Italy's AAMS Prepares for the Launch of its Video Lottery Machines

On June 18th, 2009, Italy's state monopoly and gambling regulator AAMS is preparing to debut video lottery machines to upgrade their present slot machines and offer bigger payouts. AAMS stated that the latest gaming machines is ready for ministerial test and would begin with a period of experimentation and study for the brand new kit.

An AAMS spokesperson said that the plan has been goven to the ten concession holders for slot machines. The spokesperson said that they are reviewing the project with the slots concession holders. The spokesperson added that the approval of the plan will take a few weeks.

Banca IMI analyst Lorenzo Re stated that Italy's biggest gaming organization Lottomatica SPA manages 51,000 slot machines. The brand new video lottery machines will be connected to the concession holder's gaming network and substitution of the existing gaming machines would not take very long.

Re said that some machines would only need a software change. He said that it would be a change with different set of rules and new types of games. These machines would be connected to the network and offer big jackpots to players. In May 2009, slot machine bets represented forty-six percent of Italy's 4.3 billion euros or $6 billion in total wagers.

In the first 5 months, overall gaming improved by 9.5% to 21.9% billion euros, showing the sector's strength despite the financial crisis. On Lottomatica, Re stated that the organization's investment in this market is likely to increase 2009 slot machine earnings to 145 million euros, from ninety million euros in 2008.

Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Caroline Mitchell