Casinos in Swaziland are very much alive and popular. They are actually an important source of income for many of the tiny kingdom’s resorts and hotels. Brick and mortar casinos n Swaziland were first regulated in the 1960’s, when the country was still a part of the British Empire, be it a remote one. Casinos were legalized and introduced to boost the countries attraction to tourists, and still continue to fulfil that role today.
All casinos are regulated by the Casino Act of 1963, and thus fall under the Department of Tourism, Environmental affairs and Communication. Interestingly, a law has recently been passed that bans public servants form gambling in any way. This means that should you be a government official, you are not allowed to play in any casinos, either brick and mortar or online. This of course is not amazingly well enforced, but is interesting none the less.
Online casinos are also legal, and thus are regulated. Licenses for them are handed out sparingly. The first of the casinos in Swaziland to receive an online licence was Piggs Peak Casino, which lies on the border with South Africa. This resulted in an altercation with South African authorities, who promptly banned all Swaziland based sites from accepting wagers form South African residents.
Piggs Peak Casino
Piggs Peak is actually a small ton on the border of Swaziland and South Africa. It was founded on gold being found in the region in the 1800’s and remains to this day as primarily a tourist attraction. The Piggs Peak Hotel is located outside the tiny town and is responsible for bringing a large amount of tourists to the own every year. Located on top of a mountain, as is most of the kingdom, the Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino offers 103 comfortable rooms, two tennis courts, two squash courts, a bowling green and swimming pool aside from the casino.
The resort is a nature lover’s paradise, surrounded by pine forest with hiking, horse riding, river rafting and even skiing in the area depending on the season. Each room has a private balcony that faces out onto the mountain view, an comes equipped with satellite TV and a phone. The casino itself offers a number of slot machines, and a variety of table games with mostly the usual suspects like Blackjack, Roulette and Craps. The slots have a combined number of 47 jackpots, which is pretty good. Food can be found in a number of restaurants on the resort site, specialising in African cuisine and ranging from fine dining with indoor fires to grabbing a quick Boerie Roll.
Nhlangano Casino Royale
With its fancy name the Nhlangano Casino Royale is actually not one of the fanciest casinos in Swaziland. Situated in the town of Shishelweni, the Nhlangano Casino Royale has only 45 rooms and is owned and operated by the massive company Sun International. Despite it beautiful setting and casino to attract visitors, the Nhlangano Casino Royale is not very busy, and seldom booked out. The casino is small, with only 52 slot machines and a few table games offering American roulette, Blackjack and Poker and if you want to know more about poker, go to this site. The onsite restaurant does local cuisine.
Royal Swazi Casino Mbabane
The Royal Swazi Casino Mbabane is another upscale resort that boasts an onsite casino. The resort has a number of luxury rooms and offers amenities and attractions such as hiking, horse riding, a Spa, a golf course and a number of eateries. The casino is big with a number of slots and table games.