By Alvise Armellini

PISA, Italy (Reuters) -When Luciano walked into an anti-addiction clinic in the central Italian city of Pisa, the only thing he had not lost to years of gambling were the clothes he was wearing. Everything else – family homes, savings, his dignity – was gone.

“I devoted myself to casinos, horses, everything. Basically, I toured all the casinos in Europe; I spent all my assets, I gambled them, I gambled everything away in those places,” the 69-year-old retired railway worker told Reuters.

Luciano’s story exemplifies some of the darker realities behind Italy’s emergence as Europe’s largest gambling market, with the spread of online and smartphone betting making it ever easier to place wagers.

The growth of Italy’s gambling industry has outpaced Britain, Germany, and F

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