[ English ]

The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could imagine that there would be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be functioning the other way around, with the desperate market circumstances creating a larger desire to bet, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way out of the problems.

For most of the people surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two common styles of betting, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of hitting are remarkably tiny, but then the winnings are also unbelievably big. It’s been said by market analysts who study the concept that the lion’s share don’t buy a card with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the UK football leagues and involves predicting the results of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, look after the considerably rich of the nation and sightseers. Up till a short while ago, there was a extremely big tourist industry, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and connected violence have cut into this market.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slot machines. 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, the pair of which offer table games, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have slot machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the economy has contracted by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come to pass, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will be alive till things improve is basically unknown.