Guide to The Best Online Gambling Sites in Zambia for 2024

The Top Zambian Online Gambling Sites

Zambian gamblers are really spoiled for choice when it comes to the online gambling market. With hundreds of international sites to choose from, how do you know which is the best option for you? By reading this guide to the best online gambling sites in Zambia, you’ll find a range of legal online casino, poker, and sports betting site recommendations that offer top products.

To kick things off, here are the best online gambling sites in Zambia for 2021:

John Isaac, Editor at online-gambling.com

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John Isaac is one of the editors at online-gambling.com. He is an expert at card games, such as blackjack and poker. In addition, he writes about the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets.

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Available Types of Gambling Sites in Zambia

While Zambia does not have laws addressing online gambling, this has been interpreted to mean that online gambling is legal in the country. Without a locally-regulated online gaming market, players are free to sign up to plenty of reputable online casino, poker, sports betting, lottery and daily fantasy sports without fear of breaking the law.

Zambian Online Casino Options

Online casinos allow players to enjoy digital versions of classic casino games such as video slots, blackjack, video poker, roulette and much more. However, online casinos frequently offer hundreds of more varieties of games, which can in some ways make the experience even better than visiting a physical casino. There are plenty of foreign casino sites that accept Zambian players, with locals enjoying slot games the most in particular. Additionally, Zambians can enjoy live casino games, which live stream table games and other fun gambling games live from elegant international studios. You can find our top Zambian online casino recommendation and its new player welcome bonus below.

Online Sports Betting

There’s little doubt that sports betting is the most popular form of gambling in Zambia, and as the rate of internet use grows in the country, so too does the hunger for new and exciting betting options. There are dozens of online operators available to Zambian players. The most popular sport to bet on is football, so it’s essential that players choose sites with fair football odds and numerous leagues to bet on. Fortunately, our recommended site below offers all this and more, as well as offering a welcome bonus in Zambian Kwacha. Be sure to check out the site’s live betting and live streaming features for the most fast-paced and exciting betting experience.

Daily Fantasy Sports: A Skill-Based Competition

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) are similar to sports betting, but it could be argued that there is even more skill involved. If you’re new to the games, DFS requires contestants to build fantasy teams out of players from a sports league currently in season. Points are earned based on the performances of chosen players that week, and the highest-scoring contestants earn cash prizes at the end of the week. When choosing a DFS site, you’ll want to choose a platform that is stable and reliable, offers numerous tournaments and your favourite leagues. So if you’re a sports lover with an interest in research and sports stats, we suggest you sign up with the best Zambian DFS site below.

Online Poker

Poker fans have two options when it comes to digital poker versions. The first is video poker, which pits players against the computer. Although these are a great way to practise and have lower stakes, the most exciting action happens on online poker sites. Online poker sees players go head-to-head against other players in single cash events or tournaments. These games aren’t just for amateurs too — many professional star poker players frequently compete in online poker. The most popular games include Omaha, Stud, and Texas Hold’em, and Zambian players can enjoy all of these and more at legal and reputable international sites such as the one we’ve recommended below.

Online Lottery

Are you a fan of the national lottery in Zambia but want to broaden your options? If yes, you may want to try online lottery sites. Here, players can participate in international lottery draws such as the US Mega Millions and Powerball. The benefit of playing lottery online is that there are countless draw game options with varying prize tiers and odds to win. Players can even enjoy other digital lottery games such as KENO, bingo, or scratch cards.

Guide to Choosing the Top Zambian Gambling Sites

While we are confident that you’ll enjoy our recommended sites, you may be wondering how we concluded that these were the best in the first place. To do this, we considered a number of different factors that indicate security, reputation, and quality. In the upcoming sections, we’ve discussed our grading categories and why they are important to consider. By reading, you’ll be able to not only verify that our recommendations are the best, but also know how to judge a gambling site in the future. If you wish, you can click on the link below to jump to a section that interests you, or simply keep scrolling to learn it all.

Licencing & Cyber Safety at Zambian Casinos

Although Zambia’s land-based gambling market is highly regulated by the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, the Zambian online gambling market exists in a regulatory grey zone. Unfortunately, this means that there are relatively few local protocols to prevent players from signing up with untrustworthy or scam sites. Therefore, in order to keep your personal and financial details safe, it’s important to only choose sites that are regulated by reputable foreign regulators such as the MGA or UKGC. This way, you can feel secure knowing that the website meets strict minimum standards when it comes to encryption, fairness, and ethical business practices. Below are some of the trustworthy organizations that collaborate with the most secure gambling sites in Zambia.

Choose a Site With The Best Games and Products

When you’re choosing a new gambling site, it always helps to have an idea of the games or betting markets that interest you most. This will make undertaking a gambling product pre-check a lot easier. For example, if you’re a slots player looking for a new casino, check to see that the site offers a diverse selection of popular games from reputable software providers. If you’re a fan of online poker, make sure that there are tournaments or games that will interest you and have buy-ins that suit your budget.

