The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you might imagine that there would be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the atrocious market conditions creating a bigger eagerness to gamble, to try and locate a quick win, a way from the problems.
For most of the locals surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two established types of betting, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the chances of winning are unbelievably tiny, but then the prizes are also remarkably high. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that many don’t buy a ticket with a real assumption of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the local or the British soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pander to the very rich of the country and vacationers. Up until a short time ago, there was a extremely substantial tourist business, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected crime have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain table games, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has deflated by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has come about, it isn’t known how well the sightseeing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will survive until conditions improve is simply not known.