The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you could think that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be working the other way around, with the awful market conditions creating a greater desire to bet, to attempt to find a fast win, a way out of the problems.
For most of the citizens living on the tiny local wages, there are two established styles of betting, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the odds of hitting are extremely small, but then the winnings are also remarkably big. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that the lion’s share do not buy a ticket with the rational belief of winning. Zimbet is built on either the domestic or the English football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, cater to the astonishingly rich of the country and vacationers. Until a short time ago, there was a incredibly substantial tourist business, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected crime have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, 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 only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has 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 casinos and the aforementioned alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has shrunk by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has come about, it isn’t well-known how healthy the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will be alive till things improve is simply not known.
