The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may imagine that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it appears to be functioning the other way, with the crucial market circumstances leading to a bigger desire to gamble, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For many of the citizens living on the tiny local wages, there are 2 established forms of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the chances of hitting are remarkably low, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by economists who study the concept that most don’t buy a card with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is centered on either the domestic or the English football divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, look after the extremely rich of the state and tourists. Until not long ago, there was a incredibly substantial tourist industry, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated crime have carved into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, 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 just one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming tables, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by more than 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has resulted, it is not known how well the vacationing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry on until conditions get better is basically unknown.