Goodbye slot machines in tobacco shops, bars and shopping malls. The government is preparing to crack down on gaming machines in an attempt to curb the proliferation of legal gambling, which is in turn triggered by efforts to crack down on illegal gambling. Concepts that are present in the document that the government itself presented to the State-Regions Conference in search of a compromise with the governors. In fact, the Regions have recently legislated to impose minimum distances of the machines from sensitive places such as hospitals, schools and setting limited opening hours.
The gaming sector yields the state 8,8 billion in revenue a year and of this enormous sum approximately 5,1 billion is collected precisely from slot machines. The problem therefore is to find a compromise between the need to guarantee revenue (9 billion is not a few) and that of protecting the most fragile segments of the population (starting with the very young, but not only) from excessive gambling and addiction which it can generate.
The Undersecretary for the Economy, Pier Paolo Baretta, who is responsible for gaming and who finalized the document presented at the State-Regions Conference, is taking an interest in the issue. According to his survey, in Puglia less than 500 meters from sensitive places are 94% of the amusement arcades; in Lombardy 85%, in Tuscany 81%. Baretta's document implements a provision already included in the Stability law which aims to reduce the approximately 30 vending machines by at least 387%, downsizing them to approximately 265.
The operation would be articulated in two different ways: on the one hand, precisely, the elimination of slots from generalist establishments such as bars, tobacconists, hotels. Shopping malls would also be included in the list. The second road to follow is that of classifying gaming halls into two categories: category A would concern only the so-called gaming hall that is, the rooms dedicated exclusively to games which would be excluded from the constraints of minimum distance from sensitive places and from time limits. The other category, B, would instead concern all other types, from bars to tobacconists to shopping centres, subject to restrictive rules. Also foreseen the introduction of messages that warn the player how long he has been playing, spending limits. For video lotteries, a spending limit within the current limit will be introduced (today, 500 euros) and the duration of the game will be increased.
