The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you could think that there might be very little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the atrocious economic conditions leading to a bigger desire to gamble, to try and locate a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For most of the locals surviving on the meager nearby earnings, there are 2 established forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of profiting are remarkably low, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by economists who study the subject that most do not buy a card with a real belief of profiting. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, mollycoddle the very rich of the country and travelers. Up till recently, there was a considerably large vacationing industry, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated violence have cut into this trade.
Among 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 hall, which has just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which offer slot machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has deflated by beyond 40 percent in recent years and with the connected deprivation and bloodshed that has come about, it is not understood how healthy the tourist business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will be alive till things improve is simply unknown.
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