The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be very little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the awful economic conditions creating a greater desire to gamble, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way out of the difficulty.
For almost all of the people living on the tiny local earnings, there are two established types of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of profiting are unbelievably tiny, but then the prizes are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the subject that most don’t purchase a ticket with an actual assumption of winning. Zimbet is built on one of the domestic or the United Kingston football leagues and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, mollycoddle the astonishingly rich of the nation and tourists. Up till a short while ago, there was a very large vacationing business, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated crime have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, 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 den, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which have table games, slot machines and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has arisen, it isn’t known how healthy the tourist business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will survive until conditions get better is basically not known.