The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might envision that there might be very little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. Actually, it appears to be functioning the opposite way around, with the critical market circumstances leading to a greater eagerness to wager, to try and discover a quick win, a way from the crisis.

For nearly all of the citizens living on the tiny local wages, there are two dominant forms of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the chances of profiting are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also extremely large. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the subject that most do not purchase a ticket with the rational assumption of winning. Zimbet is based on either the local or the UK soccer leagues and involves predicting the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the astonishingly rich of the state and travelers. Up until recently, there was a considerably substantial vacationing business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected conflict have carved into this trade.

Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two 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 only slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has deflated by more than forty percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has resulted, it is not known how well the sightseeing business which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will carry on till conditions improve is merely unknown.