The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you could think that there might be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the critical economic conditions leading to a bigger eagerness to play, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the crisis.
For nearly all of the locals subsisting on the abysmal local money, there are two dominant styles of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of succeeding are surprisingly small, but then the winnings are also remarkably large. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that most do not buy a card with a real expectation of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the domestic or the UK football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, look after the considerably rich of the state and travelers. Up until recently, there was a considerably substantial sightseeing industry, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected violence have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming tables, slot machines and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has contracted by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and bloodshed that has arisen, it is not well-known how healthy the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around till conditions get better is merely unknown.