[ English ]

The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you might imagine that there might be little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it seems to be operating the other way around, with the crucial market conditions leading to a bigger ambition to gamble, to try and find a quick win, a way from the difficulty.

For the majority of the locals subsisting on the meager nearby money, there are 2 common forms of gambling, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of profiting are remarkably low, but then the prizes are also extremely large. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the subject that many don’t purchase a card with a real expectation of profiting. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other shoe, look after the considerably rich of the nation and tourists. Up until recently, there was a incredibly large tourist business, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and connected violence have carved into this trade.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have 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 casinos and the aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd 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 violence that has cropped up, it is not understood how well the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will carry on until conditions get better is simply unknown.