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The act of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you could envision that there might be very little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it seems to be functioning the other way, with the atrocious economic conditions leading to a higher ambition to play, to attempt to find a quick win, a way out of the crisis.

For many of the people subsisting on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 established styles of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. As with almost everywhere else in the world, there is a state lotto where the odds of profiting are surprisingly low, but then the jackpots are also remarkably large. It’s been said by market analysts who study the situation that the lion’s share do not purchase a ticket with a real belief of profiting. Zimbet is based on one of the local or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other hand, pamper the extremely rich of the country and sightseers. Until recently, there was a extremely large tourist business, built on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated bloodshed have cut into this trade.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slots. 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, both of which contain table games, one armed bandits and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have gaming machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens and the above mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is very like a pools system), there are a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Since the economy has contracted by more than 40% in the past few years and with the associated poverty and crime that has cropped up, it isn’t known how well the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s gambling dens will do in the in the years to come. How many of them will still be around till things improve is merely not known.