Zimbabwe gambling halls
November 18th, 2009 at 4:22
The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you could envision that there might be little appetite for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the atrocious economic circumstances leading to a greater desire to gamble, to try and locate a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For nearly all of the people subsisting on the tiny local earnings, there are two established styles of gambling, the state lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of winning are extremely tiny, but then the prizes are also extremely high. It’s been said by financial experts who study the subject that most do not buy a ticket with an actual expectation of profiting. Zimbet is based on either the domestic or the UK football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other foot, look after the astonishingly rich of the society and sightseers. Until a short time ago, there was a very big vacationing industry, built on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated violence have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, 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 table games, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which offer gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the aforestated alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the country: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the market has deflated by beyond 40% in recent years and with the associated deprivation and bloodshed that has cropped up, it is not known how healthy the vacationing industry which funds 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 simply unknown.