Blackjack Online Casinos in South Africa 2018

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Best South African Real Money Online Blackjack

There are quite a few casinos offering online blackjack to players in South Africa. All these casinos that we mention here accept South African Rands directly, without the need for currency conversion, and come with their own set of cool features. However, our pick when it comes to the best South African casino for online blackjack is Casino.com.

For starters, Casino.com has a very attractive and player-friendly interface and is available in both download and instant play mode, and there is a mobile casino as well for those that like to play games from their mobile devices. When it comes to blackjack, this casino has it all, right from the look and feel to the actual nitty-gritties of gaming. The graphics are of high quality and sit well on the interface.

But more than the look and feel, interface, and graphics, this casino is great for blackjack fans for the games it offers and much more. There are 8 high quality blackjack games here: 21 Duel Blackjack, Blackjack Surrender, Blackjack Switch, Lucky Blackjack, Pontoon, Progressive Blackjack, UK Blackjack, Perfect Blackjack, and Half Double Blackjack. The bonus is also partially eligible to play blackjack at this casino.

And that is not all; there are also very well-written and informative articles on various aspects related to blackjack, making it a repository worth checking for those who love and want to play blackjack. The articles include pieces on the history of the game, game rules, a glossary of terms, blackjack odds, and the game buttons you find in the site.

Here are our top blackjack casino picks for you. You can play for free as well as for real money at these casinos. Some of them, like Bet365 casino and Casino.com, also have live dealer games for you to check out.

	Casino Casino.com - Our top ranked blackjack casino website for South African players, Casino.com has a good range of blackjack games in download, instant play, and mobile modes. Games available include Blackjack Surrender and live blackjack.	Play Now
	Casino Springbok Casino - Try your hand at different blackjack variations at this popular South African casino. Popular games available include Perfect pairs and Pontoon.	Play Now
	Casino Silver Sands Casino - Check out the range of blackjack games at this cool South African casino, one of the oldest around. The games available include Super 21 and European Blackjack.	Play Now

Playing Blackjack Varieties on Your Tablet or Smartphone

In recent times, a new attraction for online casino fans has been the mobile casino. Technology has advanced so much as to be able to now bring your favorite online casino game right up to you, through your mobile phone. All you need is a smartphone and you are ready to go. There are a number of online casinos offering mobile games to their players.

The good news for South African blackjack enthusiasts is that there are a range of mobile casino games available at a number of online casinos that accept South African Rands now. You can go to the mobile casino of any one of the online casinos offering games to South Africans - Silver Sands, Winner, Bet365, Springbok, Casino.com - and check out the games there. Each of these has a good collection of mobile games. So what do you need to play at these mobile casinos?

All you need is a smartphone that the mobile casinos are compatible with. Most mobile casinos are compatible with a range of smartphones across different platforms: Android, iOS, Blackberry, and also Windows phones. If you are playing on the iOS platform, you would need to open the games on the Safari browser, and Android platform players can open the games on Google Chrome. Windows phone players can open games on the Internet Explorer browser available on the phone or use Google Chrome.

Most casinos offer a range of slots and other games on their mobile casino, with a variant or two of blackjack thrown in. When it comes to blackjack, you could go to Winner mobile casino and try out the Multi-Hand blackjack game available there, or you could go to Springbok casino and play the standard blackjack games on offer.

When it comes to South African casinos offering mobile games, the two main software providers are Playtech and RTG. Playtech offers Multi-Hand Blackjack to players playing on casinos using its software, while at RTG powered mobile casinos you can play standard blackjack games. The games come with excellent quality graphics and bonuses.

So how do you play at the mobile version of any one of the South African casinos? The process is really simple. If you already have an account at any of the South African casinos, all you need to do is open the casino on the browser of your mobile device; make sure that the device you are using is supported by the casino. This is because your mobile account is also linked to your desktop account. Even when it comes to banking issues, like funding your account or withdrawing your winnings, it is not mandatory to bank only from your mobile device; you can do so through the desktop as well.

Once you have opened the mobile casino, log in using your existing username and password. You get access to the home screen where you can see the games available. Indicate whether you want to play for fun or real money, and then you are set to go. As the next step, click the game you want to play and your game begins. Make sure that your account has the required funds if you are looking to play for real money. To

If you are new to the casino, then you have to register an account with the casino first. You can do this from your mobile device itself, or you could open the casino on your laptop/desktop and create an account there. Once you have opened an account and funded it, you are all set to play the games available on the mobile phone for real money.

Also, some casinos require you to download the casino software to your mobile device to play the games available. To do this, click the download button shown on the screen and follow the steps as instructed; you are ready to play. Some other casinos do not require you to download the software; you can play the games directly from the browser of your mobile device.

