The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you could think that there might be very little affinity for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the crucial economic conditions creating a greater desire to bet, to try and locate a quick win, a way from the situation.
For almost all of the locals subsisting on the meager local wages, there are two popular forms of gaming, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the chances of winning are unbelievably small, but then the winnings are also remarkably large. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that the lion’s share don’t purchase a ticket with a real belief of hitting. Zimbet is centered on either the local or the UK football leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pander to the astonishingly rich of the state and tourists. Up until a short while ago, there was a extremely big vacationing business, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected crime have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two 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 just slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming tables, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has diminished by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and conflict that has come about, it isn’t understood how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will be alive till conditions get better is simply unknown.
