at the time: “I’m very happy. I want to stay rich and that means I’ll not stop betting. I’ll also not quit my job either.”
“I have a couple of investments that I want to make to ensure that I remain a millionaire. I bought a few flats and this will help generate a steady income aside from the money that I have won.
“I’m still the same person and the money has not changed me one bit. I’m still a servant of the people and will continue to be.”
“I’m hoping that God will grant me favour once again, very soon. I might be the first two-time mega jackpot winner!” said Korir who built a house for himself – and rewarded his efforts with a Sh12million Toyota Land Cruiser V8.
Have Kenyans run out of luck?
Mwanahabari.co.ke spoke to a representative from a leading betting company in Kenya to try and understand why no Kenyan bettors are winning earth-shaking amounts like was the case a few years ago.
“Thousands of Kenyans are winning, just not as much as it used to be back in the day,” said the representative who asked not to be named.
“This can be blamed on taxes, high cost of operations due to multiplicity of taxes, low disposable income due to poor economy so rate of placing bets has gone down, for the better part of last year leagues were off due to Covid-19, loss of income as a result of Covid-19 and depressed economy among other issues,” she added.
On his part, Ken, a regular bettor who has won a few times, but nothing to really write home about, blamed it on high taxes.
“Betting has changed a lot since 2019. Many people are no longer willing to take risks due to the 20 per cent taxation imposed on winnings. These people tax the very money you stake even before you win. So, whether you win or lose a bet, the government makes money,” said Ken.
Nothing beyond ksh11 million
“I still bet, but on a few teams; one or two a time to enhance my chances of winning. I think it was only possible to win hundreds of millions on Sportpesa. I hope things will go back to normal once the environment improves. Many betting sites never go beyond Ksh11 million jackpot,”said Ken.
Mwanahabari.co.ke visited a number of betting sites operating in the country to try and fin out the highest jackpot price at the moment.
Mozzart Bet has a Ksh 20 million Mozzart Super Daily Jackpot where a bettor predict 16 games from 20 Bob every day.
Betika has a Mid-Week Jackpot which is based on fifteen (15) pre-selected soccer events. Players have no limit to the number of jackpot bets they may place with a fixed bet amount of Ksh.15. each. Betika also runs a Ksh100 million weekly jackpot .
Grand Jackpots
Sportpesa on the other hand has its Mega Jackpot hitting Ksh148, 694,176 Million while its weekly Jackpot is at Ksh19 million. SportPesa is the only company to have paid the grand jackpots to date, despite having gone out of business from July 2019 to October 2020, which according to a representative from the company, is one of the reasons winnings went quiet.
To date Sportpesa are the only company offering a progressive jackpot that rises every week.