The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there might be little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the crucial market conditions creating a greater eagerness to gamble, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the situation.
For most of the citizens subsisting on the abysmal local earnings, there are 2 popular types of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the chances of profiting are extremely low, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by economists who look at the situation that the lion’s share do not buy a card with the rational expectation of hitting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the British soccer leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, mollycoddle the very rich of the nation and sightseers. Until a short while ago, there was a exceptionally big vacationing business, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected crime have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the 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, the pair of which contain table games, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting 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.
Given that the economy has shrunk by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and conflict that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around till things get better is basically unknown.
