The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you may think that there might be very little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In reality, it appears to be working the opposite way around, with the critical economic circumstances leading to a bigger ambition to play, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For the majority of the people surviving on the meager local earnings, there are 2 dominant forms of wagering, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the odds of profiting are extremely small, but then the winnings are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the subject that the lion’s share do not purchase a ticket with the rational assumption of profiting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the British soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, cater to the extremely rich of the nation and sightseers. Until a short time ago, there was a very large sightseeing industry, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated bloodshed have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have slot machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has shrunk by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has resulted, it isn’t well-known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry through till conditions get better is merely not known.
