The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you could think that there would be little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be working the other way, with the awful economic conditions creating a larger ambition to bet, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the crisis.

For nearly all of the locals subsisting on the meager nearby wages, there are two dominant types of wagering, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of succeeding are remarkably low, but then the winnings are also remarkably big. It’s been said by economists who look at the idea that many do not buy a ticket with a real belief of hitting. Zimbet is founded on one of the domestic or the English football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, cater to the incredibly rich of the nation and tourists. Until a short while ago, there was a incredibly big tourist industry, founded on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated conflict have carved into this market.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 machines. 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 contain gaming tables, slots and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer slot machines and tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a pools system), there are also two horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Seeing as that the market has shrunk by more than 40% in the past few years and with the connected poverty and bloodshed that has arisen, it is not understood how well the tourist business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around until conditions get better is simply not known.