It's a great time to be a South African fan of gambling. Not only is it no longer a requirement to leave your home when you want to experience the fun and excitement of the casino, but you can now do it without having to have access to foreign currency.

There are a growing number of rand online casinos - gambling websites that have enough respect for the Southern African player that they have begun to accept rands as a primary currency. This means that if you sign up for an account with them, you will be able to deposit funds in rands, play in rands, win in rands and cash out in rands.

The obvious benefit is convenience - you no longer require an independent means of access to dollars or pounds to be able to play at these websites - but it actually goes a lot further than that. There's a significant saving in not having to buy foreign currency from your bank in order to play, with all of the associated commissions.

And it works the other way as well. Most of the best online casinos are built on top of software from companies like Playtech, Rival Powered, Microgaming and Real Time Gaming (RTG). These companies all run some form of progressive jackpot - slot games that are available at many different casinos and all contributing to a growing pile of money just waiting to be won.

Progressive jackpots routinely climb into the millions of US dollars, and if you win one while playing at a casino where you have a Rand account, you will win those millions in rands. It's not impossible. For example, at the time of this writing the current progressive jackpot at rand online casinos powered by Playtech sits at more than R45 million.

The fact that so many new online casinos are now accepting rands as easily as they accept dollars, pounds and euros is a sharp indicator of just how big online gambling's local fan base is.

And it's not just the casinos that are waking up to the existence of South Africans. Moneybookers, a European-based payment services provider favoured by the gambling industry, will actually allow you to hold an account with them in rands. Most rand online casinos will gladly accept Moneybookers if you don't have access to a credit card.

Simply put, if you are a South African intrigued by the allure of online gambling, there has never been a better time to take the plunge and sign up for an account. The best South African casinos now serve you directly and welcome your business rather than forcing you to jump through hoops just to be let in the door.

And if you're still not sure, remember that the best casinos will either give you some free casino bonuses to get started with, or allow you to try out all of the games that they have on offer in "fun mode". This means that you can test the waters and get comfortable before wagering any of your rands at the tables.