With a record 119 million euros (near $160 million) jackpot at stake in Italy’s state lottery, millions have been gripped by lotto fever.
Neophytes do it. Financially pinched town councils do it. Even people who usually shun gambling as a cunning ruse for the state to raise taxes do it.
“It’s become a bit of a mad house,” said Paolo Valli, owner of the neighborhood Bar del Pino in southern Rome, where the number of wagers has tripled in the past month for the SuperEnalotto, which has not registered a winning six-number combination since January.
Although the Italian capital is emptying out, as it does every summer, draw days — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — have been attracting small crowds to Mr. Valli’s bar. “People complain that the jackpot is too high, and that people are spending too much, but then they come in and play,” he said with a shrug.
The economic crisis and growing unemployment seem only to have fueled dreams of instant wealth.
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