The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you could imagine that there might be very little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it seems to be functioning the opposite way around, with the atrocious market conditions leading to a larger ambition to wager, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For most of the locals living on the meager local earnings, there are two established forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the odds of hitting are surprisingly small, but then the winnings are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the subject that the lion’s share do not buy a ticket with an actual assumption of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the UK soccer divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, cater to the astonishingly rich of the society and vacationers. Up until recently, there was a extremely substantial tourist business, founded 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 five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain table games, slot machines and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which has video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has diminished by more than 40% in recent years and with the connected poverty and violence that has cropped up, it isn’t understood how well the sightseeing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around until conditions improve is basically unknown.
