The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you could envision that there would be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be working the opposite way, with the desperate market circumstances creating a greater desire to bet, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For many of the people subsisting on the tiny local earnings, there are two established forms of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of profiting are extremely low, but then the prizes are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by economists who study the concept that the lion’s share don’t buy a ticket with a real belief of hitting. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the English soccer leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, mollycoddle the very rich of the nation and vacationers. Up till not long ago, there was a extremely substantial vacationing business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated violence have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which contain table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has deflated by more than forty percent in recent years and with the associated deprivation and conflict that has arisen, it is not understood how healthy the vacationing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of them will still be around till conditions get better is simply unknown.