The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might think that there would be very little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it seems to be functioning the opposite way around, with the crucial economic conditions leading to a bigger eagerness to wager, to try and find a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For many of the people subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are two popular styles of gambling, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of succeeding are surprisingly low, but then the jackpots are also remarkably big. It’s been said by financial experts who study the situation that the lion’s share don’t buy a ticket with a real assumption of winning. Zimbet is built on either the domestic or the British soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pander to the incredibly rich of the state and travelers. Up till not long ago, there was a exceptionally substantial vacationing industry, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated conflict have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machine games. 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 two of which contain gaming tables, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforestated mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has shrunk by more than forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and conflict that has resulted, it isn’t known how well the vacationing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will be alive till things improve is merely not known.