Sports bettors looking for a new sportsbook will want to make sure that the site provides competitive, fair odds for popular markets, which for most Zambian players will be football. Below, we’ve listed some of the requirements to look out for when assessing a new site. Make sure you verify these before you claim a welcome bonus, because it won’t be worth anything if the gambling products aren’t reliable or up to your standards.

Popular Online Casinos Real Money Games

Online casino games vary widely when it comes to return-to-player (RTP) rates. This means that each game will have a different house edge over players. It’s not surprising then why the most popular slots and table games usually have higher RTPs, as this generally indicates that games will offer higher or more frequent real money payouts. Table games such as roulette and blackjack usually offer higher RTPs than slots, though slot games are usually more popular because of their diversity in designs and features alone. We have provided the average RTPs of different casino games below, though you can also find the individual RTP rates of games within their menus.

Welcome Bonuses

Many players will want to start their time at a new gambling site with a good welcome bonus. These promotions come in many different forms according to the gambling options the site offers. For example, online casinos usually offer free spins on slots or extra playable funds with your first deposits. Sportsbooks may offer free bets, bonus funds, or risk-free first-time bets. As most gambling sites in Zambia are foreign, bonuses are usually offered in currencies such as GBP, USD or Euros, though Zambian currency bonuses do exist. Just be sure to read the terms and conditions of bonuses before you claim first, as these explain how bonuses must be used in order to turn them into real money winnings.

Payout Rates and Gambling Site Fairness

When a gambling site applies for a gaming license, it must first prove that it’s products are fair. To do this, sites must seek certification from independent testing authorities such as iTech or eCOGRA. These certificates will work out the average payout rate of sites based on the average RTP of the entire product selection. A general rule of thumb is that the higher the average payout rate, the fairer the site will be. As you can see below, we’ve listed the verified payout of each site, along with the game, market or product with the highest RTP rate it offers.

Accepted Payment Methods

The number of well-known banking methods that a website accepts is another valuable indicator for how trustworthy and reputable it is. When you’re looking at a new gambling site, you can usually scroll down to the bottom of the homepage to find a list of some of the payment providers it accepts. While you’ll want to ensure that the site accepts a payment method available to you, it’s also good to see that it accepts major financial companies as they are known for only supporting payments to verified sites. The best sites will support e-Wallets, credit cards, bank transfers, and other popular methods to power transactions.

1. e-Wallets:
   1. PayPal
   2. Neteller
   3. ecoPayz
   4. Skrill
2. Credit/Debit Cards:
   1. Mastercard
   2. VISA
   3. Maestro
3. Bank Transfers:
   1. Instant Banking
   2. Bank Transfer
   3. Wire Transfer
4. Other:
   1. Bitcoin
   2. Paysafecard
   3. ApplePay
   4. Google Pay
   5. Trustly

Mobile Apps

The growth of Zambia’s online gambling market has been attributed to the rise in mobile phone use in recent years, proving that mobile gambling is a major part of the industry. It’s safe to assume that a large percentage of players wager on their mobile devices, meaning that it’s essential for gambling sites to offer top mobile products. This is why all of our recommendations offer mobile apps for their platforms. All are available on both iOS and Android devices and include most if not all of their desktop gaming products and features.

Reliable, High-Quality Gaming Software

When we judge a gambling site’s gambling product offerings, the first thing we look at is the software that is behind the products. There are a handful of award-winning developers that are renowned across the world for creating the most popular games, and if these providers are available, this proves that the site is of a high-quality. For platform-based gambling products such as sportsbook and online poker, good software will indicate that technical issues will be rare, which is extremely important for fast-paced gameplay. If you see that the below software developers are powering your gambling site, you can rest assured knowing you’re in good hands.

Zambia’s Gambling Laws and Regulations

The Zambian gambling industry is regulated by three pieces of legislation. The first of these, the State Lotteries Act, is in charge of regulating lottery games and pools. The Casino Act mandates the licensing conditions for casino operators, and the Betting Act enacted the creation of a Betting Board to regulate land-based sports betting operators. While this may seem comprehensive, none of these laws specifically deals with the licensing of online casinos and sports betting sites. This has resulted in what is the open, widely unregulated online gambling market that Zambian players enjoy today.

The Legality of Online Gambling in Zambia

As has been discussed, online gambling is unregulated in Zambia, which essentially means that is not against the law for players to gamble online. Although the government does license a small number of gambling sites on the market, local players are still able to legally wager with international sports betting operators, online casinos, lottery sites, poker sites and DFS sites.

Legal Land-Based Gambling in Zambia

Zambian gamblers have several land-based gambling options. Casino gambling is a tightly regulated industry and has been legal since 1992. Casinos must obtain a license through the Tourism Enterprise Authorisation and Licensing Committee before they can offer activities such as slots and table games. Sports betting is also legal, and there are dozens of physical betting retailers across the country, one of the biggest brands being AfriBet. Here, players are able to wager on international and local sports leagues as well as pari-mutuel wagering on horse and dog races. The country also runs a national lottery.

