The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you might imagine that there might be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the desperate economic conditions creating a greater desire to play, to try and find a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For many of the locals living on the abysmal local money, there are 2 popular styles of gambling, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of hitting are unbelievably low, but then the jackpots are also very large. It’s been said by financial experts who study the concept that the lion’s share don’t purchase a ticket with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is centered on one of the domestic or the English football leagues and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, look after the extremely rich of the country and sightseers. Up until not long ago, there was a extremely large tourist industry, founded on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated violence have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain gaming tables, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which offer video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has resulted, it is not known how well the vacationing business which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry on till things improve is basically not known.