10.13
Zimbabwe Casinos
The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you may imagine that there might be very little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it seems to be working the opposite way around, with the desperate economic conditions creating a greater eagerness to bet, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For most of the people living on the meager local money, there are two established forms of gambling, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of profiting are remarkably small, but then the prizes are also very big. It’s been said by economists who understand the subject that many don’t buy a ticket with the rational assumption of hitting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the English soccer divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, pander to the astonishingly rich of the nation and sightseers. Until a short time ago, there was a considerably substantial tourist business, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated crime have carved into this market.
Among 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 Casino, which has just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming tables, slot machines and video poker 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 aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has contracted by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated poverty and conflict that has arisen, it isn’t understood how well the sightseeing industry which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of them will still be around until conditions improve is simply not known.