[ English ]

The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might think that there would be little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the desperate market conditions creating a higher desire to wager, to try and discover a quick win, a way out of the situation.

For many of the locals surviving on the meager local wages, there are two established styles of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of hitting are unbelievably small, but then the jackpots are also remarkably high. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the subject that many do not purchase a ticket with an actual belief of profiting. Zimbet is centered on one of the national or the UK soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, pander to the exceedingly rich of the nation and travelers. Until recently, there was a extremely big tourist business, founded on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated crime have carved into this market.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer table games, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforestated mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has diminished by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has arisen, it isn’t well-known how well the vacationing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around till conditions improve is simply unknown.