[ English ]

The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may imagine that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be operating the other way, with the crucial market circumstances leading to a bigger desire to wager, to try and find a quick win, a way from the situation.

For almost all of the citizens subsisting on the tiny local money, there are 2 established forms of gambling, the state lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of hitting are unbelievably tiny, but then the winnings are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the situation that most do not purchase a card with the rational belief of profiting. Zimbet is based on one of the national or the United Kingston football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pamper the considerably rich of the state and tourists. Until a short time ago, there was a very large vacationing business, founded on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated conflict have cut into this market.

Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer 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, both of which have slot machines and table games.

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

Given that the market has diminished by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and crime that has come to pass, it isn’t known how well the vacationing business which funds Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry on until things improve is basically unknown.