The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you may imagine that there would be little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be working the other way around, with the desperate economic circumstances leading to a greater desire to wager, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the problems.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the meager nearby money, there are 2 common types of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lottery where the chances of hitting are surprisingly tiny, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the situation that most don’t buy a card with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is built on one of the domestic or the UK football divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, look after the extremely rich of the state and tourists. Up until a short while ago, there was a very big tourist industry, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected bloodshed have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming tables, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which has video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has shrunk by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the associated poverty and crime that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the vacationing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will still be around till conditions improve is simply not known.