Online casino beginners guide for South Africans
You have landed in the right spot if you are a beginner to online casinos in South Africa, with our guide set to hold your hand through the process. This beginner online casinos journey will teach you how to find safe online gambling sites, how the sign up process works, the top casino bonus, South African gambling laws and funding your account in ZAR. Jump to page navigation or check our or top ZAR online casinos for beginners:
- Top online casinos for beginners
- What do I need to register at an online casino?
- Choosing an online casino
- Safe payment methods at ZAR casino sites
- Online casino withdrawals & the verification process
- Best casino games for a beginner
- Download, flash or instant play casino
- Best South African casino apps for beginners
- South Africa Beginner’s Casino Guide Q and A
Top online casinos for beginners
South Africa has many great online casinos and most of them are suitable for beginners, with these gambling sites generally holding your hand through the sign up and verification process (more on that in a minute).
You will then have a plethora of online casinos at your fingertips, with these licensed and regulated by one of the nine provincial gambling regulators in South Africa.
Many of the top online casinos have actually operated for years in South Africa, and just naturally progressed into real money gambling, following the iGaming laws update.
These online casino games can be accessed via computer, in your web browser, or even via mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Many of the best casinos for beginner’s in South Africa also have gambling apps for Android, iOS and increasingly Huawei devices.
Below we will run you through some of the key aspects of signing up, successfully playing and withdrawing from a South African online casino.
Some of our favoured South African casino sites include:
- Massive presence globally and well-known in South Africa
- Sponsors major sporting competitions
- App access via Android, IOS and Huawei available
- Lacks horse racing markets
- Highly respected gambling company in South Africa
- Accessible via Android and iOS betting apps
- Revamped website and apps have put them at the cutting edge
- Some bonuses can have heavy wagering requirements.
- Highly respected betting site in South Africa
- Great sign up bonus to suit a range of players
- Has brick and mortar establishments throughout South Africa
- Can be slow paying out winnings
- Has had a major upgrade of their website
- Features sports betting and casino games
- Free spins on Gates of Olympus slots game
- Does not have horse racing
- Sports betting markets are limited compared to opposition
- Outstanding website and apps
- All formats of gambling under one roof
- Does not have horse racing
- Has both casino games and sports betting
- Android and iOS app friendly!
- Huge 200% welcome package
- Depth in betting markets not as strong as other South African bookmakers
- Has betting apps for Android, iOS and Huawei
- Great promotions surrounding major events
- Can be slow on customer service.
- Sunbet.co.za was born again after a brief hiatus
- Has an outstanding selection of casino games
- Website is not as sleek as some of the opposition
- Dedicated to sports betting
- Has Android and iOS betting apps available
- Regulated by two licensing bodies
What do I need to register at an online casino?
One of the most common questions online casino beginners ask us is: What do I need to register at an online casino? And the answer is not much, although it is very important to remember that you will have to verify your account before you can withdraw. So do not give false details, because it will mean you can’t cash out down the track.
Initially, you will be required to give over the following information to sign up at an online casino in South Africa:
- Name
- Email address
- Date of birth
- Address
- Phone number
It’s important to note that you will also have to verify your new account at the casino, which means either using an instant online verification, which online some gambling sites have. Or uploading or email in documents. This is like a points test for getting a new ID when you need to prove your identity.
The documents you could use a combination of to verify your casino account include:
- Passport
- Driver’s License
- Utility Bill
- Bank statement
- Other form of government issued ID
* Beginners to online casinos can often be worried about handing over scans of personal documents. But this is standard practice in the online gambling industry and was introduced to stamp out things like money laundering and fraud.
Choosing an online casino
The most important part of real money gambling is choosing your online casino. It can determine whether you are treated fairly and end up enjoying your experience. Basically there are thousands of online casino websites to choose from, and a large proportion of them will also accept South African players. This means you need to weed out the ones which are not legitimate.
Here are a few beginner’s tips for choosing online casinos:
- Licensing: South Africans have got a plethora of online casinos available to them that are licensed and able to accept Rand. These online casinos must have sought and received licensing from one of the nine provincial regulators.