Official Zambian Gaming Regulator

Land-based gambling has been regulated by the Tourism Enterprises Authorisation and Licensing Committee, which is a division of the Ministry of Tourism and Arts. It is in charge of issuing licenses to casinos and sports betting retailers. Licenses are valid for one year, and the Committee is in charge of collecting operators’ annual fees and taxes based on their quarterly earnings. For the time being, there is no regulator in charge of online gambling in Zambia.

Is Online Gambling Taxable in Zambia?

In addition to annual license fees, casino and sports betting operators are required to pay a percentage of quarterly revenues as tax. Until recently, there was a 20 per cent tax rate applied to all casino games, though this changed with an updated tax structure in 2020. Now, casinos must pay a 20 per cent tax on gross gaming revenues (GGR) for table games and 35 per cent on gaming machine GGR. Casinos must also pay K250 in fees per slot machine each quarter. Lotteries are taxed at 35 per cent, and sports betting is taxed at 10 per cent of GGR. Players must pay 20 per cent of winnings as tax.

Legal Gambling Age

Zambian players must be over 18 years old to gamble. This minimum age requirement applies to all forms of gambling, whether that be land-based or online. No matter whether you want to gamble on sports, poker, slots, table games, the lottery or daily fantasy sports, there is no exception to the rule. You will need to verify your age to play at reputable gaming sites in Zambia, and anyone caught gambler underage may face fines for breaking the law.

Advertising Laws

Most countries have limits on when gambling operators can advertise and how gambling can be portrayed in marketing media. This could be restrictions on social media posts or time slots when gambling ads are banned. This is not the case in Zambia. In fact, there are no restrictions on gambling advertising in Zambia, and some health experts in the country have criticised the government for being slow to introduce marketing regulations. While problem gambling is not as much of a problem in Zambia as other African nations, the industry is growing fast and could face similar youth gambling issues that countries such as Nigeria are now struggling with.

Penalties for Illegal Gambling

Gambling-related crimes are defined clearly in all three of Zambia’s gaming laws. To ensure that there is nothing left to interpretation, the legislation clearly outlines the penalties for contravening legal gaming provisions. Some of the gambling crimes described in the laws include offering gaming without a license, allowing underage gambling, cheating, tax evasion, and fraud. Depending on the nature of the crime, offenders can be penalized with fines, prison time, or both. You can find some of the gambling crimes and their punishments below.

Possible Regulation Changes

In 2019, Zambia’s Ministry of Finance announced plans to update the country’s gaming regulatory policy. Within its draft policy, it acknowledges that the industry is lacking, among other things, clear advertising restrictions to protect minors, as well as a failure to license online operators. The policy included a number of recommendations to regulations, including:

While there has yet to be any movement on the creation of a new Gaming Act, it is reassuring to see that the Zambian government is poised to create a safer, modern gambling market.

Interesting Facts About Zambia’s Online Gambling Industry

Zambia now has around 4.5 million active internet users, which is 25 per cent of its population of 18 million. This was a jump of 16 per cent from the year before, proving just how rapidly the country’s online capabilities are growing. For this reason, many operators are pinning Zambia as being the next big gambling market. A major challenge that Zambia will face is ensuring that the industry is beneficial to the state. Currently, there are 35 registered gaming operators in the country, though gaming only has a 0.03 per cent contribution to Zambia’s GDP. No Zambian has a full or majority ownership of a casino or betting company, and in total locals hold less than a 5 per cent stake in the ownership of casinos and betting companies.

History of Gambling in Zambia

Zambia’s gambling law history extends back to the years before it officially became a republic in 1964. The laws, the Lotteries Act and the Betting Control Act, are still followed to this day, albeit having gone through numerous revisions and amendments. While the Lotteries Act established a national lottery system, the betting act outlined the provisions that private sports betting operators needed to follow to accept sports and pari-mutuel wagers. The most important gambling law was introduced in 1992, which legalized land-based gambling at casinos. Since then, changes to the industry have been small, though it’s expected that some major updates could be on the way in the next few years.

Land-Based Casinos in Zambia

There are ten land-based casinos in Zambia, with the majority of these located in Zambia’s capital Lusaka. The casinos vary greatly in terms of the scale of their gaming offerings and amenities. The closest establishment that Zambia has to a Vegas-style casino resort is the Casino Marina. The gaming floor hosts 70 slot machines and a whopping 20 table games, including roulette, blackjack and baccarat. There are VIP rooms, entertainment options, restaurants, a spa, gym and accommodations for guests.

Where to Gamble in Zambia: Online Gambling Sites or Land-Based Operators

There are pros and cons to gambling at online gambling sites in Zambia, and it’s difficult to say whether or not it’s better than land-based gambling. Some of the advantages of online gambling is that there are plenty of more game options to choose from, as well as the convenience of mobile gambling. Additionally, online sites offer welcome bonuses — a perk that land-based casinos can’t compete with. That being said, Zambia is home to some elegant gaming establishments that make for a thrilling and enjoyable day or a night out. Additionally, land-based betting parlours can be a sociable experience that online sportsbooks miss. The best thing to do is discover for yourself by trying out some of our recommended sites.

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