The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you could imagine that there would be little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be working the other way around, with the awful economic circumstances creating a larger desire to play, to attempt to find a fast win, a way from the situation.
For many of the citizens living on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 dominant types of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the chances of hitting are remarkably tiny, but then the prizes are also unbelievably big. It’s been said by economists who understand the idea that many do not buy a ticket with the rational expectation of hitting. Zimbet is built on one of the local or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pander to the extremely rich of the country and sightseers. Up till recently, there was a very substantial sightseeing business, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected conflict have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer table games, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each 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 considerably like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has shrunk by more than 40% in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and bloodshed that has come about, it is not understood how healthy the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will still be around until things improve is simply unknown.
