When the topic of gambling in Africa pops up, the first country that usually comes to most people’s minds is South Africa. While the Mother of Mankind boasts a reputation as one of the most restrictive continents regarding games of chance, the Rainbow Nation is home to thirty-eight casinos, out of a maximum of forty-one allowed. Its Rio Casino Resort has a 24,743 square meter gaming floor, making it one of the most massive gambling venues in the Southern Hemisphere. Hence concerning brick-and-mortar gaming entertainment, the situation in South Africa is clear. These properties are legal thanks to legislation changes from the mid-2000s, as in 2004, the National Gambling Act got repealed, and four years later, the National Gambling Amendment Act got introduced.
Without question, South Africans love to gamble, as the country’s National Lottery, at one point, reached a staggering participation rate of 96.9%. Scratch cards also are super popular at the bottom of the Dark Continent, with 22.7% of people enjoying them, and slots get favored by 27.7% of the population here. So, it stands to reason that the world’s most established table game has its fans in South Africa. Hence, below we get into the legal availability of internet RNG and live dealer blackjack real money games in the home of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Is Online Blackjack Legal in South Africa?
Even with the passing of the National Gambling Amendment Act, the situation regarding casinos and live blackjack online real money sites was still muddy. Things got even cloudier when South African courts ruled that online casinos based in foreign territories cannot offer internet gaming services to South African residents. That essentially made it illegal for internationally-regulated brands to accept South Africans who wanted to play live blackjack online because their platforms were not approved and taxed by the National Gambling Board or local provinces.
Each of South Africa’s nine autonomous regions has racing and gaming boards. So, anyone interested in delivering real money online games of chance must first get licensed by such a respective regulator. The Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board is the most sizable body that supplies internet bookmakers with licenses to operate legally in South Africa. In 2021, more than thirty regulated sports betting sites were active in the Rainbow nation, and a few international brands such as Sportingbet and Betway also operated within the country’s borders.
Despite the ban on offshore gambling sites, many South Africans choose to play casino games at hubs based in foreign territories, as authorities do not seek to prosecute these individuals. They legally go after the services that accept them, not the gamblers that take advantage of this presented choice. So, while twenty-one action is widely available in South Africa at land-based venues, live blackjack is another real money option at home and offshore internet platforms.
How Live Blackjack Works?
The online gambling sector got birthed in 1994, but it honestly got up and running in 1996. Only RNG (random number generator) games were offered at gaming sites during the first few years of this industry’s existence. That started to change in 2003 when UK software developer Playtech decided to pioneer streaming table picks.
Recently, these live dealer options became the second most favored betting choices in the interactive gaming sphere, behind slots. These products get provided from HD studios, where dealers stand at tables and deal cards that they first run through an optical reader before setting them at player positions. They do this for maximum transparency. Online gamblers view dealers’ actions through a video feed, using a casino’s game interface to convey gameplay commands. Thanks to a chat window, they can also converse with other players at their table.
As a rule of thumb, the minimum bet sizes at live games are more sizable than at software ones because of the higher costs operators incur to run them.
Best Online Blackjack Sites
According to veteran online gamblers, the best blackjack hubs on the World Wide Web are Wild Casino, Las Atlantis, and Ducky Luck Casino.
Wild Casino is a crypto-centric platform that features RNG titles from Platypus, Betsoft, Nucleus, and Dragon Gaming. Betsoft ranks as the top supplier of 3D slots and is a premium table game developer. The live blackjack picks here come from Fresh Deck Studios and Visionary iGaming. The first brand’s games mainly come from Lucky Streak, which has its headquarters in Latvia, while Visionary iGaming’s studios are in San Jose, Costa Rica. Both providers have high-limit tables where players can gamble over a thousand dollars per hand.
Las Atlantis has proprietary blackjack software games and live ones from Visionary iGaming. On the other hand, Lucky Duck Casino’s live lobby gets packed with Fresh Deck Studio’s products, which primarily focus on traditional twenty-one entertainment.
