Online blackjack is a relative recent phenomenon bursting onto the gambling scene in the mid to late 2000’s. Many players now play blackjack online, and you will find that South Africa is no different to other countries. Many players find enjoyment playing for real money in ZAR with online blackjack offered by many South African online casinos.
Blackjack is a widely known casino table game that has a massive fan following. Going back in time, it’s not clear how blackjack originated. Some say, it was born in the US during the gold rush days, and has since gradually evolved and spread throughout the world.
Blackjack is now a common game among casinos and social games. And many players who have become experts have written books about it – some stories of huge winnings and losses, and others about strategy that includes card counting.
In this article, we explore further SA online blackjack.
Top Blackjack SA Sites
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Online Blackjack in South Africa is the second most popular interactive game behind online slots. Though online slots is the leader in popularity, online blackjack is not far behind. Online blackjack is played exactly the same as it is in land based casinos. However, online there are far more variations, styles, and themes which are only limited by a software developers imagination!
Online Blackjack Games
With blackjack you can find many variations. These include: hitting on a soft 17, allowing unlimited splitting, the house offering insurance on a potential blackjack, and double down. You will find Spanish 21, Pontoon and the traditional 21. Online blackjack can easily adopt any variation and can even expand beyond.
Online blackjack Live Dealers
Some players love to play with real dealers. And that is completely understandable. With live dealers, you can enjoy having a chat, a bit of a banter, and become extremely social. Playing online blackjack can also give the same experience as land based. You may have heard of technology streaming live events online. You can often find this on the news, and even Facebook has live streaming. Well guess what, blackjack can also be live streamed. Streaming live blackjack through the internet, is often referred to as playing with a live dealer.
You receive a view online with a real live dealer on your monitor or mobile device. The dealer deals the blackjack cards online, and yes you can watch online as it happens. You can place your bets online, and chat with messages if you wish. Many players love playing with a live dealer as it gives them that real land based casino experience.
Also new to the scene is a hybrid of blackjack whereby players play against each other. The objective of each player is to score more winning hands than their opponent. In many ways this becomes a game of skill. This new hybrid can be considered as a game of skill by passes laws in many countries which only permits games of skill.
Online blackjack bonuses
Online blackjack offers great bonuses or reward programs than any land based casino found in SA cannot compete with. The main reason why land based casinos cannot compete with online black bonuses, is because their overheads are much higher. Land based casinos need to pay for rent, employee salaries, equipment and much more. Whereas online blackjack has none of these expenses. Bonuses come in many forms for online blackjack. They include Welcome Bonuses, No Deposits bonuses and/or free play.
Welcome Bonuses
Welcome bonuses out bid any land based offering. They are great for new starters beginning with online gambling, because they provide additional free real money credits to your bank roll. The Welcome Bonus is usually calculated as a multiple of your original first deposit. Please be aware, that the Welcome Bonus is often capped. This means, can you cannot simply drop a deposit of the largest amount possible to obtain a gigantic Welcome Bonus. Welcome Bonuses also come with Terms and Conditions. Online Casinos often restrict through required wagering amounts, when you can withdraw a Welcome Bonus. This is in place to prevent you from immediately withdrawing the Welcome Bonus and run away with an easy profit. Which is fair enough, because giving away free money is not the real intention of the Welcome Bonus. It is to extend your bank roll and your playing time at the online casino.
Free Spin bonuses are of course not applicable for online blackjack. Free Spin bonuses, which you will see often on the promotions, are for online slots. They provide players with free spins on the reels, which is not applicable to online blackjack.
No Deposit Bonuses
Some South African online casinos offer No Deposit Bonuses. The No Deposit allows new players to create an online casino account and play for free with real money! Of course, there are also Terms and Conditions that apply when playing with a No Deposit Bonus. But still it is a very good deal. Included in the deal is a Free Sign Up for new members without the need to deposit any real money (ZAR). Plus you have the opportunity to play on many of the online casino games.
Often to obtain a No Deposit Bonus you will need to enter a “code”. The code is also known as a coupon. To find a South African Online Casino with a No Deposit coupon, you need to click on the link to the online casino and look at their coupon page. On the coupon page you will find various coupons for different No Deposit Bonuses.
Online Casino Payment Methods
As a South African you want to look for online casinos that accept ZAR. Ok, you might want to play with USD but if you choose to do so, you will lose a little bit of your money on the exchange rate because of the transaction fees and the spread. So, find an online casino that accepts ZAR, in which you will see that there are many of them.
There are various ways of making payments to Online Casinos in ZAR. South Africa is a developed country, so it offers the usual bank transfers, credit card payments, e wallets and cryptocurrencies. BUT not all forms of payment methods are accepted by online casinos.
