The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the current time, so you could imagine that there would be little affinity for supporting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it seems to be operating the opposite way around, with the crucial economic conditions leading to a greater desire to wager, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the problems.

For nearly all of the citizens surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two established styles of gambling, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lottery where the probabilities of succeeding are unbelievably low, but then the jackpots are also extremely large. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the idea that the majority don’t purchase a ticket with a real belief of winning. Zimbet is centered on either the national or the English soccer leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, cater to the very rich of the country and sightseers. Until a short time ago, there was a exceptionally large tourist industry, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The market anxiety and connected conflict have carved into this market.

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 Casino, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slots. Mutare contains 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 has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the two of which has gaming machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the previously talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the economy has deflated by more than 40 percent in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and violence that has resulted, it isn’t well-known how healthy the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the next few years. How many of them will carry on till things get better is simply not known.