The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might envision that there might be little affinity for patronizing Zimbabwe’s gambling dens. In fact, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the awful market circumstances creating a greater eagerness to gamble, to try and discover a quick win, a way from the situation.
For the majority of the people surviving on the meager local earnings, there are two popular types of gaming, the national lotto and Zimbet. Just as with almost everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the odds of profiting are unbelievably tiny, but then the prizes are also very large. It’s been said by economists who study the situation that the majority don’t buy a card with a real assumption of winning. Zimbet is based on either the national or the English soccer leagues and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, cater to the exceedingly rich of the nation and travelers. Until a short time ago, there was a very substantial sightseeing business, founded on safaris and visits to Victoria Falls. The economic collapse and associated violence have carved into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are two in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 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 contain gaming tables, slot machines and video poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, both of which have gaming machines and tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the previously talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of two horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has shrunk by beyond 40 percent in the past few years and with the associated poverty and crime that has come about, it is not well-known how healthy the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the in the years to come. How many of the casinos will still be around till things get better is basically unknown.
This entry was posted on February 27, 2009, 2:04 am and is filed under Casino. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.