Join 325,566+ Members & Access 4,010,445 Poker Strategy Posts, Exclusive Freerolls & Added Money Buyins at the CardsChat™ Online Poker Forum. PokerStars Abandons South Africa As of May 23, 2018, reports have started filtering in that 'Stars is no longer permitting South Africans to access the site's online gaming products. The only types of online betting allowed in S.A. Are regulated sports-betting, racing wagers, and lotteries. South Africa’s Top Online Poker Sites for 2020. Welcome to OnlinePoker.com. We take real money online poker very seriously and make a living out of researching and recommending the very best sites for players to play at. These sites are some of the top available for South African players.

If you’re searching for the best online poker sites in South Africa, then we're your answer. At Casinos.co.za, we scour the web to unearth the top online poker sites for South Africans. From Texas Hold'em tournaments and cash games to exciting promotions, our recommended sites have everything you need for the ultimate online poker experience. Heard all you need to know? Then sign up to one of our SA poker sites and start playing right away.

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Can You Play Poker for Real Money Online?

Absolutely! Asyou can see from our list of realmoney poker sites above, there is no shortage of options for SouthAfricans. Each of these poker sites will give you a warm welcome in the form ofa bonus. They also boast an array of safe and convenient banking methods, and anexcellent range of games. Whether you want to take a seat at the cash tables,play a quick sit & go or enter a tournament, you can do it all.

Although the legal situation surrounding online poker in South Africa is a little murky, there are steps you can take to play online safely. These steps include choosing an e-wallet as your banking method, as well as only playing at our recommended sites. We’ll discuss these steps in more detail a little later.

Free Poker Games Vs Real Money Online Poker

While many South African playerslove to play online pokerfor real money, there are also lots of free poker options. Elite poker rooms give you anopportunity to hone your skills with play money chips. That’s great if you arejust learning the rules, but nothing beats the thrill of playing for real cash.

Thankfully, South Africans can enjoy both options at the best poker sites listed on this page. Let’s discuss the advantages of playing poker for free and for real money.

Benefits of Free Poker Games

• Learn the Basics – If you are new to online poker in South Africa, it’s good to learn the rules without risking any Rand. Poker hands move fast online and you will be able to gain experience a lot quicker than in a land-based poker room.
• No Risk to Your Bankroll – You can enjoy cash games with a set amount of play credits. You won’t win Rand, but the setup and software is exactly the same as in a real money game. This helps you test out strategies without any risk to your bankroll.
• Test New Poker Software – Testing the free poker tables will give you an idea of how well the software copes, and whether it’s up your alley.
• Try a New Poker Variant – Most players in South Africa start out with Texas Hold’em. The beauty of online poker is that you can find new and exciting variations to try. Free poker games like Stud, Badugi or Omaha carry zero risk and let you try out some strategy.

Benefits of Real Money Poker

• Play at ZAR Stakes That Suit You – Winning real cash playing online poker can be thrilling. And you don’t have to be a high roller to sit down at the tables. The best poker site will always let you play tournaments or cash games at stakes to fit your budget.
• Hit the Big Money Guarantees – Top poker rooms will run regular tournaments with heavy guaranteed prize pools. At the biggest online poker sites in South Africa, these prize pools can reach millions of Rand.
• Test Your Poker Skills Against the Best – Finding easy opponents to play poker against will help your long-term prospects. But the benefit of real cash poker is that you can take a shot against better players and test your skills.
• Claim Free Welcome Bonus Cash – The best poker sites will offer new SA players free cash just for signing up. This can take the form of free entries into tournaments or cashbacks. You will need to make an initial deposit first, but the rewards are good for regular players.
• Join a VIP Program – If you clear a lot of poker hands, you can join a VIP scheme. Loyalty programs reward regular play with big bonuses, faster cashouts, or invitations to world poker events.

How We Rate the Top Poker Sites in South Africa

Our team of experts has been playing online poker for years. That’s why we are perfectly placed to pick out the best poker sites in 2020 for South Africans. Whether you’re looking for popular Texas Hold’em tables or just reliable software, we have it covered. Here’s what we look for when we compile our reviews.

