[ English ]

The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the current time, so you could imagine that there might be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be working the opposite way, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a bigger desire to bet, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the situation.

For many of the people living on the abysmal local wages, there are two common types of gaming, the state lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a state lotto where the odds of succeeding are extremely low, but then the winnings are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the idea that many do not purchase a card with the rational expectation of hitting. Zimbet is founded on one of the local or the UK soccer divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pander to the extremely rich of the state and vacationers. Up until recently, there was a incredibly big vacationing business, built on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated crime have cut into this trade.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair 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, both of which offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has diminished by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and bloodshed that has resulted, it is not well-known how healthy the vacationing business which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of them will carry on till conditions improve is simply unknown.