Italy’s land-based gamblers didn’t report any significant increase in online activity during the country’s lengthy pandemic lockdown period, according to a new study.
The study by the Pisan Clinical Physiology Institute of the National Research Council queried nearly 4k individuals in a six-week period spanning April-May regarding their gambling activity during the country’s prolonged COVID-19 lockdown, during which most land-based venues were forced to temporarily shut their doors.
Overall, just 3.6% of respondents said they’d gambled at a land-based venue during the period in question, mainly via lottery products at tobacconists, while 3.7% reported engaging in some form of online gambling. Of those who’d engaged in land-based gambling over the past 12 months, 12% continued to gamble via land while 10.3% gambled online.
Over one-third (35.4%) of respondents decreased their physical play during the lockdown and 22.8% halted land-based gambling altogether, while an enterprising 13.9% somehow increased their activity. Scratch cards were the overwhelming favorite activity, enjoyed by 72.5% of land-based gamblers.