09.12
Zimbabwe gambling dens
The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might imagine that there would be little affinity for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls. In fact, it seems to be working the opposite way around, with the crucial market conditions creating a greater ambition to play, to try and discover a quick win, a way out of the problems.
For almost all of the citizens subsisting on the abysmal nearby wages, there are 2 common styles of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a national lotto where the probabilities of winning are surprisingly tiny, but then the jackpots are also surprisingly high. It’s been said by financial experts who look at the subject that many do not purchase a ticket with the rational expectation of winning. Zimbet is built on one of the national or the English soccer divisions and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the astonishingly rich of the society and sightseers. Until recently, there was a very big sightseeing business, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and connected crime 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 five gaming tables and one armed bandits, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just slot machines. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain 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 gaming machines and table games.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are also 2 horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Given that the economy has deflated by beyond 40% in the past few years and with the connected deprivation and conflict that has come to pass, it isn’t known how well the tourist industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will be alive until conditions get better is basically unknown.