The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you could envision that there might be little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it appears to be working the other way around, with the desperate market conditions creating a bigger ambition to wager, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the crisis.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the abysmal local money, there are two established styles of betting, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the chances of succeeding are surprisingly small, but then the winnings are also remarkably large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the subject that most don’t purchase a card with a real expectation of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the local or the British football leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, mollycoddle the considerably rich of the society and travelers. Up until not long ago, there was a considerably large vacationing business, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 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 only slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer table games, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has contracted by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and crime that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the tourist business which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will still be around till conditions get better is simply unknown.