The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you may imagine that there might be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be functioning the other way around, with the awful market circumstances leading to a higher desire to wager, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For most of the people subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are two common types of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the probabilities of hitting are remarkably small, but then the jackpots are also extremely large. It’s been said by economists who understand the situation that the lion’s share do not purchase a ticket with the rational expectation of hitting. Zimbet is based on one of the national or the UK football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the incredibly rich of the state and travelers. Until a short while ago, there was a very big sightseeing industry, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected violence have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slot machine games. 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 contain table games, slot machines and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has slot machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and crime that has arisen, it is not well-known how healthy the vacationing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry on until things improve is basically not known.