A growth industryCONFRONTED by a man in a mask brandishing a pistol, the owner of a jewellery shop in Battipaglia, south of Naples, quickly surrendered the afternoon’s takings of around €700. Police later discovered that the pistol was a replica, and the 49-year-old thief, who has not been named, went straight to a post office to pay the money into his overdrawn account.
His robbery was driven by an affliction that has become increasingly common in Italy in the past decade: addiction to gambling. The thief, who had no previous criminal record, lost all his family’s money and more on scratch-cards and gambling machines.
According to the Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, Italians lost €17.2 billion last year, almost three times more than in 2001. They overtook Spaniards as southern Europe’s most ardent punters in 2005. The impact of the financial crisis was not felt until 2011, when amounts staked and lost declined modestly. Italy today prints a fifth of the world’s scratch cards and hosts a third of its video lottery terminals.
The gambling boom is linked to the Italian government’s...Continue reading
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