[ English ]

The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you may envision that there might be little affinity for visiting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a higher ambition to play, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way from the problems.

For nearly all of the people subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are two dominant types of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of winning are extremely small, but then the winnings are also unbelievably high. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the subject that most do not buy a card with an actual belief of winning. Zimbet is centered on one of the national or the British soccer divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the astonishingly rich of the society and sightseers. Up till recently, there was a considerably substantial sightseeing business, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected violence have cut 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 den, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare contains 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 has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have slot machines and tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the market has deflated by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has come to pass, it is not known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry through till things improve is basically unknown.