Venice City Council Calls for Gambling Machines to be Removed

The latest reports from Italy have suggested that the Venice City Council is not happy one bit with the gambling machines placed around the city. With the slot machines in pubs, bars and pizza outlets, the council has ordered all these betting machines to be removed and also for businesses to stop installing them. The council has gone as far as calling gambling a ‘social scourge’. Let’s take a look at the story as a whole. 

Italy is a very pro-gambling country, in fact, you can find some of the best casinos in the world over there with one of the best football leagues in the world. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Italian gambling market is a prosperous one. For further reference on the Italian gambling market, feel free to browse through the latest online gambling news. 

Venice City Council Oppose ‘Social Scourge’

The city council have been very clear so far with their demands. They would like to bring an end to slot machines placed around the city and will not wait idly-by for national action on the matter. 

The city also started warranting “anti-social behavior orders”, which is a fine for a tourist banning them from entering the city ever again. So far, these bans have been dished out to over 100 tourists, for reasons such as tourist picnics, pushing scooters, sunbathing in a bikini and tying bikes to railings. 

City Councilor Simone Venturini has commented on the matter on behalf of the Venice City Council:

“We immediately started to launch a series of measures capable of counteracting this alarming proliferation and protecting the health and integrity of the most fragile people and of the family heritage,”

It is interesting how so much can happen in the space of a few days, with the city council also speaking out against another issue they appear to be having besides gambling, smoking. 

Yes, besides the proposition for gambling machines to be removed from local stores, only to be accessible in popular casinos, the Venice City Council are also planning on banning outdoor smoking. 

Here’s a few words from Mayor Brugnaro:

“I’m speaking as someone who enjoys the occasional cigar, but I always try to avoid smoking when there are lots of people around, even if I’m out in the open.”

Are you with the Venice City Council on this one or do you believe they’re taking it a bit too far? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.