The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you might envision that there would be little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it seems to be working the other way around, with the awful economic circumstances creating a greater desire to bet, to try and locate a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For many of the locals surviving on the tiny nearby wages, there are two established types of betting, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of hitting are extremely low, but then the prizes are also very big. It’s been said by financial experts who study the idea that many don’t buy a ticket with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the British football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, pamper the extremely rich of the state and vacationers. Until not long ago, there was a exceptionally big tourist industry, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has shrunk by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and violence that has arisen, it isn’t known how healthy the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry through till conditions get better is merely unknown.
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