In part 1 we give two approximations where a linear combination of central beta variables is approximated by a single beta variable. Extensive numerical computations are done to compare these approximations for the case of two central beta variable with parameters (b1,a1), (b2,a2) with a special attention for the case b1√ b2. They show that these approximations are sufficiently good for most cases. The second part of this paper compare four similar approximations for noncentral beta variables and conclude that three of them are sufficiently good for most practical purposes.