The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could envision that there would be little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it seems to be operating the other way, with the desperate economic conditions leading to a higher ambition to wager, to try and find a fast win, a way out of the problems.
For many of the citizens subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 common styles of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of winning are surprisingly tiny, but then the winnings are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the subject that the lion’s share do not purchase a card with an actual expectation of profiting. Zimbet is centered on either the local or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, pander to the exceedingly rich of the state and travelers. Until recently, there was a considerably big tourist industry, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated bloodshed have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which have table games, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has contracted by more than 40% in the past few years and with the associated poverty and crime that has come to pass, it is not 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 them will be alive till things get better is basically unknown.