Compare Online Casino Software Providers

There are different online casino software operators offering blackjack games for South African players to play at online casinos that accept South African Rands. These software operators include mainly:

Playtech Casino Software

Playtech is one of the global leaders when it comes to online casino software development. The company is known for its high quality game offerings, a fact underlined by the large number of online casinos that use Playtech software. All blackjack games offered by Playtech come with high quality graphics that are realistic and eye-catching. There are three different modes available when it comes to Playtech blackjack games: single player, multi-player (with a chat option that allows players to communicate with each other), and private tables.

The different games available include standard Blackjack, Blackjack Switch, Blackjack Progressive, Blackjack Surrender, Live Blackjack, and also Pontoon.

Real Time Gaming (RTG)

RTG is another well-known online casino software provider that powers casinos supporting South African players and accepting Rands. All RTG blackjack offerings come with excellent graphics, great features, and excellent payouts. You can play blackjack offerings from RTG for free or for real money. The different RTG blackjack offerings you can check out include standard Blackjack, Blackjack Surrender, European Blackjack, Face Up 21, Super 21, Perfect Pairs, Matchplay 21, and Pontoon.

Rival Gaming

Rival Gaming is another online casino software provider that powers casinos accepting South African Rands. While Rival Gaming's blackjack offerings may not be as numerous as some of the other providers, they are still good enough to draw a large player base. Rival Gaming offers mainly two varieties of blackjack: single hand and multi-hand blackjack. At any of the Rival-powered casinos available to South African players, you can play any of these two varieties of blackjack for fun or for real money.

IsoftBet

iSoftBet is another provider of casino software for South African casinos, and has a decent range of online blackjack games. All blackjack offerings from iSoftBet come with excellent graphics and are available for both real money and fun play. The different games available include Blackjack 3D Multi-Hand, Blackjack Multi-Hand, standard blackjack, Blackjack Atlantic City, Blackjack French, Blackjack Multi-Hand VIP, Blackjack Reno, Blackjack Super 7s Multi-Hand, and Blackjack VIP.

Below is a table with a comparative study of the different kinds of blackjack from different online casino software providers.

Blackjack Download vs Flash

When it comes to playing blackjack online, there are two ways of playing it. You can play in download mode or opt for the no download Flash mode if it is offered by the casino. There are certain basic differences to playing in these two modes.

To play in the download mode, a player has to download the casino software to his desktop or laptop. To do so, he has to click the Download button on the casino's home page and follow the instructions to download the casino software. Once it is downloaded, he needs to register an account with the casino and opt to play either for fun or for real money. If he opts to play for real money he is required to deposit funds into his casino account to avail the bonuses on offer. Then he will be able to access the different blackjack games available. By choosing to play in the download mode, he gets access to the full suite of blackjack games being offered by the casino.

To play in the Flash casino mode, the player does not need to download the software. All he has to do is click the Instant Play or Play Now button on the home page of the casino. A pop-up box appears asking the player to register an account. Once the player has registered an account, he chooses whether he wants to play for fun or real money. If he chooses to play for real money, he is asked to deposit money into his account to avail the bonuses on offer. Once he has deposited money into his account, he is ready to play the blackjack game of his choice, directly from the browser.

Live Dealer Blackjack

Live dealer blackjack is a type of blackjack you find at online casinos. It takes the blackjack and online casino experience a couple of notches. The online casino basically uses webcam technology to stream images from an actual live casino to you at the online casino you are playing at. It gives you pretty much the experience of playing at a proper brick and mortar casino, but directly from the cozy comfort of your home.

The first live casino games were in fact launched to the market in 2003 by Playtech. Evolution and Microgaming followed with their own offerings in 2006. Live dealer casino offerings have become more common only since 2008, and by 2012 the number of casinos offering live dealer games had shot up to 140. Today there are a large number of software providers with their own set of live dealer games.

For South African online casino fans, Playtech is the software provider with their own unique set of live dealer blackjack games. So what do you get at a typical live dealer blackjack game from Playtech?

The updated live blackjack offering from Playtech has a range of enhancements, including an amazing dealer studio and some great dealers, new HD broadcast capability that ensures high video quality, more options when it comes to viewing and playing, and more dealers and tables. Play options include multi-table play, a chat option that allows them to talk to dealers and other players, a great UI, short 15 second time periods between deals, a wide variety of bet ranges, and much more.

The game range when it comes to Playtech's live dealer blackjack offerings is great too, and includes games like the standard blackjack and innovative new offerings like Unlimited Blackjack. Players can also play these live blackjack games from the Ruby Room, a VIP area put together by Playtech. Playtech's upgraded technology also allows operators to access an entire range of games and offer them to players playing from mobile devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.

To play a live blackjack game offered at any of the Playtech casinos, South African players need to register an account with the casino first. They can do so directly from the browser or from the mobile device if they are looking to play at a mobile casino. Once they have opened an account and made a deposit, they can click the Live Dealer tab and choose the blackjack game they want to play. There is no download required for playing a live blackjack game. There are some specific rules to be followed while playing these games, and these rules vary marginally from one casino to another.

