Home / How we score
How We Score Kenyan Betting Sites: Five Criteria, Weights, Sources
Every bookmaker in the ranking is scored with the same five criteria and the same formula. A score summarises what a bookmaker publishes about payments, jackpots, mobile access, odds and bonus terms; where nothing is published, the page says so and the score is built from the rest.
What does the score measure?
The score measures how well a bookmaker serves a Kenyan bettor who pays with M-Pesa, bets on a phone and plays the weekly jackpots, judged by what the bookmaker makes public. It does not measure how a bookmaker treats you after a dispute, how fast a particular withdrawal arrives on a particular day, or whether you will win. Those things vary from one account to the next, and no comparison site can promise them.
Each bookmaker is scored from 0 to 10 on five criteria. The criteria are weighted for the way most Kenyans bet, and the overall score is the weighted average of the criteria that have data.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| M-Pesa deposits and withdrawals | 35% |
| Odds and markets | 20% |
| Jackpots | 15% |
| Mobile, USSD and lite | 15% |
| Bonus and terms | 15% |
M-Pesa carries the largest weight because almost every bettor in Kenya pays in and cashes out through it. A low minimum deposit, a published Paybill and a stated payout time decide the everyday experience more than any single price or promotion.
How is each criterion worked out?
Every criterion is built from a short list of inputs, and the inputs add up to 10. The table below gives the points for each input. The rules are written so that anyone with the same data arrives at the same number.
| Criterion | Input | Points |
|---|---|---|
| M-Pesa | Paybill number published | 2.5 if published |
| M-Pesa | Minimum deposit | 2.5 up to KES 10 · 2 up to KES 50 · 1.5 up to KES 100 · 1 above |
| M-Pesa | Minimum withdrawal | 2.5 up to KES 50 · 2 up to KES 100 · 1.5 up to KES 200 · 1 above |
| M-Pesa | Stated withdrawal time | 2.5 within minutes · 2 minutes with exceptions · 1.5 longer |
| Odds and markets | Average 1X2 margin on a fixed sample | 10 at 4% or lower, falling to 0 at 12% |
| Jackpots | Games, entry price, bonus tiers | 2.5 each |
| Mobile, USSD and lite | USSD or SMS · Android app · lite site | 4 · 3 · 3 |
| Bonus and terms | Amount, wagering, minimum odds, expiry, maximum win published | 2 each |
Two examples show how the rules apply. A bookmaker with a published Paybill, a minimum deposit of KES 50, a minimum withdrawal of KES 50 and a stated payout “within about an hour” scores 2.5 + 2 + 2.5 + 1.5 = 8.5 on M-Pesa. A bookmaker with a USSD code, an Android app and no lite version scores 4 + 3 + 0 = 7 on mobile access; if nothing is known about its lite site, that input is not rated and the score is 7 out of 7 possible points, which is 10.
What happens when a bookmaker publishes nothing?
An input without data from a page we could read is not rated, and the criterion is scored over its rated inputs only: the points earned divided by the points possible on those inputs, scaled to 10. A criterion with no rated input is not rated at all.
When a criterion has no data at all, it is marked “not rated” and drops out of the calculation. Its weight is then shared out over the rated criteria in proportion to their base weights. A bookmaker rated on M-Pesa, jackpots and mobile access is therefore scored out of 65 base points, and M-Pesa counts for 35 of them, about 54 percent of the total.
Every row and review shows “Rated on N of 5 criteria” next to the score. A bookmaker is ranked, with a position and a score, only when it is rated on at least 3 of the five criteria; a score resting on one or two criteria says too little to compare. Bookmakers rated on fewer appear below the ranking under “Licensed, not yet rated”, alphabetically, with the facts that are known and the reason they are not ranked. Equal scores are separated by the M-Pesa criterion score, then alphabetically, and every score is shown to one decimal.
