SL/Date Published 18 August 2026
In Sierra Leone the same bet costs twice as much depending where you place it
Sierra Leone's houses agree almost exactly on how to price each match of the opening weekend, and disagree completely on how much to charge for it.
Every fixture on this board lands within half a point of every other, which means no match is being used to recover margin from the rest. That is an unusually even weekend.
The evenness stops at the shopfront. From the keenest house in this market to the dearest, the cost of the same bet roughly doubles, and no amount of picking the right match closes that gap.
Same fixtures, same weekend, same opinion. Twice the price.
An evenly priced weekend
The best available number on each result, the house holding it, and what the market makes of the match once margin is removed.
- Hull City v Manchester United, Sat 22 Aug8.80 1xBet / 5.14 betPawa / 1.42 1xBet · 11 / 19 / 70%
- Ipswich v Sunderland, Sat 22 Aug2.82 1xBet / 3.43 1xBet / 2.70 1xBet · 35 / 29 / 36%
- Nottingham Forest v Leeds, Sat 22 Aug2.39 1xBet / 3.48 1xBet / 3.23 1xBet · 41 / 28 / 30%
- Everton v Crystal Palace, Sat 22 Aug2.25 1xBet / 3.52 1xBet / 3.50 1xBet · 44 / 28 / 28%
- Brentford v Tottenham, Sat 22 Aug2.52 1xBet / 3.71 1xBet / 2.87 1xBet · 39 / 27 / 34%
- Manchester City v Bournemouth, Sun 23 Aug1.51 1xBet / 5.13 betPawa / 6.30 1xBet · 65 / 19 / 16%
- Brighton v Aston Villa, Sun 23 Aug2.32 1xBet / 3.75 1xBet / 3.15 1xBet · 42 / 26 / 31%
- Newcastle v Liverpool, Sun 23 Aug3.73 1xBet / 4.16 1xBet / 1.97 1xBet · 26 / 24 / 50%
- Fulham v Chelsea, Mon 24 Aug3.72 1xBet / 3.96 1xBet / 2.02 1xBet · 26 / 25 / 49%
The narrowest board on the card belongs to Hull City against Manchester United, where the visitors are a 70% chance, and the widest to Ipswich against Sunderland, the most open match of the weekend. The distance between those two is under half a point.
That flatness is worth noticing. It means a bettor here can choose matches on football grounds alone, which is not true everywhere.
What the three markets cost
Margin is the amount the odds carry above a fair book. The three markets on this board are priced a long way apart.
- Match result5.02% at a typical book, 1.52% at the best available price
- Over and under 2.5 goals6.49% at a typical book, 2.34% at the best available price
- Both teams to score7.82% at a typical book, 4.96% at the best available price
Match result responds best to comparison, falling to roughly a third of what a typical house charges. Both teams to score responds least and stays the dearest thing on the board.
So the order of operations for a bettor here is: choose the house first, then be careful about the goals markets.
Where the real difference is
Averaged across the same matches: overall, then match result, then over and under 2.5 goals, then both teams to score.
- 1xBet4.10% overall · 1.59% · 3.16% · 7.53%
- betPawa4.99% overall · 5.01% · 5.00% · 4.96%
- Mercurybet7.02% overall · 6.02% · 8.03%
- Bettomax7.84% overall · 7.45% · 8.02% · 8.05%
- Elephant Bet8.43% overall · 5.01% · 9.76% · 10.53%
The keenest match-result price on this board is 1.59% and the dearest is more than four times that. On both teams to score the range is wider still.
Only the leading names ever hold a best price on this board. The houses below them are not competing on price at all, which makes the choice here unusually simple to describe and unusually costly to get wrong.
Where the prices separate
The widest gaps of the weekend, and then the bands they fall into.
- Hull City v Manchester United, home win7.50 at one book against 8.80 at another, 17% better
- Manchester City v Bournemouth, away win5.60 at one book against 6.30 at another, 12% better
- Fulham v Chelsea, home win3.41 at one book against 3.72 at another, 9% better
- Newcastle v Liverpool, home win3.42 at one book against 3.73 at another, 9% better
- Brighton v Aston Villa, away win2.89 at one book against 3.15 at another, 9% better
- Favourites, under 2.002.44% below the best price on average
- Middling prices, 2.00 to 4.003.34% below
- Long shots, over 4.005.28% below
Hull City at home is quoted at 7.50 in one place and 8.80 in another. On SLE 200 that is SLE 260 of difference on an identical bet.
The ladder below is moderate. Long prices are shaded roughly twice as hard as short ones, which is enough to matter without dominating the decision the way the choice of house does.
How far a bettor has to look
Given how concentrated the keen pricing is, the list of places worth checking is short.
- 1xBet63% of the best prices, 99.3% of the value
- Adding betPawa100% of the best prices, 100.0% of the value
- Adding Bettomax100% of the best prices, 100.0% of the value
- Adding Elephant Bet100% of the best prices, 100.0% of the value
The leader carries almost all of the value on its own, and one more name completes the board. Everything beyond that is priced for convenience rather than for competition.
What the opening weekend suggests
The house is the decision. Fixtures here are priced evenly enough that choosing between them is a football question. Choosing between houses is the money question, and it is worth more than any other call on the slip.
Goals markets stay expensive whatever you do. Both teams to score is the dearest thing on this board before comparison and after it. Treat it as a market that costs, not one that can be shopped down.
Watch for a challenger. Only the top names currently hold best prices. If one of the houses beneath them starts competing, this table changes shape quickly, and it would be the best outcome available to bettors here.
This is the first instalment. The same numbers follow each round.
Every bookmaker in this analysis
- 1xBet4.10%
- betPawa4.99%
- Mercurybet7.02%
- Bettomax7.84%
- Elephant Bet8.43%
The fixtures, priced live
- Hull City v Manchester United22 August
- Ipswich v Sunderland22 August
- Nottingham Forest v Leeds22 August
- Everton v Crystal Palace22 August
- Brentford v Tottenham22 August
- Manchester City v Bournemouth23 August
- Brighton v Aston Villa23 August
- Newcastle v Liverpool23 August
- Fulham v Chelsea24 August
Elsewhere on BetCheck
- Every Sierra Leonean bookmaker, compared
- Match previews, published daily
- Accas of the day
- More smart betting guides
Method
Odds from the Sierra Leonean bookmakers listed above on the Premier League fixtures of 21 to 24 August 2026, as at 18 August. Margin is the sum of the implied probabilities of every outcome in a market, less 100%. The best available price takes the highest number quoted on each outcome anywhere in the Sierra Leonean market. Percentages beside a fixture are the market's own view of it once margin is stripped out. Odds move; the numbers here describe a snapshot, not a guarantee. 18+. Bet responsibly.
