The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might think that there would be little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it appears to be working the other way, with the critical market circumstances creating a greater desire to gamble, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the tiny nearby wages, there are two common forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the odds of hitting are surprisingly tiny, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the concept that most do not buy a ticket with a real assumption of hitting. Zimbet is built on one of the national or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pamper the very rich of the country and vacationers. Until a short time ago, there was a incredibly big vacationing business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and connected bloodshed have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has shrunk by more than forty percent in recent years and with the connected poverty and crime that has cropped up, it is not understood how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry through till conditions get better is basically unknown.