Security and Reliability: It’s vital that your personal details and funds are safe. We test all our top poker sites to ensure they have good security protocols in place. If a site has a poor reputation, we’ll flag it up.

Variety of Exciting Poker Games: Texas Hold’em is king at the best poker sites. But it’s good to have a spread of buy-ins, variants, and formats. We carefully review all our sites to check their selection of cash games, and tournaments.

Safe and Easy Banking: When you play poker online, you need to be able to use fast and secure banking options to get your money in and out. We deposit our own Rand when testing a South African online casino that has poker. That way, we test withdrawal and deposit times, as well as currency availability.

Great Customer Support: Good poker sites should quickly sort out any issue you may have. Customer service should be available 24/7, and staff knowledgeable about a range of problems.

The Best Online Poker Bonus Offers: From new depositor freerolls to jaw-dropping match bonuses, online poker sites in South Africa know exactly how to welcome players. While we are always on the lookout for the site that offers the best poker bonus, we also take loyalty programs and promotions into consideration when rating the top sites.

Free Poker Sites Where You CanWin Real Money

Did you know thatyou can play poker for free and still win real money? The best online poker sites for South African playershost multiple daily freeroll tournaments. Simply click on the “freerolls” tabin the lobby to see a list of tournaments that you can enter without paying acent. It’s a fun way to win real money, and it’s also a great opportunity toput new strategies to the test against real players.

Thesefree-to-enter tournaments usually award a small amount of cash to the winners. Some freerolls even awardtickets to satellite tournaments, which could see qualify for the site’sbiggest poker tournaments.If you’re lucky, you may even qualify for major live events at land-based poker rooms.

The Most Popular Online PokerGames in South Africa

Texas Hold’em maybe the undisputed king of card games, but it isn’t the only type of poker game you can play online.The Omaha tables have also seen plenty of action in recent years, and there areseveral other variants that have become increasingly popular amongst South African players.

Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em isby far the most popular poker variant in the world. Each round begins withevery player at the table being dealt two-hole cards face down. Five communitycards are then dealt face up in three stages. A round of betting follows eachof these stages. If the round reaches showdown, the player who reveals the bestfive-card hand wins all the chips in the middle of the table.

Omaha

Omaha Hi andOmaha Hi-Lo are also popular at online poker sites in South Africa. Each player at the table isdealt four hole cards, two of which must be used in combination with threecommunity cards to make the best possible five-card hand. The main differencebetween these two types of Omaha variants is the split pot. The pot is splitbetween the players with the highest and lowest hands in Omaha Hi-Lo.

Seven-Card Stud

Seven-Card Stud tablesdon’t see as much action as the Texas Hold’em and Omaha tables, but plenty ofSouth Africans love the game. Each player is dealt two cards face down and oneface up before the first round of betting begins. Three up cards are thendealt, with each followed by a round of betting. A final card is dealt facedown before the last round of betting, with the best five-card hand taking thepot.

Poker Tournaments and PokerCash Games

Once you learn how to play online poker inSouth Africa, you face another decision – poker tournaments or cashgames? Naturally, both formats have their own advantages and disadvantages. Tohelp you decide which format will suit you best, we will explain thedifferences between the two game formats.

Poker Tournaments

In a pokertournament, each player pays the same entry fee for a set amount of chips.Everything is predetermined, with the blind structure and other rules outlinedin the tournament lobby. You could find yourself playing against a handful ofplayers or tens of thousands of players. From sit & go’s to freezeouts andfreerolls, the biggestonline poker sites in South Africa host loads of tournaments.

Cash Games

Cash gamesinvolve playing against others at a single table for real money. There aretables to suit players of all bankroll levels, with each table having a minimumand maximum buy-in amount. You can choose between full ring (nine players),6-max (six players) or heads-up (two players) tables. Playing cash games onlineis similar to playing at land-based venues, except you can’t see your opponenttilt.

Can I Play Poker on Mobile?

The best online poker sites for South African players canalso be accessed via mobile and tablet. Mobile poker is great for playing TexasHold’em cash games or tournaments when you’re out and about.

