Interestingly, for a country that has been extremely heavy-handed in regards to gambling and lately online gambling too, South Africa is known for the affinity many of its citizens show towards just these types of activities. Indeed, the interest for gambling and online gambling has always been high in South Africa and the government has time and again failed to deliver on its promises to legalize and tax online gambling, opening it up for players and turning it into a source of legitimate revenue for the state.

Now then, as far as legal ambiguity is concerned, if you ask any South African lawmaker, he will be quick to tell you there is no such thing (ambiguity, that is). The activity is illegal in the country. Still, there are online gambling operators out there who accept players from South Africa and there are even sites out there proclaiming that while online gambling is illegal in South Africa, South African players are free to create accounts at foreign online casinos and play there. Is it really so though? Is the acceptance of South African gamblers by foreign online casinos legal? Something like that would indeed defy all logic.

Some claim that there are a number of operators located in various South African regions which have been licensed by the government to offer such games, and that players who play at such “licensed” casinos are in full compliance with the law. Interestingly, the same sources which claim that players are free to play at “foreign” casinos say they cannot legally play at “overseas” operators.

The bottom line seems to be a lot of confusion, and while such “reviewers” inevitably arrive to the conclusion that some casinos are legal to play at (obviously, casinos they promote) those who prefer to err on the side of caution should probably not play online unless there is actual word from the South African authorities that there are indeed licensed establishments out there, together with a list of these online operators.

Until then, by playing at the numerous Malta/EU/UK-licensed operations, you risk breaking the South African law, and given how lawmakers aren’t really keen on pushing the matter of legalization forth in the country, the situation will probably persist for the foreseeable future.

Is online gambling legal in South Africa or not? The question is a fully justified one in light of the fact that often contradictory rumors regarding the legal status of online poker and online gambling in South Africa do indeed abound, and that there seem to be sites out there which can be accessed from within SA and which still advertise their services to SA-based online gamblers. What exactly is then the legal situation concerning online gambling? While the situation seems to be rather murky at first glance on account of the different opinions and interests involved, when it comes to the law, everything’s as clear as the light of day: online gambling is currently illegal in SA and sites which continue to offer online gambling services to SA residents do so in clear contempt of the law.

The Supreme Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in September 2011, which once and for all spelled it out that online gambling was illegal, as was the advertising of any such activity in SA. The ruling had made it clear where online gambling took place from the perspective of the law, thus taking away an argument that supporters of rogue/unregulated online gambling had fallen back on for years. Another notorious legal ruling in the matter was the one handed down by the North Gauteng High Court which also placed online gambling outside of the law.

The ruling was appealed by Casino Enterprises, the company behind the notorious Piggs Peak brand. The appeal was rejected by the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeals and thus Piggs Peak Casino (based in Swaziland) was forced to stop serving SA customers. Several other operators have also ceased peddling their services to SA-based gamblers then, among them the African Palace Casino.

On the homepages of the above said online casinos, SA players are greeted by a message which explains why they can’t deposit and play there. Still, despite the unequivocal nature of the legal rulings, there are sites out there with links to some of the major international operators, which not only accept players from SA, but also offer them the option to place wagers in rands.

It is indeed also part of the picture that in 2007, legislation was passed concerning the legalization and regulation of online gambling, but no licenses were ever issued based on that law and there were branches of government which still opposed regulation at that point.

A special commission was set up by the Dept. of Trade and Industry, which did indeed recommend that more than 10 online gambling licenses be issued, but the effort never came to fruition, and due to the lengthy legal process which is involved with such intricate legal framework, chances are we won’t see any regulation nor licenses issued for at least a good couple of years.

Sites currently offering online gambling services to South Africans can do so because the law – in its current form – features no provisions regarding penalties against illegally operating sites. In a word: those who now ignore the law can still hope to gain a license when regulation occurs.

The risks assumed are thus far mostly shouldered by the players. According to the Gauteng Gambling Board, players who gamble illegally may be required to forfeit their winnings to the state.

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Learning to play ace-high flops in three-bet pots is a crucial basic strategy in a game of poker.

Imagine that you are playing a $1/2 six-max cash game in the Satellites for WSOP 2012.

Your opponent raises to $6 from the button, and you decide to three-bet from the big blind, making it $20 with [Jh] [Jd], and your opponent calls. The flop is [Ac] [7h] [2s]. What do you do next?

It is important to note that on boards such as this, you should be c-betting 100% of your range, and this includes a pair of jacks.

If you have been showing the propensity to three-bet a lot, then this can still be a bet for value. But more importantly, if you check-call, then you turn your hand face up, and this makes it so much easier for a good opponent to apply pressure.

You also get caught up in something called the reverse bluffing vortex. This is when you start out-thinking yourself. You realise that you could be floated in this spot, and so you call down all three streets, only to see your opponent turn [As] [Ts] for top pair.

So if you are c-betting 100% of flops in these situations, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that your opponents on Betfair Poker are doing likewise? Of course they are, and this is why they create excellent spots to float in position.

When deciding to float, it is always better to choose hands with good equity; this makes barreling the turn much easier, because you still have outs to hit the best hand.

On the [Ac] [7h] [2s] example, a hand such as [Kc] [8c] gives you a backdoor flush draw, thus making it a great choice to float.