The Best Online Gambling Sites For South African Players
To say that the online gambling space has changed since those early days of prominent land-based casino offerings would be the understatement of the century. Rest assured though that the glittering lights, grand bustling spaces, ringing slot machines, and the low murmur of optimistic jackpot winners, have thankfully not been lost, just simply evolved from what so many of us grew up excited about.
At the simple push of a button, today’s online gambler is greeted with a full suite of everything one could only wish to find at the very best land-based casinos, and if that wasn’t enough, it is all right at our fingertips. Instant access, instant enjoyment, and instant gratification, whenever, and wherever you wish.
This new age of online gambling has most certainly opened up new avenues for gambling operators and players alike. For an online gambling operator, it’s a chance to offer not just far more variety at the fraction of the running costs but also comes with far more negotiable legal aspects. For Players, it’s all about the convenience, the chance to play their favourite casino games without having to leave the comfort of their homes, not to mention the vast number of features such as payment solutions that come with being online.
Choosing The Right Online Gambling Site For You?
Let’s face it, whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned veteran, choosing the right online gambling site for you can be a daunting task, especially considering that daily there are hundreds if not thousands of different new casino options to choose from, each of course with their own unique offerings. So how do you actually go about choosing the right online casino to suit your playing needs?
We have carefully listed some of the most important aspects to help you navigate through the clutter, and in doing so, choose an online casino best suited to you. Remember all of the below-mentioned detail can be found in each of our comprehensive online casino reviews.
Casinos Accepting South African players – First things first, the most obvious thing you need to do from the very first minute is identify whether the online casino you are looking to play at actually allows for, and caters to South African players. Online casinos that don’t allow South African players will restrict you from registering, so make sure you are aware of the online casinos that allow South African players so you don’t end up frustrated and disappointed.
Casinos That Accept ZAR Payments – Back in the earlier days of the online gambling world, South African players who had access to online casinos only really had the opportunity to play and withdraw in foreign currencies. Now as we all know, when it comes to the South African Rand, the exchange rate with foreign currencies has always left us on the back foot, so you never really had the full benefit. Fortunately, things have progressed since then, and many online casinos have now made it possible for local players to deposit and withdraw using our beloved South African Rand. Make sure that you are choosing the online casino options that cater to ZAR.
Online Gambling Reputation – Ensure that the casino/s you may wish to play at has a good reputation, especially when it comes to factors such as their win/loss ratio, favorable wagering requirements, timeous payments, no hidden fees, or difficult payment terms. Make sure to read through our list of blacklisted online casinos to instantly know which sites to avoid from the outset
The Casino UX – The UX of a site, or user journey as it’s more simply referred to, is essentially how easy the site is to navigate and explore, whether you can find what you are looking for with ease, and does the site cater to the device you may be using. These are all really important things to think about when you are ready to play. If you choose a casino that makes it hard for you to find what you want, or one that makes it difficult to register, this will leave you frustrated. Look for those casinos that make it easy and fun to play online.
The Online Gambling License – The Casinos Gambling license and the country where the license is issued, is so important when it comes to any online casino. The casino gambling license helps to set a governance standard in terms of how it is operated and run. Make sure to choose an online casino that holds a reputable license with a well-known jurisdiction, this will help create trust and safety when you play online. Some of the most well-known countries for issuing casino licenses include the UK, Malta, and Curacao.
ZAR-Friendly Payment Methods – Deposit and Withdraw payment methods are a major component of any online casino. To have the deposit and withdrawal payment methods that you are firstly familiar with, and secondly, that are available to your country’s currency makes all the difference to your playing experience. Make sure you pick those casinos that cater to your preferred payment preferences, as well as offer safe, secure, and convenient payment options for deposits and withdrawals
Casino Games & Software Providers – With so many amazing online gambling sites now available settling for a mediocre list of casino game titles is simply not an option. When it comes to the quality, type, and selection of online casino games, the biggest contributor to this is the iGaming software provider, names such as NetEnt, Microgaming, Evolution, and Red Tiger specialise in creating and perfecting the biggest and best casino games. You will soon learn which providers specialize in which types of casino games, as well as their standard of quality.
Casino Bonuses & Promotions – Don’t settle for just any old online casino, find ones that are willing to treat you like royalty. Look for online casino options that firstly offer you great welcome bonus incentives for joining, and secondly, continue to reward you with amazing ongoing promotions such as deposit bonuses. When looking to claim any bonus make sure to read the T’s & C’s, especially when it comes to the wagering requirements and deposit amounts required. Many bonuses will look great from the outset, only to be backed by unfriendly T’s & C’s
Mobile Casinos
One of the most important aspects of any great online casino today is the ability for it to render correctly across a multitude of devices, in other words, how responsive is the casino to different screen sizes.
Of course this requirement has come with the growth and dependency of not only mobile phones, but laptops and tablets too. The need for on the go access, and total convenience is rife, so having a casino offering that renders beautifully no matter what device they may be accessing it from it is crucial.
