For over three million Italians, gambling has become a disease. There are 1.5 million compulsive gamblers (3% of the adult population), but another 1.4 million are at moderate risk. From 2004 to 2024, Italians gambled away €1.774 trillion — more than half the entire national debt. This disproportionate amount of money is predicted to increase by another €170 billion in 2025, totaling €475 billion in the last three years alone. Mafia organizations see an economic opportunity and devote enormous resources, handling bets, laundering money, and frequently manipulating the game. This is the snapshot caught in a dossier by the Libera association, which charts the growing link between legal gaming and criminal powers. The National Anti-Mafia Directorate and the DIA report that 147 clans invested or operated in the sector between 2010 and 2024.