The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you might envision that there might be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it appears to be working the opposite way, with the desperate economic circumstances leading to a higher eagerness to bet, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way from the problems.
For nearly all of the people surviving on the tiny local money, there are 2 dominant forms of wagering, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a state lottery where the odds of hitting are remarkably small, but then the winnings are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the concept that many don’t purchase a ticket with a real belief of profiting. Zimbet is centered on one of the domestic or the British football divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, cater to the extremely rich of the society and sightseers. Until recently, there was a very big sightseeing industry, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected crime have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have table games, slot machines and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has deflated by more than 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and bloodshed that has arisen, it isn’t understood how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry on till things improve is simply not known.
