The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a greater desire to wager, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the problems.
For nearly all of the citizens subsisting on the meager local earnings, there are 2 dominant forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of profiting are unbelievably tiny, but then the jackpots are also extremely large. It’s been said by economists who study the concept that many do not buy a ticket with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, cater to the incredibly rich of the country and vacationers. Until not long ago, there was a considerably large sightseeing industry, centered on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected crime have carved into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer gaming tables, slot machines 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 offer slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are also two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has contracted by more than 40% in recent years and with the connected poverty and crime that has cropped up, it isn’t understood how healthy the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of them will carry through till things get better is merely unknown.