The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you could imagine that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the critical economic circumstances leading to a bigger desire to gamble, to try and locate a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For most of the people surviving on the abysmal local wages, there are two dominant types of betting, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the odds of profiting are surprisingly tiny, but then the prizes are also remarkably large. It’s been said by economists who look at the subject that most do not buy a ticket with a real expectation of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the domestic or the United Kingston soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, cater to the extremely rich of the society and tourists. Up until a short time ago, there was a extremely large sightseeing industry, founded on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated conflict have cut into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, 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 just the 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, the pair of which offer gaming tables, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which have gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has arisen, it is not known how well the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry through until things improve is merely unknown.
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