Many poker siteswill ask you to download and install their official client. This is a freesoftware application that you will access to play poker against other players.Nowadays, most onlinepoker sites also offer instant-play versions of their software. Thismeans that you can quickly log in on your smartphone or tablet and take avirtual seat at the tables, with no software to download.

It’s important tohave good access to a web connection when you’re playing poker on yoursmartphone or tablet. There’s nothing worse than losing your poker hands beforea showdown because you lost your internet connection. You should also make surethat your device’s operating system is up to date.

Mobile pokersoftware looks and feels different to regular desktop clients. Tables andgraphics are adapted to fit the smaller screen, but you can still deposit moneyand play against the same opponents. The best poker sites we recommend make thetransition from desktop to mobile totally seamless.

Is Poker Legal in SouthAfrica?

South Africa hasrightfully been crowned the capital of poker in Africa. With so many casinosand poker rooms dotted across beautiful cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg,you may be surprised by the fact that online poker is illegal in the country. Despitethis, countless South Africans still manage to play online poker safely from the comfort oftheir own home, without fear of prosecution.

Due to the law surrounding onlinegambling in South Africa, there are a few extra steps you should take to beextra safe. This includes using an e-wallet like Skrill, Neteller or ecoPayz.Using one of these safe and secure digital wallets prevents your details frombeing tracked. You should also stick to the recommended poker sites on thispage, as they are the most trustworthy options for South Africans.

The Best Tips to Win at Poker

Poker isdifferent to regular online casino gaming in that you take on human opponentsrather than the computer. You can employ bluffing, aggression and cleverstrategy to get an edge over the other players. Let’s get started with a fewbasic tips.

Learn HandSelection – Whichever online poker variant youchoose, begin by understanding hand selection. In Texas Hold’em, it’s good tostart off tight by playing big pairs and suited connectors. Watch your positionat the table and avoid playing too many hands in early positions when you arefirst to act. In Omaha games, you are dealt four cards at the start of a hand.Hand selection differs from Hold’em and you must learn to adapt accordingly. Wecover starting hands in our poker strategy guide.

Keep Notes onYour Opponents – Make and save notes on youropponents. It’s good practice to keep information on other players’ commonmoves. You will usually come across the same opponents at the tables,especially if you play at certain stakes. Most online players rarely changetheir style, so keeping notes helps give you an advantage.

Don’t Play BadPoker Games – With so much choice at onlinegambling sites, you need to pick the right games. Never play at limits that aretoo high for your bankroll, and don’t play against players beyond your skillset.

UnderstandRaises – Knowing your raising sizes is vital to winat online poker. Make your raises too small, and you attract too manyopponents. Make them too big, and you scare everyone off. Learn to size yourbets correctly and exploit weakness at the table if you see it.

Practice atthe Low Stakes Tables – The beauty of online pokerin South Africa is that you can play at micro-stakes limits to get somepractice. Make use of the low-stakes cash games and tournaments where you cantry moves and learn new skills with minimal risk to your bankroll.

Avoid Going onTilt – Everyone playing at poker sites willexperience bad luck at one point or another. If your emotions get the better ofyou, you can go on tilt and lose even more money. Keep a handle on your tiltand log off if you need a break.

With someresearch, you can track down your opponents’ career earnings online. This willgive you a good idea of who to avoid and which players are regular losers – or“fish”, as you may refer to them.

If you want morein-depth strategies for winning, you can read our detailed guide on playingpoker.

Pick One of the Best PokerSites Today

The best online poker sites in South Africa let you deposit and take a shot at big-money prize pools. What are you waiting for? Get started by selecting one of our recommended poker sites to kickstart your online poker journey.

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FAQs

Each of our recommended online poker sites have their own selling points. While one site may offer the best poker bonuses and promotions in the industry, another may boast the greatest traffic levels. Why not create a free account at each of the sites listed on this page to discover which site suits you best?

It’s important to learn basic game rules and understand how to win at real money poker games before taking your virtual seat. Texas Hold’em is the best online poker game for beginners, so give it a try first.

Online Poker South Africa 2020 Miss Universe

Of course, you can! You can easily deposit and play cash games or poker tournaments for real money. If you aren’t ready to deposit, give freerolls a try. You could secure a payout without betting a single cent.

