The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you may imagine that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it seems to be working the opposite way around, with the awful economic conditions creating a greater ambition to wager, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For the majority of the people subsisting on the abysmal nearby money, there are 2 common forms of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the odds of hitting are surprisingly tiny, but then the jackpots are also very high. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the idea that many don’t buy a ticket with the rational expectation of hitting. Zimbet is centered on one of the domestic or the United Kingston football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pamper the astonishingly rich of the nation and tourists. Up till recently, there was a very large sightseeing business, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated violence have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and bloodshed that has come to pass, it is not well-known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of them will be alive till things get better is simply not known.
