The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might think that there might be very little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it seems to be operating the other way, with the atrocious economic conditions leading to a greater ambition to gamble, to try and find a fast win, a way from the crisis.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the tiny nearby wages, there are 2 popular forms of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the odds of profiting are surprisingly small, but then the prizes are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by economists who look at the subject that most don’t purchase a card with a real belief of hitting. Zimbet is centered on either the national or the English soccer divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, cater to the astonishingly rich of the nation and vacationers. Up till a short time ago, there was a considerably large tourist business, based on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated crime have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain gaming tables, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which has video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has diminished by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has resulted, it is not known how healthy the vacationing industry which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will be alive until things get better is merely not known.