Of course. Poker online combines elements of skill and luck, but the best players use strategy to get an edge over their opponents. Only by studying and playing can you improve your game.

For sure. Our recommended poker sites will accept ZAR deposits. There might be a few sites where you will need to convert Rand to other currencies, but we’ll always point that out in our reviews.

Safety isn’t an issue when you play at online poker rooms listed on this page. These sites may not have a physical presence in South Africa, but they boast a rich reputation. Each poker room on this page utilizes the latest data encryption technology, and you can choose from several anonymous payment methods.

PokerStars is by far the biggest online poker site in the world. However, South Africans are not accepted due to the country’s gambling law. There may not be hundreds of thousands of players active at any one time on any of our recommended poker sites, but there is always plenty of action to be had.

That’s easy –visit one of the online poker sites listed on this page and create an account. You will then be able to log in and participate in freeroll tournaments for a chance to win real money. Once you’re ready to make your first deposit, head over to the cashier and choose your preferred payment method. After your deposit has been processed, you can then find a juicy cash game or enter a tournament.

Yes, there are several live poker rooms in South Africa. Emerald Resort and Casino in Gauteng became the first African casino to host a World Series of Poker Circuit event in 2012. Another major poker tournament took place on South African soil in 2012 when the World Poker Tour held its first event in the country at Emperor’s Palace. Montecasino and Carnival City also host plenty of live poker action.

Poker online has completely changed the game in South Africa, and globally. While it was previously seen as an exclusive game for experts at land casinos, players of all levels can now get involved and potentially enjoy big bonuses, quick payouts and even free poker.

For the best possible experience, our team has shortlisted the top online poker sites for you. We and our players strongly recommend Springbok Casino, voted casino of the year. Read on and we'll show you:

• Which South Africa online poker sites have the best bonuses
• Where to find the biggest guarantees at online poker SA rooms
• Why traffic is a huge deal and how the best online casinos aren't necessarily the best poker room

“From size of bonuses to reputation and our own experiences navigating the site, we review and rate poker rooms and video poker casinos so you'll only have to enjoy the best.”

A quick rundown on online poker

A combination of a couple of factors has seen the popularity of poker, casino based and elsewhere, explode in recent years. All over the world, including South Africa, poker rooms are being televised for national and international poker tournaments. And these aren't low budget TV channels - big name international sports channels regularly feature poker events. Top prizes reach millions, even tens of millions of ZAR, so the sheer quantity of real cash on offer makes watching events unfold tense and exciting.

Another big factor is the creation of online poker sites. South Africa, America, England and countless other countries all over the world have fallen in love with playing poker for real money on the internet. But if you've never played online before, you might be wondering how the offline experience translates to the Internet...

How Online Poker Works

Online Poker South Africa 2020 Finalists

Much like in any casino in South Africa, poker rooms that are based online bring a group of people looking to play for similar stakes together. Because they are more susceptible to fraud, through a single player operating multiple accounts for example, top online poker rooms work very hard to monitor for collusion as well as banning multiple accounts using the same IP addresses, known open proxy servers and so on.

South Africa News

The online poker experience itself is very similar to playing the game offline with one big difference. When playing poker in a land-based venue a lot of people rely on looking for 'tells', signs that other players are bluffing or attempting to conceal a very good hand. Of course, this isn't possible online; other players are all playing from their respective homes in their own virtual casino. South Africa online poker play is, in this respect, very different to its offline equivalent. This places more emphasis on watching other players' betting patterns and making decisions based on that.

Online Poker South Africa 2020 Calendar

Why Online Poker is a 'must try'

A steady flow of traffic is vital to the success of the best online poker rooms; without that, they can't match up enough players to fill up all their virtual rooms. So, you'll often find that poker rooms offer some great ZAR bonuses for you to come and play a few hands and keep them at the top of their game. Obviously, that works out pretty nicely for new players too.

Only trouble is, there are so many online poker casinos out there it can be a chore finding the right one. We can help with that. From size of bonuses to reputation and our own experiences navigating the site, we review and rate poker rooms so you'll only have to enjoy the best. So take a look around and read our reviews. No matter what games you're into, you'll find access to the best South Africa online poker sites right here.

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