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Godwin Muzari Arts & Lifestyle Editor
He lights cigarette after another, effortlessly puffing smoke that curls up above his head to form a light mist over the casino machine. He intermittently winks his eyes and twists his face as thought and leisure mix. The craving is uncontrollable, especially when under pressure.

Occasionally, he takes a sip from a glass of whisky without giving much attention to his drink. His mind has been swallowed by the game before him. His eyes gradually turn red. Is it because of the smoke, the whisky or tight concentration? Maybe he is feeling sleepy. But no. It is the make or break pressure.

It is 3am and this man has been in the casino for about eight hours. The machine rolls on.
There are a few gamblers in the room. Others are gathered on a table playing poker. But this man, apparently of Asian origin, favours playing slots — as we are to later learn from a waitress in the casino.

Most people do not seem to know this man’s real name. They just call him Lee and he nods to the moniker. He rarely talks to people, except when he comes in the company of his Asian friends, which is rare. He favours all-night spinning by himself.

We are at a Harare casino to observe trends in this high-value gambling game. Casino has been one of the popular upmarket gambling games over the years. Many businessmen, footballers, senior civil servants, musicians and socialites are among casino gamblers. It is an addictive game.

Many have suffered serious losses while others have been perennial winners. It is a game of chances. However, just like in many games played in Africa, some people are suspected to be using juju to win. There are many myths associated with casino gambling.

Lee signals for another drink from the waitress. His choice is an expensive Johnnie Walker Platinum label. He is evidently moneyed, but seems so much absorbed in the money game that has been known to have more chances of losing than winning. Could Lee be blindly sinking his money in these casino machines when he is rumoured to be a witty businessman?

The waitress tells us that Lee is one of the regular gamblers here. We just came on a bad day, otherwise we could have bumped into some of the most famous faces of Harare in this casino. Lee’s behaviour is not unique. Many prominent people spend hours in casinos, yet most of them have recorded more losses than wins. It is a known casino rule that the house is always the winner.

“For most people the fun is in the playing, not the winning,” the waitress tells us.
“Of course there are people that became rich overnight because of casino gambling, but generally it is about the anxiety, expectations and the unexpected that make it all fun.”

The waitress says the highest win she has witnessed in her two-year career is US$30 000 while the highest loss was US$54 000.

She described how people become uncontrollable and emotional when losing.
“You can sense from the mood that a person is losing fast.

“Most of them become rude and refuse to leave the casino when it is time to close. They want to keep on playing, hoping to recover their lost money and that is how they keep on losing more.”

For more than a year, Lee has been coming to this casino. The waitress says he has not won any substantial amount, but he keeps on betting. He has been seen in other casinos in the capital also.

There are many Lees out there. They know all the casinos in the country and gambling has become part of their life. Unlike other gambling games, casino demands higher amounts, signalling higher wins and higher losses. It is not a game of weak pockets.

As we leave this particular casino, Lee is still betting, smoking drinking and betting again. With assistance from one of the waitresses, we manage to get contacts from two of the men playing poker for later interviews about their experiences in casinos. But they refuse to give us their names. They can only volunteer information. We had to give them new names for the sake of the interviews. So, the following day we met Sam and Tau separately.

“I have been playing casino for the past three years and sometimes I get lucky to win. It is disheartening to lose, but I make sure that I do not lose much. That is where most people lose it. I have a budget each day I go to casino and if it is exhausted, I leave,” said Sam.

“In the first days I was careless and I lost US$5 000 that was meant for business on a certain night. I had to sell my car to recover the money and meet the business obligation. Since then, I am cautious.”
Sam also shared stories about friends that have won and lost.

“I have a friend who won US$20 000 one night and bought his wife a car that she is still using now. He has been playing for years, but I believe, cumulatively, the losses now outweigh the wins. He wins considerable amounts and also loses many times. This game does not need much of comparison. We value contacts we make in casinos and the social side of the game than the money involved.”

Tau had an interesting story to tell. He began with how his friend lost a house to casino gambling.
“After losing a large amount of money, my friend approached his friend and borrowed money. He offered his house as surety and blindly went back to the casino hoping to recover. He had seen others borrowing and recovering. He had also done it before,” Tau recalled.

“After borrowing the money, he lost again and went back for top up. By the time he realised he was totally losing out, it was too late. He had borrowed too much money and was at risk of losing his house. He tried other means to recover the money and failed. The house was sold and his marriage went on rocks. For some time, he did not come to the casino. Now he is back. This game is addictive. Once you start, it is not easy to quit.”

Both shared stories of businesses that have crumbled and businesses that have grown from casino gambling. They said a few individuals seem to have endless luck to continue winning. There are whispers within the gambling community that such people could be using juju. Such are the tales of casino gambling.

Harare has a number of casinos while other houses are found in places like Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Nyanga, Marondera and Mazowe.

Expectedly, secrecy is the rule in this business and managers and owners of casinos refused to give their comments about gambling in their houses.

A look at some casino games

Slots
Slots are machines that play a number of different games. Generally, a player inserts coins into the machine. Then they pull a handle or press a button. This causes the wheels to spin. When the wheels stop, the player gets paid based on the pattern of symbols.

Blackjack
Blackjack is a card game. It’s played between the house — also known as the dealer — and the player. The dealer deals out two cards to each player and keeps two cards. The dealer has one card face up and one down. The players take turns trying to get as close as they can to 21. The player calls “hit” to get a card and end their turn. A player can also call “double.” This doubles their bet. They can only get one card and their turn ends. If a player has two identically numbered cards, they can split.

Roulette
In roulette, the player places their chips on the table to wager them. The table has numbers 0-36 and 00. It has additional betting for even-odd, red-black, low 18-high 18, low/middle/high 12 and for the first/second/third columns. The dealer spins the wheel clockwise. Then, they roll a ball counter-clockwise. The ball lands in a numbered slot on the wheel. All bets that correspond with the number win.

Poker
Poker is a card game. It’s based on a five card hand. Hands are ranked from lowest to highest. The order of hands is high card, pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. The player with the best hand wins.

Craps
Craps is a dice game. The players make wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. If a seven or 11 turn up on the first roll of the dice, the shooter wins whatever they bet. If the shooter rolls two, three, or 12 on the first roll, they lose the money, but not the dice.
When the person rolls a four, five, six, eight, nine, or ten that number becomes their “point.” The shooter keeps rolling until their “point” turns up again for a win or until the person throws a seven and loses the money and the dice. — Marketrealist.com.