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The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you may think that there would be little affinity for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. Actually, it seems to be working the other way around, with the critical economic conditions leading to a higher eagerness to wager, to attempt to discover a quick win, a way out of the crisis.

For almost all of the people surviving on the abysmal local wages, there are 2 common styles of wagering, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the odds of hitting are remarkably small, but then the jackpots are also very large. It’s been said by market analysts who look at the situation that many don’t buy a card with the rational belief of hitting. Zimbet is based on either the national or the United Kingston soccer leagues and involves determining the outcomes of future games.

Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other shoe, pamper the astonishingly rich of the nation and sightseers. Up until a short time ago, there was a very large tourist business, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated bloodshed 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 5 gaming tables and slots, and the Plumtree gambling hall, which has only slot machines. 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, both of which have gaming tables, slots 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 offer video poker machines and table games.

In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are also 2 horse racing complexes in the state: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.

Given that the market has diminished by beyond 40 percent in recent years and with the connected poverty and violence that has cropped up, it is not understood how well the vacationing business which funds Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of the casinos will be alive until conditions get better is simply unknown.