The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you might imagine that there would be little appetite for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be functioning the other way around, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a bigger ambition to bet, to try and find a quick win, a way out of the problems.

For almost all of the locals living on the abysmal nearby wages, there are two common styles of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of profiting are surprisingly small, but then the jackpots are also extremely high. It’s been said by market analysts who understand the situation that the lion’s share don’t purchase a card with an actual expectation of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the United Kingston soccer divisions and involves determining the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, pander to the incredibly rich of the country and sightseers. Until not long ago, there was a considerably big sightseeing business, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected crime have cut into this trade.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree Casino, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which contain gaming tables, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which has gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has diminished by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and bloodshed that has come about, it isn’t known how healthy the vacationing industry which is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will survive until things improve is simply unknown.