The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could think that there would be very little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be working the other way, with the critical market circumstances leading to a larger eagerness to gamble, to try and find a fast win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the citizens subsisting on the tiny local wages, there are two popular styles of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the odds of succeeding are remarkably small, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by financial experts who study the situation that most don’t buy a ticket with an actual assumption of hitting. Zimbet is centered on one of the national or the British soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, pamper the incredibly rich of the state and travelers. Until a short while ago, there was a very substantial sightseeing business, founded on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and connected 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 Casino, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming tables, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has diminished by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and bloodshed that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the tourist business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry on till things get better is simply not known.