The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could think that there might be little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be operating the other way around, with the crucial market conditions leading to a bigger ambition to bet, to try and discover a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For nearly all of the locals living on the abysmal local earnings, there are two popular styles of gaming, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the chances of hitting are extremely small, but then the prizes are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who understand the situation that the lion’s share do not buy a card with a real belief of winning. Zimbet is built on either the national or the English football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, pander to the very rich of the country and sightseers. Up until not long ago, there was a incredibly large tourist business, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only 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, the pair of which have table games, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by beyond 40 percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and violence that has resulted, it is not known how healthy the tourist business which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will still be around until conditions improve is merely not known.