The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might envision that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the desperate market conditions leading to a bigger eagerness to bet, to attempt to find a fast win, a way from the difficulty.
For almost all of the citizens surviving on the tiny local money, there are 2 dominant forms of gambling, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the probabilities of succeeding are surprisingly tiny, but then the prizes are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by economists who look at the subject that many don’t purchase a card with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the United Kingston football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, look after the extremely rich of the state and travelers. Up until a short time ago, there was a extremely substantial sightseeing business, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected bloodshed have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which have 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 video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has shrunk by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come about, it isn’t well-known how well the tourist business which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will be alive until things get better is simply unknown.
