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The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you could think that there would be little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be functioning the other way around, with the crucial economic conditions creating a larger eagerness to play, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the difficulty.
For almost all of the people surviving on the tiny nearby wages, there are 2 dominant types of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of profiting are unbelievably low, but then the winnings are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the concept that the lion’s share do not buy a ticket with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the English football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, mollycoddle the very rich of the society and sightseers. Up till a short while ago, there was a very large tourist business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated conflict have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two 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 just slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer table games, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have video poker machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforestated mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has shrunk by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has come about, it is not known how healthy the tourist industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will survive till conditions get better is basically not known.
