The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you could think that there would be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be functioning the opposite way around, with the desperate market conditions creating a larger desire to play, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way from the situation.
For nearly all of the citizens living on the meager local money, there are two common types of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of profiting are unbelievably low, but then the jackpots are also very high. It’s been said by economists who study the subject that most do not purchase a ticket with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is built on either the domestic or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, pamper the very rich of the society and sightseers. Up till a short time ago, there was a very big tourist business, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected violence have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machines. 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 contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has slot machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the economy has shrunk by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the associated poverty and violence that has cropped up, it is not known how well the sightseeing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will survive until things get better is merely unknown.
