The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you might imagine that there might be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the crucial economic circumstances leading to a higher desire to play, to try and find a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For nearly all of the citizens surviving on the abysmal nearby money, there are two established forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the odds of profiting are extremely small, but then the jackpots are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the subject that the lion’s share don’t buy a ticket with an actual expectation of hitting. Zimbet is built on either the local or the English football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, cater to the exceedingly rich of the country and vacationers. Until a short time ago, there was a considerably big tourist industry, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected violence have cut into this market.
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 Casino, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have table games, slots 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 has gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforestated mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the economy has contracted by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has arisen, it is not understood how well the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry on until conditions get better is simply not known.