[ English ]

The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you may imagine that there might be very little desire for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it appears to be working the opposite way, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a greater desire to play, to attempt to locate a quick win, a way from the difficulty.

For nearly all of the citizens surviving on the abysmal local money, there are two established styles of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lottery where the odds of succeeding are remarkably tiny, but then the prizes are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by economists who look at the situation that most do not buy a card with the rational belief of winning. Zimbet is centered on one of the local or the United Kingston soccer leagues and involves predicting the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, pamper the exceedingly rich of the state and vacationers. Up until a short while ago, there was a very big tourist industry, centered on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.

Amongst 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 just the slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which have table games, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has slot machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforestated mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the market has shrunk by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and conflict that has come to pass, it is not well-known how well the vacationing business which supports Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will carry on till things get better is basically unknown.