The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you might envision that there would be little affinity for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it seems to be working the opposite way around, with the awful market conditions creating a larger eagerness to wager, to try and discover a fast win, a way from the crisis.
For the majority of the citizens subsisting on the meager local earnings, there are two popular styles of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of hitting are extremely tiny, but then the prizes are also remarkably high. It’s been said by market analysts who study the idea that many do not buy a card with the rational assumption of winning. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pander to the incredibly rich of the society and travelers. Up until a short time ago, there was a very large tourist industry, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated bloodshed have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slot machines. 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 gaming tables, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforementioned mentioned 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 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by more than forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and violence that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will survive until conditions improve is merely not known.