Best Betting Sites in Italy

Population: 60.590.000
Active players: 15.10.000
Currency: Euro
Regulated gambling products: Fixed odds sports betting, betting exchanges, casino games, lottery, horse racing, pool betting, poker, bingo
Operator types: Licensed and unlicensed online and land-based bookmakers
Designated authority: Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM)
Status: Fully regulated

Italy is not only the birthplace of the 2006 FIFA World Cup winners Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon, but also home to the first ever organized gambling establishments. Since 2007 and the implementation of the Decree on Liberalization; Italy is also a country where all forms of gambling, including online betting, take place in a fairly liberalized environment. With the enforcement of the current legislative framework in March 2010, the online betting market got regulated. International bookmakers are allowed to operate legally under licenses issued by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM). The most popular licensed sportsbooks are Snai, Bet365 Planetwin365 and Sisal. Nevertheless, there are still many Italian bettors who prefer the non licensed international bookies; due to their greater variety of sports, higher odds and richer betting markets.

Sports betting in Italy - 5 things to know

• The legal gambling age in Italy is 18 years old
• About 1 of every 4 Italians gamble online or offline on a weekly basis
• Although betting on unlicensed sites is illegal, no legal action has been taken against players
• Players are not paying taxes on their betting winnings
• Licensed operators are subject to a 24% tax on their GGR

Best Italy betting sites

Right from the start we are presenting you the best betting sites Italy has to offer. We selected them because they have high odds and offer their interface in Italian. They also provide a wide variety of betting options.

Online betting in Italy: The gambling law framework

Up until early 2006, when the first steps towards the liberalization of the Italian online betting market took place; only the two state-backed monopoly operators, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and the National Horse Breeders Enhancement Society (UNIRE), were allowed to offer sports betting, both online and offline. All the other bookmakers were put on a blacklist and their domains were blocked by the authorities; in order to prevent players from betting on them.

However, on March 1, 2006 the government introduced the Ministerial Decree no. 111, after facing infringement proceedings by the European Union regarding the prohibition of non Italian bookmakers. So, the Italian market began welcoming foreign operators based in the EU. A year later, in 2007, the Decree on Liberalization was established and online betting was officially deemed legal. In 2009 the Italian state notified the European Commission about a series of amendments that it made to its laws, pertaining to the regulation of online gambling; but it wasn't up until March 2010 when the legislative framework, which is still valid today, was formally implemented.

According to its provisions, international bookies are able to operate in the local market; provided that they obtain a license by the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS). It is worth noting though that, with the Decree Law no. 135 of 7 August 2012, that officially came into force on December 1, 2012, the AAMS was incorporated into the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM); which remains until today the sole licensing authority and gambling regulator in Italy.

Legal Italian bookmakers

The Italian betting landscape consists of a clear licensing body (the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) and a large number of Italian betting companies that operate with a license. In terms of regulation, online operators are expected to pay a one-off fee of €200,000 along with 24% tax on their gross gaming revenue (GGR), to obtain a license (valid for a period of nine years) and operate under a .it domain. The most significant requirement though is that they must have a physical presence within the European Union or in any member state of the European Economic Area in order to get that license. Currently, the leading bookies in the Italian market are Snai, Βet365, Planetwin365 and Sisal; with Eurobet, Lottomatica and Betaland also amounting for a large share.

Bookmakers non AAMS

The abundance of betting sites options and the fact that their winnings are non-taxable, confirm that Italians are among the luckiest bettors when it comes to freedom of choice. Although the current legislation states that betting on non AAMS bookies is illegal and can lead to heavy fines, no legal action has ever been taken towards players. Furthermore, despite the fact that the government banned almost all gambling-related advertising with the Dignity Decree of January 1, 2019, in an attempt to limit non licensed bookies’ influence within the Italian market; punters keep on placing their bets on them. The most popular Italian betting sites that operate without a license are LSbet Italia, Betrebels Italia and Betwinner Italia. All three offer the Italian language, along with very competitive odds and a wide selection of betting markets on Serie A matches.

Top bookmakers that exited the Italian market

Some international bookies that used to operate in the Italian market decided to opt out and no longer accept local bettors. The most notable examples of such bookmakers are:

Paddy Power Italy
In December 2017 Paddy Power ceased its operations within the Italian gambling market and therefore stopped accepting players that reside in Italy. Two months prior to that, and following the merger with Betfair, it invited all its players to keep on betting on Betfair Italia using the same credentials.

1xBet Italia
Serie A and 1XBet had initially signed a sponsorship deal that would make the popular bookmaker the league’s exclusive international partner. Nonetheless, due to the fact that 1XBet is among the operators that don’t hold a license issued by ADM; the deal was suspended and the bookie stopped accepting Italian bettors until it gets licensed.

Betsson Italia
If you try to access Betsson’s website you will realize that you will be redirected to Starcasino.it. This happens because Betsson stopped accepting Italian punters and invites them to play at Starcasino that has a legal ADM license.

How to bet in Italy: Deposits and withdrawals

The most common deposit method is PostePay. This reloadable prepaid card is being issued by Poste Italiane, the Italian postal service provider, and allows bettors to deposit funds into their accounts instantly and even withdraw their winnings. Other than that, punters can utilize all the popular international payment methods in order to make deposits; such as credit or debit card, direct bank transfer and e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller and Ecopayz. In terms of cryptocurrencies, most Italy bookmakers do not offer this option due to its low demand from players.

The future of betting in Italy

The Italian government is planning to reduce the number of online betting licenses issued by ADM to 50 by the year 2023, in an attempt to control better the local betting landscape. Moreover, operators will have to pay €2m in order to obtain a license, the GGR tax rate will rise and the application process will begin by 2022 at the latest. As if that weren’t enough, the blanket ban on gambling advertising isn't projected to end anytime soon. According to the aforementioned plans of the Italian administration, it seems highly likely that the liberal approach it kept for all these years, in terms of regulating the online gaming market, will soon give way to a more strict strategy. Thus, more and more players will turn on non AAMS bookmakers.

Complete list of bookmakers in Italy