Young people try their luck and turn to gambling for a living in Luanda.

Gambling has become a recourse for many unemployed Angolans who need to support themselves, trying their luck daily in betting booths or makeshift stalls, easily visible to anyone traveling around Luanda.

The promoters, mostly from the operators Primeira Aposta (Premier Bet) and Mota, Tavares & Barros (Elephant Bet), state that the number of sports bets increases every day, a growth that is also reflected in their monthly income.

Sports bets, largely for European league games, have a starting stake of 200 kwanzas (30 cents) and can reach up to 5.000 kwanzas (nine euros), regardless of the bettors' conditions and "skills".

Surrounded by several bettors, Guilherme de Assunção Benjamim, an agent for Premier Bet, has his makeshift stall on Lueji Ankonda Street, in the urban district of Sambizanga, and says that the job requires "a lot of effort and willpower."

"Because if you don't have the will to work, you won't be able to," he told Lusa, noting that in that area, where he has been working for three months, the demand for 'tickets' (tokens) is higher at the beginning and end of the day.

The machines, a kind of mini-printer displayed on the agents' desks, have the capacity to issue up to 90 'tickets', of which 80 go to the bettors. The remaining 'tickets' are worth 10.000 kwanzas (18 euros) for bonuses, on days when there are more games and high demand.

The bonus is offered by the company as a way to encourage players who place the most bets on days with big matches, especially in European leagues.

An electronic machine on the counter and a roll of paper for printing the 'tickets' are the tools of the trade for Guilherme, 26, who at the end of the day presents a report of the revenue collected to the operator.

Each machine has a limit. "This machine, for example, has a limit of 80 'tickets' with a 'voucher' (proof of purchase) of 10.000, which is actually 90 'tickets'," he said, noting that his daily income varies depending on demand and the number of tokens sold.

“If you spend four days issuing 'tickets' and 'vouchers,' I believe you can find over 50.000 kwanzas [89 euros] in your account, which is enough to at least do something,” he added, considering this a way to avoid unemployment.

"Right now, this is the job that came my way and I had to put up with it, but sitting around doing nothing is not the right thing to do," concluded Guilherme de Assunção Benjamim.

At the counter of this Premier Bet agent, whose green color renews the hope of those who flock there to try their luck, the young Nelson Mandela, 23 years old, affirms that with sports betting you “always win something, depending on luck”.

"Yes, I've won many times, it's worth betting, here what matters is luck, because there are many people who are also winning and playing," he told Lusa.

When there are more games, especially on weekends, there are more bets, and these are the income sources for the agents, as Mateus Paulo, who has been in the business for four years, said on yet another day of assisting bettors.

Inside a kiosk, an iron structure built for the purpose, Mateus Paulo, an agent for the company Elephant Bet, explained that the betting operations are going very well and that daily life tends to be better for both sides, for the agent and the bettors.

On Estrada Direita de Cacuaco, just past the Central Court of Luanda, Mateus, 34 years old and dedicated to issuing and selling betting slips for the past four years, revealed that his daily income varies between 40.000 kwanzas (72 euros) and 100.000 kwanzas (179 euros).

"The maximum limit is 100.000 kwanzas/day, and at the end of the month the total income depends on the daily rate; the work is profitable," he said.

The type of bets, the list of teams and the dates of their respective football matches, the quality of the teams and the odds of having a winning bet guide the conversations of bettors present in betting shops.

Frederico António, a self-employed worker whose luck has already knocked on his door four times, with earnings ranging from 13.000 kwanzas (23 euros) to 120.000 kwanzas (218 euros), doesn't miss any opportunity to put his luck to the test.

"Yes, another day of betting and let's see where luck will strike, I've already won four times and it's worth betting," he said, after seeing his betting slip printed by agent Mateus Paulo.

"This is practically a subject where you have to be familiar with the game system and also know the teams, but others who don't know the teams also win, and that's why it's called luck, it's about betting to have a chance of winning," the bettor added.

The Angolan Gaming Supervision Institute (ISJ) announced at the end of last January that 26 entities are authorized to operate in the country in three gaming segments, namely games of chance, social games (mostly focused on sports betting), and online games.

The entity, overseen by the Ministry of Finance, collected approximately 5,8 billion kwanzas (10,5 million euros) in the third quarter of 2022, with revenues led by social games, representing a 185 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021, as reported by Lusa. ( Notícias ao Minuto with Reuters )