The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you could think that there would be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the crucial economic circumstances leading to a higher ambition to bet, to try and find a fast win, a way out of the problems.
For most of the locals surviving on the abysmal local earnings, there are 2 dominant forms of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the chances of hitting are unbelievably small, but then the prizes are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by economists who understand the concept that most don’t buy a ticket with the rational belief of winning. Zimbet is built on one of the national or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, pander to the astonishingly rich of the country and vacationers. Up till recently, there was a incredibly substantial vacationing business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected bloodshed have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 Casino, which has just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have table games, one armed bandits 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 has gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and crime that has resulted, 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 carry on till things get better is basically not known.