The Karoo Kings of Fantasy Sports
Out in the Karoo, where the sun bites through denim and silence settles like dust, there’s a new kind of hustle stirring in the stillness. It doesn’t come with cattle…
The Forgotten Games, Lottery Machines Left Behind in South African Malls
There’s something quietly eerie about walking through a mall that’s lost its pulse. The shops still stand, paint peeling at the edges, steel shutters halfway down. A few plastic chairs…
The Tithe and the Ticket, Betting Slips Left at the Altar
In the quiet hum of Sunday service, tucked between leather-bound hymnals and tattered Bibles, there’s a folded piece of paper that doesn’t belong. It’s not a prayer list. It’s not…
The Last Casino Bus, Portraits from South Africa’s Overnight Betting Journeys
The sun has long since set by the time the last casino bus pulls out of a half-lit rank in Germiston or Bellville. These aren’t the slick, branded coaches you…
What Happens to Luck When the Signal is Lost
It’s 2:47 a.m. Somewhere between hope and hesitation, you’ve got a live bet open, a finger hovering just above the confirm button. The screen flickers, spinning, buffering, then nothing. Your…
The Algorithm Lied, When the System Got It Wrong and I Didn’t
It started with a tip. Not from a friend or a pundit, but from the app itself. A glossy notification wrapped in false certainty. “High confidence pick, Barca to win.…
Where Does the Money Go? When Black Tax Becomes a Whisper Not a Budget Line
The debit goes off at 6, 03 a.m. You see it before your first cup of coffee. R650 to an account ending in 44. You know exactly who it’s for,…
The Night I Discovered My Phone Could Change the Game
It began on a mild evening in Gauteng, the kind of night lined with possibility. I had just settled in at a plush table in the main gaming room, smartphone…
When Slot Sounds Follow You Home
There’s a sound some people swear they still hear, long after the screen’s gone dark. A little digital chime. A spin. A jackpot jingle that never quite ends. It flutters…
The Thin Line Between Luck and Logic
There’s something about gambling that slips into conversations the way smoke drifts through an open window, quiet, persistent, a little dangerous. You can talk business, politics, music, and still, somewhere…