The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you could imagine that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the desperate economic circumstances leading to a greater desire to wager, to try and locate a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For almost all of the people subsisting on the meager nearby earnings, there are two established forms of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the globe, there is a state lotto where the probabilities of profiting are surprisingly tiny, but then the winnings are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the subject that the majority do not purchase a card with the rational belief of profiting. Zimbet is built on one of the national or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, pamper the very rich of the society and sightseers. Up till recently, there was a very substantial tourist industry, based on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and connected bloodshed have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machine games. 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, the pair of which contain table games, 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 video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has contracted by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and bloodshed that has come to pass, it isn’t well-known how well the tourist industry which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry on till things get better is simply unknown.
