The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you may think that there might be very little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the desperate economic conditions leading to a greater eagerness to wager, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way out of the difficulty.
For many of the citizens surviving on the tiny local money, there are 2 dominant styles of gambling, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the probabilities of hitting are remarkably low, but then the winnings are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by financial experts who study the subject that the majority don’t buy a card with a real assumption of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the local or the English football leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, look after the incredibly rich of the country and travelers. Up till not long ago, there was a extremely substantial tourist industry, centered on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected crime have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 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 slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer table games, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also 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 more than 40% in recent years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has resulted, it is not well-known how well the tourist industry which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry through till conditions improve is simply not known.