The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you may envision that there might be little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be functioning the opposite way around, with the desperate economic conditions creating a bigger eagerness to gamble, to try and discover a quick win, a way from the crisis.
For the majority of the locals subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 dominant types of wagering, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the chances of winning are surprisingly low, but then the winnings are also remarkably large. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the concept that most do not purchase a ticket with an actual expectation of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the national or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, pamper the astonishingly rich of the society and sightseers. Up until recently, there was a exceptionally large tourist industry, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slots. 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 two of which have table games, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which has video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has diminished by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has cropped up, it is not understood how healthy the tourist industry which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will survive until things improve is simply not known.
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