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The entire process of living in Zimbabwe is something of a gamble at the moment, so you might envision that there might be little appetite for going to Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In reality, it appears to be functioning the other way around, with the awful economic conditions leading to a greater eagerness to gamble, to try and find a quick win, a way out of the situation.

For nearly all of the citizens subsisting on the tiny local wages, there are 2 dominant forms of gaming, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else in the world, there is a state lottery where the chances of winning are surprisingly small, but then the winnings are also extremely high. It’s been said by economists who understand the subject that many do not purchase a card with a real belief of profiting. Zimbet is founded on one of the local or the British football leagues and involves predicting the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, on the other foot, look after the incredibly rich of the society and travelers. Up till recently, there was a very big sightseeing industry, based on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated conflict have carved into this trade.

Among Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has just the slot machine games. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only one armed bandits. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which contain table games, slots and video machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, the pair of which offer video poker machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the above alluded to lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing tracks in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd city) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Seeing as that the market has shrunk by more than 40% in recent years and with the associated poverty and conflict that has arisen, it is not understood how healthy the vacationing business which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will still be around till things get better is merely not known.