The entire process 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 visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a larger eagerness to play, to try and find a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For nearly all of the people living on the tiny nearby earnings, there are two established types of wagering, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of succeeding are unbelievably small, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the situation that many do not buy a card with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is founded on one of the national or the British football divisions and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, mollycoddle the very rich of the state and tourists. Up till a short while ago, there was a extremely large tourist industry, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated crime have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming tables, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has shrunk by more than 40% in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come about, it is not known how healthy the sightseeing business which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will still be around till conditions improve is merely not known.