[ English ]

The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may think that there might be little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it seems to be operating the opposite way around, with the critical economic conditions creating a greater ambition to bet, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way out of the problems.

For almost all of the citizens living on the tiny local money, there are two dominant styles of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the odds of profiting are remarkably small, but then the winnings are also unbelievably big. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the concept that most don’t buy a ticket with an actual expectation of profiting. Zimbet is centered on one of the local or the UK football divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, pamper the astonishingly rich of the country and tourists. Up until not long ago, there was a considerably substantial sightseeing industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected conflict have carved 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 slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain 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 offer gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the market has deflated by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and crime that has come to pass, it is not well-known how well the vacationing industry which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry through till things improve is merely not known.