The right online casino platform can help elevate a player’s experience by meeting specific needs. With the online gambling sector in South Africa booming at the moment, there are a lot of different sites that players can pick from — which can be a daunting first-time task.
From well-established platforms to new launches, many online casinos are fighting for attention to get a share of the country’s gambling industry which, in the 2023/24 financial year, saw R1.1 trillion worth of wagers placed.
The ultimate choice of the right online casino is down to personal choice. Some may lean heavily on a large variety of slots, others will gravitate towards live dealer games, while some players just like a nice mix of everything. Understanding the key areas of online casinos will help make selecting a site that much easier.
Personal Gaming Style
Understanding your gaming style is a great first step towards finding the right platform to play on. On the surface, most online casinos look fairly standard, much like soccer teams that wear the same kit — but when you look beneath the surface, there are notable differences. One of the most obvious differences? The number of slots available in a casino’s catalog.
A newer start-up platform, for example, may have 500 different slots to choose from, but a more well-established one could have over 1000. There’s no reason why a newer online casino couldn’t have 1000+ games, which highlights the variables and need for deeper research. It’s also not just about the number of games.
Types Of Games
The type of games available is arguably more important for some players — unless you are the type of player that just picks a random game regardless of style and features. For example, if a player is dedicated and locked in to just progressive jackpots or slots with the cascading reels feature, then having access to those is more important than the general variety of slots.
More established sites typically have a higher quality range of games from leading game developers, too. Therefore, if you are a player who mostly sticks to games from the likes of Microgaming, PlayN Go, or NetEnt, you’ll need a site that is heavily linked with them.
New Or Established?
There has long been an argument about whether to stick with long-established platforms over newer ones. At review sites like AskGamblers ZA, which takes an in-depth expert look at online casinos for players in different parts of the world — including South Africa, the UK, and the US — you will see a mix of both new and established online casino platforms put under the microscope.
It’s natural for players to put a lot of stock into a site’s reputation. If an online casino has been around for many years, it’s seen as more reliable with a proven, large user base than one that has only been online for six months.
The general recommendation is to stick with bigger brands, due to some of the reasons above, but it’s not completely worth overlooking newer casinos. Online casinos largely have all the same features, so new sites can earn just as good of a rating as long-standing ones, and this can fly in the face of preconceptions that they are riskier to play at and less secure.
Licensing and Regulation
Regardless of how long the site has been operational, it should be licensed to operate in your region. Operators have to go through high standards of checks and balances, everything from the handling of financial transactions to game fairness and responsible gambling. Sites are continuously checked for fairness as well — which is why it is recommended to only play at licensed casinos.
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Payment Options
The accepted payment methods are another important factor for selecting the right casino site. Some may run with only the fundamental options like bank cards and bank transfers, while others will embrace a range of e-wallets and perhaps crypto.
Take time to consider the payment options, including checking for any potential fees. It is uncommon to incur deposit fees, but some providers may charge small withdrawal fees up to a certain amount, and processing times between different payment options will also be a factor.
User Interface
A more direct, impactful, and influential area when choosing the best casino site is the user interface. Ask yourself questions like whether gameplay is held up because of poor menu systems or a search tool that misses a lot of relevant results.
Is the site slow to load games when switching to a different section? Are help pages easy to access? Another important aspect of this is how the platform works on the device you will access it with the most.
If you lean heavily on handheld devices, is there a mobile app available for casino play while on the go? Is a site slower in one computer browser than another? Any niggling issues with the user interface are probably going to wear down a player over time, and the easiest way to test this is a simple visit to a casino site and test-drive it with demo play.
Customer Support
Customer support shouldn’t be overlooked when selecting a leading casino site in South Africa, either. Would you prefer a site that has 24/7 support through live chat, or are you happy with just typical business hour responses? More established sites will typically have better customer support access, as newer ones tend to trim back on cost by only offering slower email support.
Check the hours, and reach out to customer support before signing up to check response times and the quality of information given. Ask questions about withdrawal charges and account verification, which should all be on the help pages anyway, but it’s a good way to gauge the quality of support.
Researching Purpose
Doing research before even getting to the point of playing games sounds tedious, as it feels like a hurdle to a fun experience. But it’s important to spend some time looking for resources that offer in-depth guides to casinos, as well as investigating user reviews of platforms.
The purpose of all this? Helps you avoid hopping from one platform to another due to a lack of research. Because of signing up, funding, and verifying an account every single time you start with a new online casino, it’s better to get it right the first time.