- Currency: We recommend those new to online gambling stick with a ZAR beginner’s casino, with it saving you money in conversion fees and confusion in having to understand a different currency. Online casinos do have many different currencies available with common ones including USD and EUR.
- Customer service: Again the experienced player may not worry too much about this, but for beginners it can be a comfort to know there is someone there to talk to. Check it out when you are signing up, all the South African online casinos we promote have live chat and phone numbers to call.
- Software: If you read a review of an online casino, it will undoubtedly mention the software that the casino is powered by. For a beginner this may seem like jibberish, but you can trust that if a casino is licensed in South Africa, the software they use will also have the required accreditation, plus a likely tick from eCOGRA, which is a respected online casino watchdog. Many of the top iGaming developers — like Playtech, Play’n Go and Net Entertainment — are available to South Africans.
- Reputation: This is one of the most important facets of choosing an online casino. Using websites like this one to read casino reviews and user feedback is crucial. While there are plenty of affiliate sites in it to make a quick buck, we believe that our best chance of building a business that will allow us to quit our day jobs is by building a loyal following over time and a reputation for honesty. We will only promote casinos we know respect the player.
Safe payment methods at ZAR casino sites
Popular ways to fund ZAR online casinos:
South Africans have got many safe deposit options available to them at online casinos. Payments can be one of the most confusing aspects of gambling online for beginner, but the reality is that it is much like buying something online.
Admittedly, there have been cases of cards not working at offshore gambling sites, but definitely try before confusing the matter by using a web wallet or another deposit means.
Credit and debit cards are the easiest ways for ZAR punters to fund their online gambling accounts, but if these do fail, Neteller and Skrill are web wallet alternatives. They put another layer between your card and the casino.
The other alternative for beginner’s at online casinos is to use a prepaid card, with these including Visas and services like ecoPayz. Our full ZAR casino banking guide has in-depth information about payment options available in South Africa.
Online casino withdrawals & the verification process
Withdrawing from your online casino account is a simple process once you have verified your new account. As a general rule you will not be able to withdraw your money until you have verified your account.
After you have verified your account, some of the more common ways you can withdraw from ZAR casinos includes:
- Bank transfers
- Neteller
- Web Wallet
- Cheque
Best casino games for a beginner
You can browse the games available at an online casino before you sign up. This means you can make sure they have what you want. Still just because an online casino has the game you want to play it doesn’t make it the best place to play the game. If it’s by a particular games developer, do a quick Google search and you will find heaps of casinos stocking that game that you can assess and find one that is safe and reputable.
Some highlights to look out for include:
- 1000s of online slots
- Live dealer blackjack
- Live dealer roulette
- Baccarat variants
Download, flash or instant play casino
The online casino landscape has changed significantly in the past five or so years with the emergence of instant play games. This just means instead of downloading software you can also play in your internet browser, or mobile browser for that matter.
What is better out of download or instant-play casinos? That really is a personal preference, however, players on Mac computers are generally forced into playing via their browser because there are no downloadable platforms available for osx (that we know of).
For those using Windows many casinos including those powered by Microgaming and Playtech have a downloadable platform available. Having said this more and more casinos are going instant play only and have many software providers available as a result. There are some great in-house platforms built for Windows by some of the bigger casinos online, including Bet365 and BetOnline.
Best South African casino apps for beginners
South Africans can download real money casino apps, but only if they are on an Android device.
This is because Apple only allows gambling apps in regulated markets and South Africa is not.
The best South African casino apps are free to use and can be downloaded directly from the gambling sites.
South Africa Beginner’s Casino Guide Q and A
- What is the best beginner casino for South Africa?
If we had to pick one, we would pick Mansion Casino, largely because they have such a good reputation. Checking out our online casinos guide for more. - Why can’t I withdraw from my casino account?
There is information about casino withdrawals on this page, but check that you have verified your account. - Help, I’m a online gambling beginner, and this happened…
Feel free to send us an email at contact@worldgamblinglist.com or drop us a message in the box below. The World Gambling List loves hearing from casino beginner’s and we know the South African real money casino industry back to front.