The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you could think that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it seems to be functioning the opposite way around, with the desperate economic conditions leading to a higher eagerness to bet, to try and find a quick win, a way from the situation.
For many of the people living on the tiny local money, there are 2 popular types of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the chances of succeeding are unbelievably small, but then the winnings are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the idea that the majority don’t buy a ticket with an actual expectation of profiting. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, cater to the astonishingly rich of the state and tourists. Until recently, there was a very big sightseeing industry, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected violence have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machine games. 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, the two of which have gaming tables, slots and video 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 blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come to pass, it isn’t known how healthy the tourist business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of them will survive till conditions improve is merely unknown.
