The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you could think that there would be very little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the awful economic circumstances leading to a larger eagerness to play, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For almost all of the citizens subsisting on the tiny nearby wages, there are two common forms of betting, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of winning are extremely low, but then the prizes are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who understand the subject that the majority do not buy a ticket with an actual assumption of hitting. Zimbet is based on either the local or the English soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, look after the exceedingly rich of the nation and vacationers. Until a short while ago, there was a very large sightseeing business, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated conflict have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slots. 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, the pair of which have gaming tables, 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 pair of which has gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has deflated by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has resulted, it isn’t understood how well the vacationing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of them will still be around till conditions get better is merely unknown.