“It would be scandalous to foresee the opening of new gaming halls in the city centre, without distance meters or time limits. It is inaudible that the President of the Regions Conference Massimiliano Fedriga, the President of the Senate Finance Commission Massimo Garavaglia and the deputy head of Cabinet of the Mef Italo Volpe could all agree, in the reorganization of the physical game, on giving 5% of the tax revenue to the Bodies Venues in exchange for the unlimited opening of slot machines and betting shops in city centres, practically everywhere. At this point, it is not a question of health protection but a question of economic interests."
Thus communicates the Association of Managers and Manufacturers of Entertainment Machines (Agcai) which "fears that even the centre-right is being influenced by the large multinational gaming concessionaires by carrying forward the same project carried out by the Democratic Party and Baretta in 2017, when they wanted to open other thousands of gaming rooms in city centres. We fear that the Regions will accept 5% of the revenue in exchange for the health of the players.
If we wanted to protect public health, we could do everything except catapult players into Maxi-Casinos disguised as gaming halls, where all types of games are concentrated including the very dangerous Videolottery, prohibited in bars, and where the an environment totally dedicated to gaming immerses even occasional players in a highly dangerous context.
In the rooms the player finds himself inside a gaming supermarket with all types of games gathered together and within reach, where he inevitably spends more.
The reorganization of online gaming is also part of this plan, with plans to limit the number of top-up sales points such as bars and tobacconists to direct players towards the infernal gaming halls. PVRs are penalized, while the most dangerous gaming rooms are not affected.
It should be noted that bar gamblers are normally not gamblers, otherwise they would already go to the lounges, but they rightly prefer to stay away, only wanting to make some occasional bets on their favorite team, perhaps together with friends. Furthermore, making it impossible for PVRs to work in public places, in addition to moving players to Maxi-Casinos, would certainly lead to the return of illegal gaming which was eradicated thanks to the presence of legal online gaming in public places.
A double blow totally against the health of the players but to the advantage of a few concessionaires, often multinationals, owners of the gaming halls and apparently in favor of the local authorities who would collect 5% of the revenues.
The only thing to truly protect the health of players would be to reduce the hourly loss achievable by the player in a short period of time, reducing the maximum bet both in online games and in Videolottery, where today very high bets are allowed with possible losses of thousands of euros in a few minutes."
