The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you could envision that there would be very little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In reality, it appears to be working the other way, with the critical market circumstances leading to a bigger ambition to bet, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the crisis.
For the majority of the locals living on the meager local earnings, there are two dominant types of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the odds of hitting are surprisingly small, but then the prizes are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who understand the situation that many don’t buy a card with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is founded on either the local or the British football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, cater to the incredibly rich of the nation and tourists. Up until recently, there was a considerably large tourist industry, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated conflict have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer gaming tables, slot machines and video 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 blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has diminished by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has resulted, it isn’t well-known how healthy the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will still be around till conditions improve is simply not known.