Local banks are technically not permitted to process transactions for players who want to play online blackjack. They have been requested by the government to not process online casino transactions, as it is deemed to be in contravention of the Gambling Act. However, this is not heavily enforced, and therefore other forms of payment methods are available to transaction with an online casino.
By far the most popular method is using e-wallets. E-wallets are digital wallets on which you can store real money ZAR. PayPal is an example of a digital wallet, formerly owned by Elon Musk – the founder of Tesla.
When using an e-wallet as a means of transacting with an online casino, lookout for their fees. Fees aren’t a big issue if you only intend to make a few transactions. However, if you plan on making many transactions to many different online casinos, then the fees may begin to hurt you. Try and stick to a few online casinos and make larger deposits, rather than play at many online casinos with small deposits. The transactions fees will add up, so weigh these against the Welcome Bonuses that you will get.
Other popular and accepted e-wallets are Skrill, Neteller, EasyEFT, EcoPayz.
Using e-wallets are very simply. You can top them up whenever you want by transferring monies from your bank account, and into the digital wallet.
Credit cards
Some online casinos will accept the major credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard. Using credit cards to make a deposit at an online casino is NOT recommended. Gambling can be an issue for some players, and therefore using credit as a means of making a deposit is a BIG NO NO. Don’t do it. Use only money that you have in the bank to play at online casinos.
Legality of play Online Blackjack
Many forms of online gambling are technically illegal in South Africa. This includes online slots, roulette, baccarat, and blackjack. The only forms that are legal are lottery tickets that can be purchased through the approve portal.
The Gambling Act of South Africa declares that interactive gambling is illegal and any onshore online casino is not permitted to be established. Significant penalties and fines are applicable to those who breach the law. Having said that, the laws are loosely enforced, and even the National Gambling Regulator has been caught in scandals and corruption as the enforcer! In attempting to minimise online gambling, the government has requested that all local banks decline processing any bank transactions that may relate to online blackjack. Therefore, South African players should transact with e-wallets or credit cards, however many banks will continue to process because the online casinos are able to by pass with bank accounts that are “disassociated” with them.
Though it is technically illegal, there is a gray area for online casinos that are based offshore and not within the jurisdiction of South Africa. You will find that there are South African online casinos based offshore in countries such as Malta, Gibraltar and the UK. These offshore South African online casinos face strict regulations and compliance, but extremely low tax rates. They are open to accepting SA online blackjack players using ZAR.
Online Blackjack Strategies for SA Players
There are many online blackjack strategies – some very good and some rubbish. Some strategies involve obtaining Welcome Bonuses from various online casinos, playing the minimum amount to be wagered then withdrawing the monies earnt including the bonus. This strategy succumbs to an indefinite amount of patience. Don’t try it, you will simply become burnt out and bored to death.
The aim is to have fun and not watch the wagering amount tick by.
Other strategies involve looking for No Deposit Bonuses. These isn’t a bad strategy if you are looking to start out and dip your toes into the world of online blackjack.
In terms of playing strategy, I encourage you to plan your playing sessions. Keep play time to routine limited minutes, and this will help extend your bank roll. If you exceed your allocated time, try and get back on track.
Follow the blackjack odds chart. When playing backjack, often the odds are greater than others in making a decision. There are many blackjack charts available online that will show you the best decision to make given the cards dealt. If you want to keep strictly to the best odds, then refer to the blackjack odds chart.
Lastly, enjoy your time playing. Playing online blackjack is meant to be fun, if you are playing because you think you can turn professional, count cards and make a huge winning, then think again. Playing online blackjack, will have its ups and downs, but eventually the house will win, because the odds are in their favour. Knowing this, don’t get too hung up if in the long run your bank roll is diminishing. Remember, you are playing to have fun!
Choosing the right Online Blackjack Casino
Deciding on an online blackjack casino is the first step to start with on the journey to playing online blackjack. But you can’t just choose any casino. The good online casinos are honest, have great customer service and are reliable with processing your withdrawals and deposits. The bad online casinos can be very deceptive and difficult to discern.
Naturally you might be extremely keen to play at an online casino, however, take the time to read some reviews. However, take the reviews with a grain of salt. Often it is customers who feel that they have been wrongly treated leave reviews, whilst those who are pleased with the online casino leave none. Alternatively, we strongly suggest you choose from our recommended top casinos for South Africans. We have done all the hard work for you, in selecting the best SA online blackjack sites.
Recommended South African Online Blackjack Casinos
- PlayCasino
- White Lotus Casino
- Apollo Casino
- Black Diamond Casino
- Spartan Casino
- Genesis Casino
Appendix
Ultimate Online Gambling Guide for South Africans
Online Gambling in South Africa
FAQ
As a South African, you are accepted to play at South African offshore online casinos. Onshore Online Casinos are not permitted.
The minimum age is 18 to play Online Blackjack.