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The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the current time, so you may imagine that there would be little affinity for visiting Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it appears to be functioning the other way around, with the atrocious market conditions creating a greater desire to bet, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the crisis.

For almost all of the locals surviving on the tiny local wages, there are two dominant types of betting, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the probabilities of winning are unbelievably low, but then the winnings are also surprisingly large. It’s been said by economists who look at the concept that most do not buy a ticket with a real expectation of hitting. Zimbet is founded on either the local or the United Kingston football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, cater to the incredibly rich of the state and tourists. Up till a short time ago, there was a very big sightseeing industry, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected crime have carved into this trade.

Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has just the 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 have gaming tables, one armed bandits 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 have video poker machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also two horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has shrunk by beyond forty percent in recent years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has come about, it isn’t known how well the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will still be around till conditions improve is merely not known.