The ability for a casino to be responsive lies in how quickly the code is able to adapt and optimise to the specific screen size or device being used, this goes for everything from the images on-site, to the text and even the menu headings.
For any player who is visiting a casino using their mobile, which happens to be the preferred method by most players, casino operators need to make sure that their offering is fit for mobile usage. This includes text that is easily readable, button surface areas that are big enough to click, and finally, probably the most important for new players, the sign-up process needs to be big, and easy enough to be filled in and completed on a mobile screen.
How To Spot A Blacklisted Casino?
The increase in the number of online casinos has been a direct result of the increase in demand from South African players, now of course this explosion in casino offerings to cater to the growing demand has brought with it many pros, but also a few cons.
From a positive standpoint, increased competition between casino operators has brought with it a better overall standard of casino offering for players, whether it be in the look and feel of the casino, the user experience, the attractive bonuses available, better player terms, or even something as simple as easier signup process. Whatever it may be, there is no denying that casino operators are having to step out of their boxes to stick out from the clutter.
On the negative side, having such a wide variety of online casinos available has also brought with it many illegitimate casino offerings, ones whose sole aim is to mislead players. So the question is, how do you filter the good from the bad?
We have compiled a quick checklist of everything you can look out for to spot an illegitimate online casino.
No Casino License
We have mentioned this time and time before, but if the casino you are visiting has no clear mention of the license it holds, or the jurisdiction/country in which it has a license, on-site, or even just mentioned when searching, then we would definitely recommend being extra cautious.
The casino license is essential to any casino offering, as it officially deems its operations and activities legal, not just in the country in which it holds its license, but also in the markets it can service. Without the required certifications, online casinos will not only struggle to set up proper payment methods and relationships with top banks but also fail to provide safe and secure playing environments for players.
The Casinos Reputation
The second thing you want to investigate to ensure that you are playing at a trusted online casino is the casino’s reputation. The power of the internet has meant that players have numerous platforms and channels for which to voice their experiences.
From online player groups, to review & rating portals, plus tons of forums, as a player you can now get instant access to first-hand experiences from other players before you commit yourself, this way you know that the casino you ultimately start playing with is trusted and proven in the industry.
When we look at the reputation of any online casino, what we are normally looking out for is the payment terms, any unpaid bonuses, poor customer service, and of course false or skewed gaming results. What we do is carefully looked to see if there are any records of the casino delaying payments or showing non-payments to players altogether, these are normally telltale signs that something fishy is going on
Customer Support
Before committing to any online casino we recommend you investigate what support channels they offer, this says a lot about the casino. We understand this can be quite tricky and time-consuming, so to help, our team of experts has physically made use of each casino support the channel and its responsiveness, we then make these known to our players in our detailed casino reviews. Casinos with poor response times or those who don’t respond at all are earmarked as a red flag to players.
A great casino will have email, a toll-free number you can call, as well as 24/7 live chat, additional to this, not only are you looking out for easy and convenient ways to reach the casino, but you also want them to have a proven track record of responding to players timelessly and accurately.
Terms & Conditions
Ever heard the saying “make sure to read the fine print”? well, this could not be more true in the case of online casinos. Many online casinos who are looking to blindside players will often have ambiguous and complicated terms and conditions, this can be for general player account activities, bonus terms, and many payment restrictions.
Terms and conditions can be accessed without the need to sign up first, so we recommend that you run through this before committing. Again, we are here to help, every one of our casino reviews has already carefully unpacked each casino’s terms and conditions, we then package the most important points for you in an easy-to-digest way.
When it comes to terms and conditions, the main things you want to look out for which often catches players is:
- Payment terms
- Legalities of gambling activities – particularly for your market
- Player confidentiality
- Account activities
- Bonus terms (includes wagering requirements, game selection, min and max deposit and withdrawal amounts)
Download vs Instant Play Casinos
When it comes to the playing side of any online casino, there are essentially two ways you can go about doing this.
Firstly you can simply play online using your internet browser, this is called Instant Play. With instant play, you get to do just that, play instantly without the need to download the casino onto your device first.
The benefits of instant play include:
- Quick, instant access to the casino and games you wish to play
- No downloading required
- Don’t require sufficient space on your device to house the casino software
- No casino software updates required
The second way in which a casino can be accessed and played is through download. What this means, is that the actual casino program will be downloaded to your device, and from there you won’t need to visit your internet browser for access, a player would simply click on the casino icon, located in their applications or on their home screen, and play from there.
A decade or so ago, the biggest reason why casinos preferred players to the download version of their casino offering was for the following reasons:
- Download versions carried better graphics than instant play
- More functions and features
- Better overall gaming experience
This was of course due to the fact that developers could create their ultimate version of the casino without having to worry about loading times or internet connectivity, so they could really go all out.
Much has changed since though, and with the improvements made to internet speed, as well as the technology available online, most instant-play versions of any online casino now carry with them equal levels of graphic quality, fast-playing speeds, and loading time, as well as all the features and functions provided by the downloadable casinos of the past.
Today most casinos will offer you a choice of either download or instant play, so it really depends on what suits your playing preferences
