The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you might imagine that there might be little appetite for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be working the other way, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a larger eagerness to wager, to attempt to discover a fast win, a way out of the crisis.
For almost all of the citizens subsisting on the abismal local wages, there are two established styles of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the chances of winning are unbelievably small, but then the jackpots are also unbelievably large. It’s been said by economists who understand the concept that most do not buy a card with the rational assumption of hitting. Zimbet is founded on one of the national or the British football divisions and involves predicting the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pamper the exceedingly rich of the state and travelers. Until a short while ago, there was a extremely substantial tourist business, built on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected conflict have carved into this trade.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Centre in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain gaming tables, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforementioned mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexs in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the market has shrunk by more than forty percentin the past few years and with the associated deprivation and violence that has come about, it is not known how healthy the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around till conditions improve is simply not known.
March 30th, 2007
Eli
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