The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you may think that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it seems to be working the opposite way around, with the desperate economic conditions leading to a larger ambition to play, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way from the problems.
For many of the locals surviving on the meager local earnings, there are 2 established forms of gaming, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the chances of hitting are extremely tiny, but then the winnings are also very large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the situation that the majority do not purchase a card with an actual belief of winning. Zimbet is founded on one of the domestic or the United Kingston football divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, pander to the extremely rich of the state and tourists. Until a short time ago, there was a extremely big sightseeing industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated conflict 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 5 gaming tables and slot machines, 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 has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain gaming tables, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has shrunk by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has cropped up, it isn’t well-known how healthy the vacationing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will survive till things improve is merely not known.
