The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you may think that there would be very little desire for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be operating the other way around, with the critical market conditions leading to a higher eagerness to play, to try and locate a fast win, a way out of the crisis.
For many of the locals subsisting on the meager local money, there are two dominant forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the odds of profiting are extremely tiny, but then the winnings are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by economists who study the subject that many do not purchase a card with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is centered on one of the domestic or the UK soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the incredibly rich of the nation and vacationers. Until a short while ago, there was a very big sightseeing business, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected conflict have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the 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 have table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which has video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has diminished by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and conflict that has come to pass, it isn’t well-known how healthy the tourist business which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will be alive until conditions get better is merely not known.
