The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you could think that there might be little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be operating the other way around, with the atrocious economic conditions leading to a bigger eagerness to gamble, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the problems.
For most of the locals subsisting on the meager nearby wages, there are 2 common forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of profiting are unbelievably small, but then the winnings are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that the majority don’t purchase a card with the rational assumption of winning. Zimbet is centered on one of the local or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, mollycoddle the astonishingly rich of the society and tourists. Until a short while ago, there was a very substantial sightseeing business, based on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated violence 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 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which have gaming tables, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls has 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 aforestated talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has contracted by more than 40% in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has come to pass, it isn’t understood how well the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will be alive till conditions improve is merely unknown.