The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you may envision that there would be little desire for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the atrocious economic circumstances creating a larger eagerness to wager, to attempt to find a fast win, a way out of the problems.

For the majority of the locals subsisting on the tiny local wages, there are two dominant styles of gambling, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with most everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the odds of succeeding are extremely small, but then the prizes are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the subject that many don’t buy a ticket with an actual assumption of winning. Zimbet is founded on either the national or the United Kingston football divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other hand, cater to the extremely rich of the country and travelers. Up till a short while ago, there was a considerably large vacationing industry, centered on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The market collapse and associated bloodshed have carved into this market.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slots. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, the pair of which have gaming tables, one armed bandits and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls houses the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which has video poker machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the economy has shrunk by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the associated deprivation and crime that has cropped up, it is not well-known how well the vacationing business which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of them will still be around until things improve is simply unknown.