At the moment two criteria are not rated for any bookmaker. Odds and markets needs a sample of the bookmaker’s margin taken at the same time of day across the same matches, and that sample has not been taken yet. Bonus and terms needs the full terms of a welcome offer, and none of the ten publishes them on a page we could read. Both criteria are part of the method and will count as soon as the data exists.
Which sources are used, and in what order?
The sources are used in a fixed order. The law and the regulator come first for anything about licensing and tax. The bookmaker’s own pages come second: its terms, its deposit page, its homepage. Where a bookmaker is silent or its pages cannot be read, a published payments guide fills the gap, and every field taken from one is labelled as third-party on the bookmaker’s review. Press reports are used only where a bookmaker’s own pages are silent on how a jackpot is entered, such as the games in a SportPesa jackpot and how a ticket is entered, and each one is named as a press source.
Every value is stored with its source and the date it was checked. The current data was checked on 5 November 2026. A value that is older than sixty days is read again before the next monthly update.
Licence numbers need a word of their own. The Gambling Regulatory Authority replaced the Betting Control and Licensing Board under the Gambling Control Act, 2025, and it publishes the operators it licenses for each financial year. The licence number and the company on every review are taken from the GRA licensed operators list for 2025/26 and checked on the date shown, not from the bookmaker’s footer or a payments guide. Licences do not feed into the score; a bookmaker that is not on the regulator’s list is not listed at all.
What does the method not do?
The scores do not come from accounts, deposits, bets or withdrawals of our own, and no review on this site describes one. A stated withdrawal time is what the bookmaker or a payments guide says, not a measurement.
Commission does not change a score or a position. Some links on this site are affiliate links, and the order of the ranking still comes from the formula above and nothing else.
The method does not cover casino games, virtual sports or crash games. Reviews mention other products in one factual line and do not score them.
What are the current scores?
The table shows every criterion score for every bookmaker, the number of rated criteria and the weighted total. The same numbers appear on the homepage ranking and on each review.
| Rank | Bookmaker | M-Pesa deposits and withdrawals (35%) | Odds and markets (20%) | Jackpots (15%) | Mobile, USSD and lite (15%) | Bonus and terms (15%) | Rated | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Betika | 8.5 | not rated | 10.0 | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 3 of 5 | 9.2 |
| 2 | Mozzart Bet | 8.5 | not rated | 10.0 | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 3 of 5 | 9.2 |
| 3 | Shabiki | 8.5 | not rated | 10.0 | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 3 of 5 | 9.2 |
| 4 | SportPesa | 8.5 | not rated | 10.0 | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 3 of 5 | 9.2 |
| 5 | Odibets | 9.5 | not rated | 10.0 | 7.0 | not rated | Rated on 3 of 5 | 9.0 |
| not ranked | 22Bet | 8.7 | not rated | not rated | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 2 of 5 | rated on 2 of 5 criteria; we rank from 3 |
| not ranked | BetPawa | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | Rated on 0 of 5 | rated on 0 of 5 criteria; we rank from 3 |
| not ranked | Pepeta | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | Rated on 0 of 5 | rated on 0 of 5 criteria; we rank from 3 |
| not ranked | Radabet | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | not rated | Rated on 0 of 5 | rated on 0 of 5 criteria; we rank from 3 |
| not ranked | SportyBet | not rated | not rated | not rated | 10.0 | not rated | Rated on 1 of 5 | rated on 1 of 5 criteria; we rank from 3 |
Quick answers
Does a commission change a bookmaker's position?
No. The position comes from the formula on this page, and the formula uses only the published inputs listed in the tables.
Why do some bookmakers have no score?
None of their five criteria had data on a page we could read. They stay in the list because they are on the GRA licensed operators list, and they receive a score as soon as one criterion has data.
Do you open accounts and test withdrawals?
No. The scores rest on what bookmakers and payments guides publish, checked on a stated date. Nothing on this site describes a deposit or a bet of our own.
How often are the scores updated?
The ranking is updated on the first of every month. A field checked more than sixty days earlier is read again first.