The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you could imagine that there would be little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the desperate economic conditions creating a bigger desire to gamble, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way out of the problems.
For most of the citizens surviving on the meager local money, there are 2 popular styles of wagering, the state lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of hitting are extremely low, but then the prizes are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the subject that many do not buy a ticket with an actual belief of winning. Zimbet is based on either the national or the UK football divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, look after the very rich of the nation and vacationers. Until a short while ago, there was a exceptionally large tourist business, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated violence have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two 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 just the slots. 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, both of which offer gaming tables, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforestated talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has shrunk by more than 40 percent in recent years and with the connected deprivation and crime that has come to pass, it isn’t known how healthy the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of them will carry on till conditions improve is simply not known.
