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If the new legislations with regards to regulating online casinos in South Africa pass, South Africa may soon set a new international standard for player protection at online gambling sites.  Some critics say that the regulations are way to strict for online casinos to operate successfully in the South African market, but no one can accuse the South African government of neglecting the safety of their citizens gambling online.

The first and most publicized regulation is that players wishing to gamble at online casinos must open up a bank account that is specifically designated for online wagering.  This account is where most of the player protection monitoring is centered.  There are several regulations to be imposed upon these accounts to keep gambling activities from progressing into problem gambling habits.

A limit of R20,000 (approximately $2,200) has been set as the maximum balances these accounts can have at any point in time.  Any winning over that amount must be paid out to the players immediately by the online casinos.  The excess will go into personal accounts from there. 

Some industry experts do not believe that set limit is enough for online casinos.

“I think this amount is too low and is a rather short-sighted measure,” explained gambling law expert Wayne Lurie of the law firm Lurie Inc.  

Players will also be required to set their own personal stakes and losses limits on the account.  This gives players the power to pre-decide the maximum spending limit for their gambling activity and assistance from the banking system to hold them true to that self imposed limit.  If a player chooses to raise or lower that limit, there is a seven day waiting period before the change can take affect.

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