The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might think that there might be little appetite for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. Actually, it appears to be working the opposite way, with the crucial market circumstances leading to a higher ambition to gamble, to attempt to find a fast win, a way out of the situation.

For most of the locals surviving on the tiny local money, there are two dominant forms of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of winning are unbelievably low, but then the prizes are also remarkably high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the subject that most don’t buy a ticket with an actual expectation of profiting. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pander to the astonishingly rich of the country and sightseers. Up till a short time ago, there was a extremely large sightseeing business, founded on nature trips and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic anxiety and associated violence have carved into this trade.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the two of which offer gaming tables, slots 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 halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the nation: 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 connected deprivation and violence that has come to pass, it is not known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of them will be alive until conditions get better is basically not known.