The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you may envision that there might be very little appetite for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a greater ambition to bet, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the situation.
For many of the people living on the meager local money, there are two popular types of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the chances of winning are unbelievably small, but then the prizes are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by financial experts who study the concept that the lion’s share don’t buy a ticket with the rational expectation of profiting. Zimbet is built on either the domestic or the United Kingston football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pander to the extremely rich of the country and vacationers. Up till a short while ago, there was a considerably big vacationing business, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and associated violence have carved into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machine games. 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 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, the pair of which has gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has deflated by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has arisen, it is not understood how well the vacationing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of them will be alive till conditions improve is basically not known.