The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you might envision that there would be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In reality, it appears to be operating the other way around, with the critical market conditions creating a bigger desire to play, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For nearly all of the locals living on the meager local wages, there are two popular styles of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the odds of winning are unbelievably low, but then the winnings are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the concept that the majority don’t buy a ticket with the rational belief of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the domestic or the UK soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, mollycoddle the extremely rich of the state and sightseers. Until a short time ago, there was a incredibly big sightseeing business, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected violence have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, 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 slots. 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, the two of which have gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by more than forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and crime that has cropped up, it is not known how healthy the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will still be around until things improve is merely not known.