Games have evolved during the ages. What used to be simple board and picture games, have now developed into a vast array of wonderful gaming options. One of the many games now available, which is extremely popular around the world is online slots. South Africa’s love of online slots is no different to any other country, i.e. it is really, really popular!
Real Money Online Slots is the most popular interactive game among South Africans. It is more popular than blackjack, roulette and many other well known casino table games. Its popularity can be derived from its simplicity and ability to win big jackpots. Online slots have developed a vast array of different themes, styles and winning patterns, which makes the game so exciting.
Online slots is also very popular around the world. Derivations can also be seen from country to country. In the UK for instance, they colloquially refer to them as fruit machines, because of their historical presence of using fruit pictures. Whilst in Japan, pachinko is a very similar game to online slots and is also extremely popular.
In this article, we delve into online slots in South Africa. Playing for real money, whether it be in ZAR, USD or any other currency, discussing the payment methods, style of play, themes, game variation and a whole lot month.
Top South African Online Slots
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Online Slots Strategy
There are plenty of online slot strategies that players like to use. Of course, each player have their own preferences and way of playing. We list below some of the most popular playing methods.
1. Hot and cold
Often you will hear the terms – hot and cold. A machine that is hot means that it is on a payout run. Some players are drawn to hot machines, because they believe that the chances of winning are higher.
Some believe the opposite. A cold machine is one that hasn’t had a win for a long period of time. Some players are drawn to cold machines, because they believe that the odds of a jackpot should be coming very soon.
2. Low denominations
A lot of players like to play the low denomination reels. With this strategy, players believe they can extend their bank roll, because the denominations are low. However, this is in fact not true, because game designers understand that low denomination play requires a lower pay out ratio, whilst higher denominations deserve a higher payout ratio.
3. Accumulating Welcome Bonuses
This strategy involves players signing up to many online casinos to obtain the Welcome Bonuses and Free Spins. It’s not a bad strategy, given that once the Welcome Bonuses and Free Spins are exhausted you can move onto another online casino.
Slot Themes
Slots come in many different types and forms. Many players would understand that slots can have various reels that spin, and can also come with many different winning lines. Traditionally winning involved landing on a winning picture pattern, generated randomly by the spinning reels, but in today’s world, various spin offs are also available especially online, Some online slots, are a hybrid of the traditional, mixed in with a bit of skill. For example, the player may need to time his hitting of the slot buttons, and though the timing may still produce a random result, it could be deemed that skill is involved. Slot games also come with different themes. You may be familiar with the old gold rush themes, whereby hitting the jackpot meant “you struck gold! Yee Hah” just like out in the Wild West of the US. With modern day technology, you will find that there are all sorts of different themes. From the cutesy, to the graphic, to the simply weird. There are slot forms, types and themes for all types of players. Thousands and thousands of slot machines produced huge corporations but also by indie producers are available. And of course, online (interactive gaming) slot games are only limited by the imagination.
Slot Play
In the early days, slot machines were of course independent of each other. The monies of a slot machines could not be pooled with other machines and other players. But in today’s world so much as changed. You can find progressive interlinked slot machines whereby the winnings can be massive. Take this one step further to online slot machines, and in South Africa players can win huge jackpots. The scalability of hosting online slots is not limited to the number of physical machines at land based casinos, or pubs and clubs. There are no boundaries, and thus jackpots can be gigantic!
Online Casino South Africa
Online casinos very much came into popularity in the 2000’s. Many players found online casinos to be much more appealing than land based. However, it can be honestly said that some online casinos were created as a scam. Players would deposit their money with them, and there would be no chance of winning. The games, not just slots, were programmed to lose. Or if the player in fact won, the online casino would decline payout. The early days, made players wary of online casinos, and the industry faltered. In South Africa, interactive gaming was not clearly outlined as legal or illegal in the Gambling Act and accordingly, some South African players would also be caught up with unscrupulous online casino operators. Honest and reliable online casinos knew that the industry’s reputation was being ruined by the few scammers, and thus interactive gambling regulations were implemented in many countries. Unfortunately, it became clear that South Africa would not amend the Gambling Act to clearly allow online casinos to operate in South Africa. And in fact, the Gambling Act was amended to not permit South African banks from facilitating transactions with online casinos.
But back to South African online casinos. Many were established offshore in the countries such as the UK and Malta and Gibraltar. These locations established extremely strict operating framework and governance, that many players could rely upon. The main reason why many online casinos established themselves in these localities was to demonstrate their honesty and trustworthiness but (of course) to take advantage of the low tax rates.
You will find, therefore, many offshore online casinos that accept real money ZAR from South African players. Online slot is without doubt the most popular of all online casino games among South Africans.
Getting Started with South Africa Online Slots
1. Choose a SA online casino
The first thing you need to do is to choose an online casino. You will need to find a casino that accepts South African players, and preferably one that also accepts ZAR. Yes, there are some online casinos that only USD and you could exchange your ZAR for USD, however, if you plan on being a high volume player you will lose a lot on the exchange rate over the long run. So try and stick to an online casino that also accepts ZAR.
2. Honest SA Casinos
Once you have found a South African online casino, you need to discern if they are honest, reliable and have great customer experience. The last thing you want, is to find out that you have won the jackpot only to be told that it won’t be paid out to you. Now, admittedly, these unscrupulous online casinos have been weeded out, but some do exist, so it pays to read some of the reviews. Having said that, often reviews are always negative because they are from players who have legitimately lost. So read the reviews with a touch of scepticism.
