The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could imagine that there might be little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be operating the opposite way, with the critical market conditions creating a higher desire to gamble, to try and discover a fast win, a way from the crisis.
For the majority of the citizens surviving on the meager local wages, there are two established forms of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a state lotto where the chances of hitting are remarkably small, but then the prizes are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that many don’t purchase a card with a real assumption of winning. Zimbet is built on either the local or the English football divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, look after the very rich of the state and tourists. Up until a short while ago, there was a incredibly substantial tourist business, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated crime have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 hall, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which offer video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by beyond 40% in recent years and with the connected poverty and crime that has come about, it isn’t well-known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will carry through till conditions improve is basically not known.
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