The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you could think that there would be very little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be functioning the other way around, with the awful market conditions creating a bigger desire to play, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way from the crisis.
For nearly all of the locals subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are two popular forms of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the chances of winning are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also remarkably high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the situation that many do not buy a ticket with the rational assumption of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the national or the English football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, cater to the very rich of the state and vacationers. Until a short time ago, there was a extremely big sightseeing industry, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and connected bloodshed have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has 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 halls and the aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by beyond 40% in recent years and with the associated poverty and crime that has arisen, it isn’t known how healthy the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will be alive till conditions get better is merely not known.