The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you could imagine that there would be little appetite for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it appears to be working the other way, with the critical market conditions creating a greater ambition to bet, to try and find a fast win, a way from the difficulty.
For the majority of the people surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two dominant types of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of succeeding are surprisingly low, but then the prizes are also extremely big. It’s been said by economists who understand the subject that the majority do not buy a card with a real belief of profiting. Zimbet is founded on either the local or the UK soccer divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, cater to the astonishingly rich of the state and travelers. Up until a short time ago, there was a very large vacationing business, centered on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated violence have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, 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 only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming tables, slot machines and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has contracted by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and violence that has arisen, it is not understood how healthy the vacationing business which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around until conditions improve is basically not known.