The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a gamble at the moment, so you could envision that there might be little appetite for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it appears to be functioning the opposite way, with the awful economic conditions creating a bigger eagerness to bet, to try and locate a quick win, a way out of the situation.

For nearly all of the people living on the meager local earnings, there are two dominant forms of gambling, the state lottery and Zimbet. As with most everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the chances of profiting are remarkably small, but then the prizes are also remarkably big. It’s been said by financial experts who understand the situation that many do not buy a card with an actual assumption of winning. Zimbet is built on either the local or the UK football divisions and involves determining the outcomes of future matches.

Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other hand, cater to the exceedingly rich of the country and vacationers. Up until not long ago, there was a considerably big tourist business, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated conflict have cut into this market.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machine games. 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, both of which offer gaming tables, one armed bandits and video 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 tables.

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

Since the economy has deflated by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the associated deprivation and bloodshed that has resulted, it isn’t known how well the sightseeing industry which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will still be around until things improve is simply not known.