The alternative is to choose one of our recommended online casinos. Our list of South African online casinos have been vetted. They are reliable, honest, and excel with their customer service. However, we do point out that other casinos will have better Welcome Bonuses. Why, because the other online casinos simply cannot be trusted, and they use higher Welcome Bonuses as a lure to gain new signups.
3. Select Payment Method
Once you have chosen an online casino, you need to choose the payment method to deposit funds into your account. There are several ways of transferring securely and safely to an online casino. Unfortunately, in South Africa we cannot use the local banks to perform the transfer. Local banks are not permitted to process online casino deposits or withdrawals as requested by the government.
Most players prefer to use e-Wallets, the most popular being Neteller, Skrill and Paypal.
Some use credit cards, however, we strongly discourage using credit to fund your online slots account. Always use money that you have in the bank and not borrow. Borrowing can lead to disastrous management of monies.
List of Online Slot Casinos
Our recommended list of online slot casinos have been vetted by many of our followers. We also only recommend the big names and reputable online providers. We review the top three most honest and popular casinos per below:
1. Apollo Slots
Apollo Slots (also known as ApolloSlots) is one of the most honest, reliable and popular South African online casinos. Established in 2016, it has developed a great reputation among South African’s as a leader in slot games. Their bonuses are not the best, but they are very close to the top. Using Real Time Gaming Software as their developers of their slot games, you will see the quality and the experience is unbelievable. Playing at Apollo Slots is extremely to sign up, and their login process to check out your account balance is very easy to use.
One of the best experiences with Apollo Slot is its lobby area. The lobby area is the “home” section of the members account. From here you can choose a wide selection of slot games AND other casino table games such as blackjack, roulette, and poker.
To sum it up, if you are looking for quality entertainment with real money game play, then you cannot go wrong with Apollo Slots.
2. Spartan Slots
A close second, is the online casino – Spartan Slots. This casino has been around for many years, and is a testament as to how good it is. It has grown and expanded since it’s inception and now provides a whole variety of online casino games, not just limited to slots. It’s slots offering however, is it’s special feature. Employing four game developers – Pragmatic, Octopus Gaming, Vivo and Betsoft – they have the best of the best in game quality and experience.
What we love about Spartan Slots is its ease of use. The Spartan Slots Login for members is intuitive and signing up is a breeze. The lobby section where all players first enter is brilliantly themed and finding the right game for you, could not be easier.
Welcome bonuses aren’t as great as perhaps other casinos, but don’t be deterred. Their customer service and honesty is outstanding and this makes a huge difference.
3. Volcanic Slots
Rounding out the top three is Volcanic Slots. They have the best No Deposit bonuses and you can find their No Deposit Bonus Codes are you click through to the sign up page. Volcanic Slot has been around for donkey years. They are the stalwart of the online casinos and players love their traditional layout and simple play. Sometimes the best and most exciting games, are the simple and well though out games. We love their online slots for it’s smooth game play, its great themes and its attention to detail.
History of Slots in South Africa
The creation of the first slot machine cannot be pinpointed exactly to one creator, however broadly it can be said that derivations of the current slot machines were found scattered across countries in history. The Chinese were said to have created a simply game of flipping picture cards in random order, that simulates today’s slot machines of turning wheels. If the cards flipped, matched the pictures chosen by a player, they would win a pot of money that all player contributed to. The US was also a pioneer in the history of slot machines. The first to create a slot “machine”, a machine whereby customers could insert a coin, and small prizes could be one if they the resulting pictures created a winning pattern.
These two anecdotes of slot machines, led to a boom in slot machines around the world. What is fascinating, is that slot machines are colloquially known by different names from country to country. In the UK, slot machines are often referred to as Fruit machines. In Australia, the locals call them Pokie machines, and in the US there are known as the tradition slots or slot machines. Here in South Africa they too reference the same as the US – Slot Machines, but in law they are defined as Limited Payout Machines (LPM). LPM’s are extremely popular in South Africa, and must follow strict regulations as written in law. It’s a very interest industry as it involves whole sale distributors of LPM’s to retailers who meet specific criteria.
Gambling in South Africa has a long history. The current Gambling Act has changed through the course of time, however it first came into existence in 1965. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s whereby the internet came into existence, and many changes begun to take place in the Gambling Act. These changes were as a result of accommodating interactive gaming (also known as Online Gambling) .
As with many countries around the world, online gambling took off like a rocket! It became very popular, particularly for casino games. Blackjack, roulette, and many other casino game favourites were soon available online 24/7 and online slots were no different. In fact, online slots is the most popular interactive game around the world.
Online slots, as mentioned earlier, is extremely popular in South Africa. Players often search of real money online slot games in South Africa, even though there are several great land based casinos found through the provinces. Online slots offers something different that LPM’s cannot, and that is convenience, and the better pay out ratios. Without going into too much detail in this section, suffice to say, the history of slots in South Africa is embedded in the gambling culture. Online slots, together with other online casino games boomed in the early 2000’s and in today’s world, you will find many South Africans enjoying playing for real money in ZAR, USD and even cryptocurrency at the many online casinos.
FAQ
Yes it is legal to play online slots, as long as you are at least 18 years old and are playing within the borders of South Africa.
We rank online casinos based on three key factors: Honesty, Bonuses and Customer Service. There are many to choose from, however, we recommend that you stick to our recommended list of South African online slot sites.