The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you may imagine that there would be very little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be working the other way around, with the desperate economic conditions leading to a bigger ambition to gamble, to attempt to find a fast win, a way out of the difficulty.
For many of the citizens living on the abysmal local wages, there are two popular types of gambling, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the chances of hitting are remarkably small, but then the jackpots are also very big. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that the lion’s share do not buy a card with an actual assumption of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the national or the United Kingston soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pamper the incredibly rich of the country and sightseers. Until not long ago, there was a extremely substantial vacationing industry, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated violence have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only 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 two of which contain table games, slot machines and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which offer video poker machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the economy has contracted by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated poverty and crime that has cropped up, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around till things get better is basically not known.
