The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you might think that there might be very little desire for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be operating the other way, with the desperate market conditions leading to a bigger desire to wager, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 established types of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of winning are unbelievably tiny, but then the prizes are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the idea that many do not purchase a ticket with the rational belief of winning. Zimbet is centered on one of the national or the UK soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, look after the astonishingly rich of the nation and vacationers. Up till recently, there was a very big vacationing industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected conflict have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has deflated by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has come to pass, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry through until conditions improve is simply not known.