[ English ]

The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you may think that there might be very little desire for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be operating the other way, with the crucial market conditions creating a bigger eagerness to gamble, to try and find a fast win, a way out of the difficulty.

For most of the locals surviving on the abysmal local money, there are two established styles of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a state lotto where the odds of winning are remarkably low, but then the prizes are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that the majority don’t buy a card with an actual assumption of profiting. Zimbet is centered on one of the local or the British soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, mollycoddle the astonishingly rich of the society and vacationers. Up till a short time ago, there was a incredibly substantial sightseeing industry, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated violence have carved into this market.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, 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 den, 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, both of which have table games, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has gaming machines and tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of two horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the market has shrunk by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and bloodshed that has arisen, it is not known how healthy the vacationing industry 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 basically not known.