UPDATE 1-Italy 10-mth gaming wagers up 13 pct

Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:21am EST

* October gaming wagers 4.67 bln euros

* Scratch cards, Lotto games stable vs September

* Lottomatica shares down 1.59 pct

(Adds details, shares)

MILAN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Italy gaming wagers rose 13.15 percent in the first 10 months, with Lottomatica SpA (LTO.MI) scratch card and Lotto game wagers in October flat compared with the month before, regulator AAMS said on Friday.

Wagers over the 10-month period were 44 billion euros, including 4.672 billion euros ($6.95 billion) in October, a 6 percent month-on-month rise, AAMS said in a statement without detailed year-earlier data.

October scratch-and-win card wagers were 745 million euros, in line with September, and Lotto bets were 453 million euros, slightly higher than in September. Lottomatica holds the national concession for the games.

Unlisted Sisal SpA's SuperEnalotto and Win-for-Life games were up 46 percent to a combined 460 million euros in October from the month before.

Lottomatica told analysts this week that it would launch a Win-for-Life game early next year to counter loss of scratchcard market share, an analyst said. Sisal's offers a top prize payment each week for 20 years.

"(Sisal's) Win-for-Life game is taking a bit from scratch and win cards in the lower end, the one or two euros tickets. Lottomatica has said it will launch Win-for-Life to get back market share," he said.

At 1500 GMT Lottomatica shares were down 1.59 percent at 14.24 euros while bookmaker Snai SpA was up 0.94 euros. ($1=.6722 Euro) (Writing by Nigel Tutt; editing by Simon Jessop)

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