* May wagers 4.342 billion euros
* May scratch cards, Lotto down vs yr earlier
* May sports betting, online poker up vs yr earlier
(Adds details, background, shares)
MILAN, June 10 (Reuters) - Wagers in Italy rose 9.5 percent
in the first five months of the year to 22 billion euros ($31.04
billion), state gambling monopoly AAMS said on Wednesday.
Total wagers in May, including slot machines, scratch and
win cards, sports betting and lotteries, were 4.342 billion
euros, it said. AAMS did not give a comparative figure, but May
2008 wagers were 3.913 billion euros, according to the Agipro
news agency.
In May 2009 scratch card and lotto wagers were down year on
year, while sports betting and online poker were higher.
Gaming has remained resilient in the economic downturn with
Italian gambling company Lottomatica SpA (LTO.MI) posting higher
first-quarter results. [ID:nLS819897]
Two-thirds of the rise Lottomatica expects in full-year
earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
will come from its Italian activities, it has said.
Lottomatica holds the concessions for Italy's Lotto game and
Gratta & Vinci scratch cards. It also has activities in sports
betting and online poker.
Rival SNAI SpA (SNAI.MI) is active in sports betting and
says it runs Italy's largest horse betting network.
At 1153 GMT, Lottomatica shares were down 1.65 percent to
15.53 and Snia was up 0.7 percent to 3.33. Milan's FTSE MIB
index was up 1.9 percent at 20,453 points.
Table of Italian gambling (millions of euros):
May09 Apr09 May08
Slot machines 2,004 2,014 1,784
Scratch cards 741 889 790
Lotto 479 449 539
Sports betting 420 418 295
Horserace betting 172 183 218
Superenalotto 206 196 156
Online poker 200 188 nil
Bingo 120 105 131
Total 4,342 4,442 3,913
Note - 2009 data supplied by AAMS; 2008 by Agipro News
(Writing by Nigel Tutt; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
($1=.7087 Euro)
