[ English ]

The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the current time, so you could envision that there would be very little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the desperate economic circumstances creating a greater ambition to gamble, to try and discover a fast win, a way out of the crisis.

For many of the citizens surviving on the meager local money, there are two common forms of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a state lotto where the chances of succeeding are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by economists who look at the subject that many do not purchase a ticket with an actual belief of hitting. Zimbet is based on one of the domestic or the British football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, mollycoddle the very rich of the state and sightseers. Up until not long ago, there was a considerably big tourist industry, founded on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected bloodshed 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 slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which offer slot machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the aforementioned talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a pools system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the market has contracted by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated poverty and violence that has arisen, it isn’t known how well the tourist business which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will carry on till things get better is merely unknown.