Les lieux du gambling. Une analyse ethno-sémiotique

The spread of gambling, with its associated forms of “addiction”, constitutes a widespread problem in Western society in general, and particularly in Italy, where the spaces and modes of gambling have become increasingly open and accessible. The research we present concerns the spatial organization of gambling rooms with slot machines in a specific territorial setting, Tuscany. Through an ethnosemiotic approach, which blends observation of gambling places and practices with interviews with the players themselves, the research tries to show how the spatial configuration of gambling places constitutes a relevant variable in the constitution of what can be defined as the gambler’s “career”, in which a purely playful and relatively detached approach progressively translates into a totalizing passion. Indeed, the organization of space influences gambling experiences and is in turn shaped by the expectations of players who, after an initial contact with the machines allowed by the fall of the boundaries in which gambling was relegated, tend to seek spaces that allow them to immerse themselves in the game and hide from the gaze of others. For if gambling is increasingly socially accepted, it is not the same for the gambler who plays “too much” assiduously.