The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you might think that there would be very little desire for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be working the other way, with the awful economic conditions creating a larger desire to gamble, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the citizens living on the tiny nearby earnings, there are two established types of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the chances of winning are extremely tiny, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that most do not buy a card with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the British soccer leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, mollycoddle the extremely rich of the country and tourists. Up till not long ago, there was a considerably large vacationing industry, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected crime have carved into this market.
Among 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 only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming tables, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools 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.
Given that the economy has deflated by more than 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and crime that has arisen, it is not well-known how healthy the vacationing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will be alive till conditions improve is simply unknown.