Though lawmakers passed a bill about 2 years ago to regulate and license online casino software, nothing has happened ever since and no gaming law has been implemented. Infact the Anti-gaming legislators have asked for more time to study online gambling, while the Gambling Review Commission hopes to present a report by July this year. South African law permits fines and imprisonment for patrons of unlawful gambling sites. Players however resort to playing at foreign-based online casinos and this is exactly what the government pre-empted when it considered legalizing online gaming.

It is a proven fact worldwide that online gambling can prove to be a revenue generator for the government. However, if the government decides to regulate and license online gambling, the National Gambling Board has decided to issue only 10 licenses in South Africa. One of the conditions would be that gambling operators would have to prove their presence in South Africa and that their financial transactions would have to be tracked within the country’s borders.

Nomfundo Maseti had mentioned that there are a number of applications for licenses pending with the government and the delay in taking a decision is causing them irritation and frustration. Due to the indecisiveness of the government, the various constituencies are going ahead and doing whatever pleases them, such that players get to play their favourite casino game online.

In the real world, you have to purchase property and fill out all the applications for that, next you have to receive licenses for particular things, hire staff, and most essentially, show your face. You can just buy a domain name on the internet, along with decent online casino software, and in no time you have an online casino. You can employ people without even meeting them and you can begin advertising at all sorts of places, from the web to offline like billboards.

However, the low set up expenditure makes it possible for all sorts of deviants to start establishing rogue businesses, without making themselves responsible or accountable to their customers. Then again, there are a lot of internet gambling casinos that offer great services that customers really want and enjoy, and for much less than the hassles to traveling all the way to Vegas to enjoy a good game. But how do you tell the spam casinos from the real good ones?

This is where I would like to bring up the method I studied from a book called The Undercover Economist, by Tim Harford. The problem as Harford describes it in his book is one of second hand cars. Just like there are profitable internet businesses as well as scams, there are second hand or used car lots and those that sell awful ones. How do you find a place that sells good cars from a hundred companies out there?

The legal and secure online casinos are those casinos that are licensed and regulated. The casinos that are advertised on this site are safe and secure. I have played on them I still do.

Many people have considered that this situation would mean the industry is not as strong as it was previously thought. But to come to this conclusion one must neglect two very evident facts that really need to be taken into account.

First of all, the industry has progressed much better during the recession that most other kinds of business. It’s true that the numbers are low but in the context of business in general, online casinos have been doing well and have moved ahead of the curve.

Secondly, the industry has had to put up with all kinds of regulatory issues in various jurisdictions with the most prominent one being the current difficulties in the United States. It is difficult to make a guess on how much these operating issues have cost but it would not be impractical to suggest that it would be about billions at this stage.

When you consider the raw data based on these two particulars you will notice that the online casino industry is in fact, very flexible and with the chance of an improvement in the global economy and the resolution of some of the bigger regulatory issues in the upcoming year, the future looks very bright indeed.

Legal and technical goals prevail in the country with many drawbacks in the law and IT systems. Designed at being responsible and secure these snags are not being resolved by legislators and politicians. They were making improvements in 2008 when the South African government approved amendments to the National Gambling Act allowing for the execution of regulations and online casino licensing for internet based gambling. After the proposed regulations were submitted to the public for discussion the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry raised an appeal for the new regime to be delayed. Now Parliament and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are holding public hearings on internet gambling regulations and will only approve the final proposition once public inspection has been completed. The DTI states that it has concerns with the technical aspects of internet gambling and the legislation needs to be restored to deal with particulars, such as software rigging, cyber crime and money laundering.

Representatives from the Department have stated that licensed operators would have to come to terms with Financial Intelligence Centre Act stipulations to safeguard personal information that would be accessible during the course of conducting online business. The said Act would require players to give their personal information, such as an identification number and proof of residence in South Africa. Players would be asked to create an account associated to a credit card or cheque account and give a bank stamp, as no cash dealings are to be permitted. There is a maximum amount of 20,000 Rands allowed in the player’s gaming account at any one time. The National Gambling Act is planning to take on a great deal of responsibility for internet gambling within the South African borders.

Are you very interested to see the new features of the Plan? Let us have a look at the offers:
Through this VIP Plan the players could avail prizes apart from the ones they win from the online casino games.

One of the prizes for this October is a Sony Blu-ray Player. Sony blue ray players have excellent features like high video resolution, good DVD up scaling, audio quality with an excellent HDMI output.
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The draw for lucky winners will be performed on 30 October 2009, until which time players can enter multiple times without any restrictions. Only one condition is that the accounts which have not entered in the last 3 months would not be eligible for this offer.

There is added benefit for players outside VIP Plan. They are entitled for winning Cash Prizes. These cash prizes amount to $50 on Weekly basis to $500 on Monthly basis.

For players who are regular participants in VIP Slots should avail this VIP Plan offer without fail. The main reason reason for enrolling in VIP Plan is that there are a variety of rewards such as the Casino Bonuses, Dresses, and Spa vouchers offered to them. All you need to do for signing into VIP Plan is to open a Real Money Account. Once the deposit has been made the players are eligible for the offers.

The history of the Phantom of the Opera dates back to 1909 and is commonly known as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical which has proved to be the longest running Broadway show. The 5 reel 20 payline game offers big bucks if you bet high as is the common feature in all slots, where the higher you bet the better your chances of winning.

