The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you may imagine that there would be very little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be working the other way around, with the crucial market conditions leading to a greater eagerness to wager, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For most of the citizens living on the meager local wages, there are two common types of gambling, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of hitting are unbelievably low, but then the winnings are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the concept that the majority don’t purchase a ticket with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is built on one of the local or the English football leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pander to the considerably rich of the nation and vacationers. Up until recently, there was a very big sightseeing industry, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected crime have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has deflated by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has come about, it is not understood how healthy the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will be alive until things get better is merely not known.
