The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you could envision that there would be little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be operating the other way, with the desperate market circumstances creating a bigger ambition to wager, to attempt to find a fast win, a way out of the difficulty.
For nearly all of the citizens subsisting on the meager local money, there are 2 established forms of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the odds of profiting are extremely low, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by market analysts who study the subject that many do not buy a card with the rational assumption of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the national or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, look after the very rich of the society and sightseers. Up till not long ago, there was a very big sightseeing industry, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated bloodshed have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by beyond 40 percent in recent years and with the connected poverty and conflict that has come about, it is not understood how well the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will survive until things get better is merely unknown.