The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there might be very little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be operating the other way, with the awful market circumstances creating a greater ambition to gamble, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For nearly all of the people living on the meager local money, there are 2 established types of gaming, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of winning are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by economists who study the concept that the lion’s share do not buy a card with a real expectation of profiting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the British soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, look after the exceedingly rich of the society and tourists. Up till a short time ago, there was a very big vacationing industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated conflict have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, 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 only 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 have slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by beyond 40 percent in recent years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has come to pass, it isn’t understood how well the vacationing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of them will survive until conditions get better is merely unknown.
