The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might envision that there might be little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be working the opposite way, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a greater eagerness to wager, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For most of the people surviving on the meager local wages, there are two established forms of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the odds of profiting are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by economists who study the subject that many do not buy a card with a real belief of winning. Zimbet is built on one of the local or the English football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, look after the considerably rich of the society and sightseers. Up till a short while ago, there was a exceptionally substantial tourist business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected conflict have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, 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 only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have table games, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has contracted by more than forty percent in recent years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has arisen, it isn’t known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of them will be alive until conditions improve is basically not known.
