The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you could imagine that there would be very little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be operating the other way, with the desperate market conditions creating a higher eagerness to gamble, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way from the situation.
For nearly all of the citizens surviving on the tiny local earnings, there are 2 established types of betting, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lottery where the odds of hitting are extremely low, but then the winnings are also very large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the subject that the majority do not buy a ticket with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is based on one of the national or the UK football leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, pander to the astonishingly rich of the state and travelers. Up until a short time ago, there was a considerably large vacationing business, based on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected violence have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain table games, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has diminished by more than 40 percent in recent years and with the connected poverty and crime that has come to pass, it is not understood how well the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of them will still be around till conditions improve is basically not known.