Blackjack House Edge and Rules

When you get to playing at an online casino, or at any casino for that matter, one term you hear frequently is 'house edge'. So what exactly is the house edge? Simply put, it is the edge that the house enjoys over the player when it comes to winning. Basically, a casino is expected to make a profit on every game it offers, else there would be no point to offering that game to players. The house edge is basically the profit that a casino is likely to make from a game it offers. The house edge, like other terms like payout percentage or return to player, is expressed as a percentage.

The house edge varies from one game to another and is also dependent on the software provider behind the game. When it comes to blackjack, there is variance in the house edge between the different games available, and there is also variance in the house edge based on software provider as well.

Let us take a few examples to understand the difference in house edge by game and by software provider. Take for example the game Blackjack Surrender brought to you by Real Time Gaming (RTG). This game has a house edge of 0.49%. The game of Blackjack Surrender brought to you by Playtech, on the other hand, has a house edge of 0.39%. Again, if you compare two other games from these two providers, you will see that the Playtech game Pontoon has a house edge of 0.38%, while the game of Pontoon from RTG has a house edge of 0.73%. As you can see here, the difference in house edge is not just between games from different software providers, it differs for different games from the same provider as well.

Look for Games with These Rules

Whenever you are looking to play blackjack at an online casino favoring South African players, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind to help bring down the house edge marginally or tilt things a bit in your favor. The best thing is to look for games that have the following rules:

• Use a Single Deck: Look for games where only a single deck is used. There is a reason for this: the number of decks is directly proportional to the house edge at an online casino. In a single-deck game the house edge dips by 0.48% compared to multi-deck games. What this means is that a player is better off playing a game with fewer decks, and hence the preference for a single deck game. However, there are concerns associated with single-deck games you need to be aware off. Evaluation can be an issue as such games often come with poor rules. In such a situation, a game using two decks may actually be better. The house edge dips only 0.19%, but that is good enough.
• Gives players the option of drawing to split Aces: This is another important thing to look out for. In a game where you are actually allowed to play split Aces instead of drawing a card for each hand, your odds see a slight surge, and go up by about 0.19%.
• Late/Early Surrender: Check for games that allow you to surrender after the dealer checks for black. This option, if available, brings down the house edge marginally, by about 0.08%. Another option is too look for games that allow an early surrender; in such a game you can give up half a bet before the dealer checks for blackjack. However, while this rule results in a 0.24% dip in the house edge, it is difficult to find such a game as this rule is very rarely followed.

Avoid Games with These Rules

Continuing from above, you can also keep an eye out and avoid games that come with the following rules:

• No games offering short pay on Blackjack: Avoid short pay games. While normal odds on blackjack are 3 to 2, there would be some games that give 6 to 5. This is really bad for the player, as it causes the house edge to jump up by 1.39%.
• Games that allow the dealer to hit on Soft 17: Most games require the dealer to stand on a soft 17. Hitting on a soft 17 is considered a low-risk move, but the dealer hitting on that kind of a hand results in a 0.22% spike in the house edge. That is why it is best to avoid games that allow this move.
• Games that do not allow doubling down after splitting: Sometimes you get games that do not allow you to double down after splitting. Playing such games has a nominally inherent risk because it causes a 0.14% spike in the house edge.

Basic Strategy

When you are playing a skill-based game like blackjack online, it is always good to have some guidelines to fall back on. The following are some basic guidelines to follow when playing blackjack online. Strategy is a big help most of the times, except in games like Double Exposure, where you know what to do as the dealer's cards are shown.

Hard Hands

This is a hand without an Ace, or with an Ace that can be counted as only 1.

• When you hit, try to ensure that your total does not exceed 8.
• If you have a total of 9, double if the dealer's hand has a 3, 4, 5, or 6. Otherwise, go ahead and hit.
• When your hand value is 10 or 11, and the dealer's card is lower than the value of your hand, double. Else, hit.
• When your hand is between 12 and 16, and the dealer's hand is a minimum of 7, then hit. Otherwise, stand.
• When you have a hand between 17 and 21, stand.

Soft Hands

This is a hand with an Ace that can be counted as either 1 or 11 points. You cannot bust by hitting a soft hand.

• Always hit when you have soft hands of 15 or less.
• When you have soft hands between 16 and 18 and the dealer shows a maximum of 6, the double down. Otherwise, hit.
• Always stand when you have soft hands of 19 or more.

Pair Hands

Follow these rules when it comes to splitting:

• Always split with Aces or 8s.
• Never split with 4s, 5s, or 10s.
• For all other pairs, split only if the dealer shows a maximum of 6.

Here are a few other things to keep in mind. Do not take insurance ever, if you are unable to double down, hit, and finally if you are not able to split, give the hand its due and play it according to its normal value.