The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be functioning the opposite way around, with the crucial economic circumstances leading to a larger ambition to play, to try and find a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the locals surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two common styles of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the chances of succeeding are remarkably tiny, but then the prizes are also remarkably large. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the subject that most do not buy a card with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the United Kingston football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, pamper the extremely rich of the nation and tourists. Up until a short while ago, there was a very big sightseeing industry, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected crime have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer 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, the two of which have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has contracted by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has come about, it is not understood how well the tourist industry which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around till things improve is merely unknown.
