The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might think that there would be very little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the critical market conditions leading to a larger eagerness to wager, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the citizens subsisting on the meager local wages, there are 2 common types of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the chances of hitting are unbelievably low, but then the winnings are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who study the situation that the majority do not purchase a card with a real assumption of hitting. Zimbet is centered on one of the local or the English soccer leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, cater to the astonishingly rich of the state and sightseers. Up till recently, there was a extremely substantial tourist business, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated conflict have carved into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has shrunk by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has arisen, it is not known how healthy the sightseeing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around until conditions get better is merely unknown.