The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may think that there would be very little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be functioning the other way around, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a bigger eagerness to gamble, to try and find a fast win, a way from the problems.
For nearly all of the locals surviving on the meager nearby money, there are 2 popular styles of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of succeeding are extremely small, but then the winnings are also unbelievably big. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the situation that the majority don’t buy a ticket with an actual belief of hitting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the UK soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, pander to the very rich of the state and vacationers. Up till a short while ago, there was a very large sightseeing industry, based on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated conflict have carved into this trade.
Amongst 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 just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain table games, slots 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 tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has deflated by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has come to pass, it isn’t well-known how healthy the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry through till things improve is merely unknown.
