The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you may think that there might be very little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the critical economic circumstances leading to a bigger eagerness to play, to try and find a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For many of the locals subsisting on the meager local wages, there are 2 popular types of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of succeeding are surprisingly tiny, but then the prizes are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who study the subject that the lion’s share don’t buy a ticket with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the domestic or the English soccer divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pander to the very rich of the country and vacationers. Up until a short time ago, there was a very large vacationing industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated crime have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 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 just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer table games, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has deflated by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come about, it isn’t known how well the vacationing industry which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry on till things improve is simply not known.