Online Gaming in Italy: Strength in Numbers

Published April 2, 2011 by OCR Editor

Video Lottery Terminals have proved the most popular, Italian gaming data show.

Italian gaming authority AAMS published statistics on February's gaming turnover last week, revealing the strong impact of the introduction of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) into the marketplace and confirming that slot machines are still number one for popularity.

Visit Online Casino Reports Italy for online gambling news and reviews in Italian.

Public Wants Slots

According to the figures, total gaming revenue in the first two months of 2011 hit 11.6 billion euros, a 15.8 percent rise on the same period the previous year, when it reached 10.02 billion euros.

Gaming was worth 5.73 billion euros in February, of which VLTs, which were only recently introduced to the Italian gaming market, were the most popular with takings of 719 million euros. Next on the list was bingo with 156 million euros.

Europe's Leader

Italy has proved miles ahead of European countries on the regulation of online gambling, becoming the first major country in mainland Europe to allow licensed private online gambling operators in a regulated environment three years ago.

On March 10, the government formally brought in new online gaming regulation that further opened up the market to allow operators to offer poker cash and online casino games.