Italian Gamers Now Spending More Money

 The global rise of online gaming has been highlighted once again, with Italy being the focus this time.

The latest figures to be released by the Italian gaming regulator (AAMS) are for February and they show online casino and gaming increases virtually across the board.

Overall, the online wagers made by Italian puntersrose by 21% in February. The biggest mover was the area of fixed sports betting. In this field the increase was an astonishing 377%, giving total revenue of €25.6 million.

The combined total of internet casino games, bingo, poker and sports betting revenue was up 20.6% on January’s figures, while the increase on the equivalent month in 2011 was a more modest 8%.

Bingo Takes a Hit

The one section of online gaming which took a negative turn in February 2012 is bingo. The total revenues collected in the Italian market amounted to €4.7 million. This was 24% lower than last year’s totals and 14% down on the previous month’s.

The biggest mover and shaker in the Italian online gambling world is Lottomatica, which holds an impressive 39% of the total market share.

It is clear that internet gambling is on the way up in Italy, just as it is in many other countries all over the globe. Of course, the one big difference with Italy is that the country has been very forward thinking in terms of licensing and regulations. It was the first county in continental Europe to give the go ahead to private internet wagering three years ago. There was also a raft of new regulations brought in at the start of March this year. This recent change has opened up the market and given Italian gamers even more choice when they fancy a flutter.