Every Soccer 6, Soccer 10, Soccer 13 and Soccer Any 13 Xtra pool comes with three pieces of small print that decide whether you can actually place the ticket you want: the minimum stake, the exact window in which betting is open, and the pool code you need to find and confirm your slip. None of this is complicated once you know what each part means, but getting it wrong is one of the most common reasons players miss a pool entirely or pay far more than they expected for a permutation ticket. This guide breaks down all three in plain terms, with real numbers and real examples.

 

Minimum Bet by Pool Type

The minimum stake is not the same across all four pools, and it is one of the first things worth checking before you build a ticket with multiple selections per match.

 
A single line on Soccer 6, meaning one selection per match across all six fixtures, costs R6. If you back more than one outcome on any single match, that is a permutation entry, and the cost multiplies. The formula is simple: multiply the number of selections you have made on each match together, then multiply that total by the minimum unit price. So if you back two outcomes on one match and a single outcome on the other five, your combination count is 2, and your ticket costs R12. Back two outcomes on three different matches and one outcome on the rest, and your combination count becomes 2 x 2 x 2 = 8, which turns a R6 ticket into R48.

Soccer 10 and Soccer 13 work on the same multiplication logic but with a lower R2 unit price, which is why permutation tickets on the bigger pools stay more affordable per combination even though there are more matches to cover. This is also the mechanical reason Soccer 13 punishes over-hedging so heavily: with 13 legs instead of 6, doubling up on even three or four matches can push a ticket from a few rand into several hundred rand very quickly. If you are weighing how much hedging actually makes sense on the bigger pools, our piece on why more legs means more risk walks through the maths in detail.

 

How Betting Windows Actually Work

Every pool carries two timestamps: when betting opens and when it closes. These are not the same as kickoff times for the matches inside the pool, and understanding the gap between them is where most confusion happens.

Betting on a pool typically opens several days before it closes, often as soon as the previous round’s results are finalised. A Tuesday pool, for example, will usually show a betting window that opened the preceding Sunday or Monday. This overlap is intentional: it gives players time to study form, check team news and build their tickets without rushing, and it is why you will often see two or three different pools open for betting at the same time.

The closing time is the part that actually matters on matchday. A pool almost always closes at or just before the kickoff of its first fixture, not its last. If a six-match pool has matches spread across an evening starting at 18:45 and ending closer to midnight, betting still closes around 18:45, because once the first ball is kicked the outcome of that match can no longer be predicted. This is the single most important rule to remember: check the earliest kickoff in the pool, not the latest, when you are deciding how much time you have left to place a bet.

Pools also carry a status that tells you exactly where they sit in that window:

• Open means betting is currently active and you can place a ticket right now.
• Not Yet Open means the pool exists and fixtures are published, but betting has not started, usually because an earlier pool needs to close first.
• Official means the pool has closed, all results are confirmed, and dividends have been finalised.

If you are building your ticket around live team news, injury updates or a late change in odds, understanding this window is essential. For more on how to use that extra planning time properly, see our guide on choosing strong banker picks without guesswork.

 

What Pool Codes Are and Why They Matter

Every pool is issued a short reference code, usually two or three letters such as SDD, 6GG, SBB or SXX, alongside a version and panel label like V1 P1 or V2 P2. This is not decorative, it is the unique identifier that lets you find the exact pool you want to bet on, especially on days when three or four different pools of the same type are running side by side.

Here is what each part actually tells you:

• The pool type (Soccer 6, Soccer 10, Soccer 13, Soccer Any 13 Xtra) tells you how many matches are involved and what the minimum stake per line is.
• The version number (V1, V2, V3) separates multiple distinct pools of the same type running on the same day, often built from different leagues or regions. A V1 pool might lean on European fixtures while a V2 or V3 pool on the same date covers a completely different mix of competitions.
• The panel number (P1, P2) distinguishes between separate match lists within the same version, most often used when a pool type runs more than once in a single day, for example an early panel closing before the first wave of kickoffs and a later panel covering evening fixtures.
• The alpha code (SDD, 6GG, SBB, and so on) is the specific reference you use to confirm you have the right pool at the point of betting, since version and panel numbers alone can repeat across different days.

In practice, this means a single Saturday can carry entries like S6 V1 P1 (6GG), S6 V3 P1 (SDD) and S6 V3 P2 (SCC) all at once, each with a different match list, a different pool value and a different closing time. Always match the full code, not just the version number, before placing your ticket, especially if you are comparing pools between browser tabs or betting slips.

 

Reading a Pool’s Full Status at a Glance

When you look up any pool, four pieces of information tell you everything you need before staking a cent:

• Betting Opens: the date the pool became available.
• Closes: the exact date and time betting stops, tied to the first kickoff.
• Current Pool: the total rand value staked so far, which grows as more tickets come in and directly affects the eventual dividend.
• Status: Open, Not Yet Open, or Official.

A large current pool value with a status of Open is usually the clearest sign of a busy, well-subscribed round, which tends to mean smaller individual dividends spread across more winners. A smaller current pool can mean the opposite: fewer entries, but a potentially bigger share for anyone who gets the full line correct. If you want a deeper look at how pool size interacts with difficulty and payout size, our article on evaluating pool difficulty before making predictions covers exactly this trade-off.

 

Practical Checklist Before You Bet

1. Confirm the exact pool code, not just the pool type, especially if more than one version is running that day.
2. Check the earliest kickoff time listed in the pool, since that is the real closing deadline, not the last match on the card.
3. Work out your combination count before staking if you are backing more than one outcome on any match, using the per-line minimum for that pool type.
4. Check the current pool value and status to judge how contested the round is likely to be.
5. Recheck the pool code one more time immediately before confirming payment, particularly on days with several similarly-numbered pools open at once.

 

The minimum stake decides how much a ticket costs, the betting window decides how much time you have to build it properly, and the pool code decides whether you actually bet on the round you meant to. Getting all three right is the least glamorous part of soccer pools, and also the part that determines whether your prediction work counts for anything at all.