The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you might envision that there might be little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In reality, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the atrocious market conditions leading to a greater eagerness to play, to try and discover a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For the majority of the locals surviving on the meager nearby wages, there are 2 dominant forms of betting, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the odds of winning are extremely tiny, but then the prizes are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who study the idea that the lion’s share do not purchase a card with a real belief of winning. Zimbet is based on either the national or the English soccer leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, cater to the considerably rich of the nation and vacationers. Up until recently, there was a considerably large sightseeing industry, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated conflict have cut into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, 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, both of which contain 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, the two of which has video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there is a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has shrunk by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and conflict that has come about, it is not known how well the tourist business which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around till conditions get better is simply not known.