The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be little desire for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be operating the opposite way, with the crucial economic circumstances creating a bigger desire to gamble, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the crisis.

For the majority of the people living on the abysmal local money, there are two popular styles of gaming, the state lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of hitting are extremely low, but then the prizes are also remarkably high. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the situation that most do not purchase a card with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is built on either the local or the English football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, pamper the very rich of the nation and travelers. Up until a short time ago, there was a considerably large vacationing industry, centered on nature trips and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and connected violence have cut into this market.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, 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 hall, which has only slot machines. 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 two of which contain table games, slot machines 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 video poker machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd 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 conflict that has cropped up, it isn’t understood how well the vacationing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling halls will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will still be around till conditions get better is merely not known.