The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be very little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In reality, it seems to be operating the other way, with the atrocious economic conditions creating a bigger eagerness to wager, to try and find a fast win, a way from the difficulty.
For many of the citizens surviving on the tiny local earnings, there are two common styles of gambling, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of succeeding are remarkably low, but then the prizes are also very large. It’s been said by economists who understand the subject that the majority do not purchase a ticket with a real expectation of profiting. Zimbet is centered on either the national or the British football divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, cater to the considerably rich of the state and sightseers. Up until recently, there was a incredibly big vacationing industry, founded on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated violence have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which contain table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has diminished by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come about, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will be alive till conditions get better is simply not known.