The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be working the opposite way, with the atrocious economic conditions leading to a higher desire to play, to try and locate a quick win, a way from the problems.
For many of the locals living on the meager local wages, there are 2 common types of gaming, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the odds of profiting are remarkably low, but then the jackpots are also remarkably big. It’s been said by financial experts who study the subject that many don’t buy a ticket with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is centered on either the local or the British soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, cater to the considerably rich of the nation and sightseers. Until not long ago, there was a considerably big tourist industry, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated bloodshed have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which contain table games, 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 have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has diminished by more than 40% in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and bloodshed that has come to pass, it is not known how healthy the tourist business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will carry on until things improve is merely unknown.
