South African online casino sites

Gambling in South Africa has existed in many different forms over the decades. It was officially legislated and banned with the Gambling Act of 1965, which criminalised all forms of gambling with the exception of horse race betting. However, despite these laws, casinos flourished across the country, and by the mid-1990s it was believed that as many as 2000 illegal casinos operated freely within the country. When a new government came into power in 1994, it worked to legitimise the industry, and in 1996 it introduced the National Gambling Act, which imposed a licensed casino system, and also legalised the lottery. Online gaming remains a contentious issue, however, and as such, a number of online casinos have restricted South Africans from gambling online.

South African online casinos

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Best casino sites for South Africa

South Africans have many different online casino sites they can choose from in 2024, with these gambling establishments based in offshore locations like Malta, United Kingdom and even Curacao.

The best ZA casino sites will have 100s of real money casino games across a broad of topics, with these usually including things like online slots, blackjack, roulette and baccarat.

Many of the best online casinos in South Africa have got live dealer player available, with these types of gambling games allowing you to watch a live feed of a real croupier or dealer and place bets via a digital table.

Mobile casino is also popular, with most gambling games available on smartphones and tablets. For instance, these days most slots games are designed first for mobile, because statistics prove more people play on handheld devices.

South African online casinos have got a myriad of different deposit options to suit those depositing Rand, with the ZAR currency well catered for despite these gambling sites having overseas regulation.

Real money casino games available in South Africa

Real money casino games are readily available to South Africans, with a huge variety of titles available. Both RNG casino games and live dealer titles are available, with it possible to play everything from poker to bingo via these online casinos. Some of the casino games you should look out for at ZA casino sites include:

• Blackjack: You will find both live dealer and RNG titles available for South Africans. Evolution Gaming provides some superb live games across multiple platforms.
• Roulette: Not quite as popular with South Africans as blackjack, but you will still find it in both live dealer and RNG. Check out Gunsbet.com for the best selection of live dealer games.
• Video poker: Oh how we would kill to still be able to play both Microgaming’s and Playtech’s video poker titles. Alas, it’s not possible at the moment, but there is still plenty of video poker titles from the likes of Betsoft and RealTimeGaming.
• Baccarat: Online baccarat is very popular in South, especially with those who have Chinese heritage with it the no.1 game in the Asian country. You will find both high limit and low limit tables in both RNG and live dealer.
• Online keno: South Africans actually have regulated keno games, or variations of it, available online, through Lottoland, however the future of this is under threat. There is plenty of different variations of online Online kenokeno played online.
• Poker variations: On top of the standard variations like Texas Hold’em that you can play online against opposition, you can also play poker variations against the dealer at online casinos. These are games are titles like Caribbean Stud.

Rand deposits at online casinos

Not every casino under the sun will cater specifically to Rand deposits but there are definitely some which will accept ZAR and display your balance in this currency. Other casinos will convert your balance into USD or another currency of your choice.

Popular deposit methods for South Africans include credit and debit cards like Visa and Mastercard, web wallets like Neteller, Easy EFT and many others like bank transfers. You can read our detailed deposit guide on ZAR online casinos for more information.

Our no.1 casino that caters to the South African Rand is Casino.com – you can sign up via our links for exclusive sign up bonuses.

Overview of gambling in South Africa

Events in the 1970s arguably helped establish South Africa’s casino and gambling scene as it is today. Laws that outlawed gambling in 1965 were loosely applied to casinos that openly operated illegally. It wasn’t until a new democratic government took power in 1994 that South Africa could benefit from accessible and liberal gambling laws.

Despite South Africa’s economic struggles over the years, casinos and gambling remain a strong and popular pastime for people living in the country. The most popular forms of gambling are the lottery, slot machines, scratchcards, charity jackpot competitions, and horse race betting.

Online gambling is somewhat of a sketchy part of the legislation, which we’ll look at and cover below.

Online casino and gambling laws in South Africa

The National Gambling Act introduced in 1996 offered licenses to gambling operators to run legal casinos throughout the country. New regulations were introduced in 2004 and 2008, which saw the total number of casinos rise to 36.

Each of South Africa’s provinces has a gambling and racing board, which offer licenses to online bookies. These licensed outlets are the only ways for South Africans to gamble online. Residents can only gamble at licensed online casinos based in the country.

Also read:

• South African gambling laws

Can you gamble online from South Africa?

Like neighbouring country Zimbabwe (best Zimbabwe casino sites), South Africa allows their citizens to play at offshore online casinos, despite it being somewhat of a grey zone in their laws.

Technically, the only legal form of wagering is online betting, live dealer casino and lotteries, including lotto betting.