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The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may imagine that there might be very little affinity for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the desperate economic circumstances leading to a greater desire to play, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For almost all of the people surviving on the tiny local money, there are two dominant forms of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of winning are remarkably tiny, but then the jackpots are also extremely large. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that most do not buy a card with a real assumption of hitting. Zimbet is built on either the domestic or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, pander to the considerably rich of the country and sightseers. Until a short while ago, there was a very large sightseeing industry, centered on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected conflict have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slots. 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, both of which offer table games, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have slot machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has contracted by beyond 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has cropped up, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of them will be alive until things improve is merely not known.