The jackpot can soar as high as 10,000 coins and there are two methods to get a winning combination. One way would be to get either five of the wild masks the other would be to get five of the music sheets, but one wild mask is preferable. The wild mask doubles your win so getting five music sheets without a wild, still pays a comfortable 5,000 coins.

Other jackpots include 1000 coins for five Christine symbols and 1000 coins for four music sheets. There are 26 winning combination’s and all wins pay left to right with an exception to the ‘scatter symbol’. The scatters and the wild are required to trigger the free spin round, so in effect you would need one letter on reel 1 and a mask on reel 5. You will then win 5 free spins and all your wins get tripled.

With the appearance of the Phantom during the free spins additional free online casino games are triggered off and this could result in a jackpot as high as 30,000 coins to be won. An added random bonus which starts at $1000 is at stake and can be won at any stage in the game.

At the onset make doubly sure that you are not at fault and that you have adhered to all the rules and regulations governing the casino. It would be embarrassing to find out if you have violated the rules or regulations and are still disputing your case! If you are completely sure that the casino is at fault then the first step would be to write-up a comprehensive note on the entire incident. This should include the time and dates of the incident, the game/games and the amount involved, casino rules and other relevant information that you deem appropriate to mention. You could also create a fact sheet to ensure consistency and correctness throughout the dispute.

The chat customer support method would be the best choice in this scenario as you would get heard almost immediately! Log on and inform the member of staff online of your grievance and inform the person that you disagree with the action of the casino. The master note already written should be shared with the casino staff by either email or fax, if the chat does not permit transmission.

In the event of your concern not being handled professionally and addressed suitably you can escalate the issue to the arbitrator appointed by the casino, or if the casino is eCOGRA approved then eCOGRA acts as the arbitrator. Another alternative would be to contact the gaming jurisdiction authority where the casino had obtained its online casino license. The underlying rule to keep in mind is that all information provided to different authorities should be consistent, correct and exhaustive leaving no stone unturned!

While it is good to know how to handle disputes if the need arises, it is always advisable to stay away from them and look out for reputable casinos where the likelihood of a dispute is very low or may not even exist!

A player can access the customer service desk of an online casino through various channels, the most common of all is the telephone. Online casinos provide toll free numbers to countries which have a huge customer base, if a player has access to this facility then it would be economically viable, otherwise it would turn out to be an expensive proposal as he would have to incur the cost of the call! A negative aspect of this means of communication is the verification process which confirms the identification of the caller, and which could be quite time consuming if the problem at hand is a critical one however, when using electronic means after logging onto the casino the player does not have to go thru’ this process. By and large, the telephonic means of customer support is advantageous and is a quick and an instant means of communication.

The email method surmounts some of the downsides of the telephonic mode. Verification is not done if the email is sent from within the casino otherwise the player would have to provide an account number. A player is allowed to only use the email address provided by the casino and this mode of communication is suitable, as a player can save and track messages sent to the casino at all times. The downside here is that you don’t receive an instant response and some casinos request for a 24 hour turn-around-time to reply to emails. This puts a player thru’ the hassle of checking his inbox on and off and this unfortunately offsets the advantages of email customer support!

Live chat method is now the trend and players should look out for online casinos that offer this facility, as this is an immediate and quick means of having your concerns addressed. Chat records are available and in the event of any dispute the player can make a note of the identification number and the time if he wishes to proceed legally to settle the issue.

If an online casino has good customer support then that casino is a safe betting choice where you know you can get help with any query.

Ukash is also expecting to see a lot of activity over the next few weeks as the sporting highlights continue. Brits were placing their money where their mouths are and wagering at the British Grand Prix, the British and Irish Lions rugby test series that was recently held in South Africa, and at Wimbledon where fans were cheering for Andy Murray. Unfortunately he only got to the semi’s and wasn’t able to defy the bookmakers and become the first British player to win the Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Ukash’s CEO, Mark Chirnside, explains that customers are increasingly using this method because online wagering continues to grow in recognition as people love the convenience of being able to wager from their own homes, and being provided with a secure solution for making payments which is even more attractive to users. People trust the Ukash payment method as they are aware that they are completely risk free from online theft and fraud as their bank details are kept a secret by the online casinos.

A warning was raised by the World Health Organization recently stating that the erupting Swine Flu epidemic will soon spread all over the world. Due to this people have chosen to gamble safely at online casinos rather than travel to the brick and mortar casinos where they are at much higher risk of getting the flu.

Over 150 people in the Mexican state have passed away due to the virulent flu virus that hit the country a few months ago. Reports of such cases in the US have resulted in shutting down schools in places like Texas and California and travel is also being limited. Those residing at these risky areas are being advised to avoid public gathering, restaurants, movie theatres, and other public entertainment areas like casinos.

With new cases arising each day around the globe, the WHO officials are terrified that the flu might go beyond its measures to control it. The US Centers for Disease Control advised citizens not to continue traveling to such epidemic prone areas as the risk for further outbreak is at a much higher level in Mexico and would rapidly spread to the US.

The Airport authorities are preparing a number of examinations for passengers entering the US. An airport spokesman said that they are on normal operations but still on a continuous alert for such cases.

Casino gaming experts predict that due to the spread of this pandemic the earning level and customers who visit land based casinos will go down considerably. OCA’s senior gambling analyst, Sherman Bradley notes that a number of people who have feared the epidemic will choose the Internet as a key source of entertainment. Online gaming sites will be able to expect a notable increase in visitor rates.