The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you might imagine that there would be little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be working the other way around, with the crucial economic circumstances creating a greater eagerness to wager, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For many of the locals surviving on the abysmal local earnings, there are 2 established types of gambling, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the odds of succeeding are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also remarkably large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the situation that the majority don’t buy a ticket with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is founded on one of the local or the British soccer leagues and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, look after the considerably rich of the state and travelers. Up till a short time ago, there was a very big sightseeing industry, founded on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected bloodshed have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which contain gaming tables, slot machines and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has deflated by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has resulted, it is not well-known how healthy the vacationing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will be alive till conditions get better is simply unknown.