Who knows what Gigi D’Alessio, a true Neapolitan, must have thought when at Maurizio’s banquet in Via Condotti he saw the Italian Lottery ticket passed three times between two red horns for good luck. He who certainly knows something about propitiatory rites.
Italy lottery 2025-2026
But, on the other hand, Maurizio’s stall in via Condotti, in the heart of Roman shopping, is now famous. For 25 years he has been selling lottery tickets, a traditional moment that unites millions of Italians. And in recent days he has seen a “boom” in sales, as the trader told Agipronews: “I do it this way because people like it and it attracts people.”
The banquet in via Condotti
Maurizio’s is one of the street stalls that populate the area of the historic centre, between via Condotti and via del Corso. Ahead of the draw, on January 6, 2026, many are buying tickets hoping for a stroke of luck: “Sales are going well this year, as in 2024” confirms the seller. The best time is after Christmas “especially at the weekend”. So much so that, a few days ago, Maurizio sold 800 tickets in one day.
“People buy because of an emotional bond”
“When I started – he continues – there were still Liras. Now it is a tradition that resists among many other new forms of gaming, this is the only major lottery left. Many people buy the ticket out of an emotional bond, not because they really hope to win”. The peak is expected just before the draw, which will be followed live on television on Rai Uno during a special episode of “Affari Tuoi”.
Even VIPs try their luck
In 25 years of his career, some VIPs also showed up at Maurizio’s banquet. As we said at the beginning, the singer Gigi D’Alessio was there recently, but in the past also Valeria Marini and Martufello.
Sales will grow in 2025
In the meantime, the first official data on sales for 2025 are emerging. As Agripronews reports, at the moment the tickets sold are close to 9.5 million, an increase compared to the previous two years: they were 6.7 in 2023 and 8.6 in 2024.
Since 2002 over 30 million uncollected
Despite the great success and the possibility of collecting some money, there are still many people who forget to collect in case of winning: from 2024 to today over 1.2 million euros in final prizes have not been collected, a figure to which 130 thousand euros in daily prizes must be added. If we add it up from 2002 to today, we arrive at 32 million euros left in the state coffers. A striking case occurred way back in 2008: the five million euro first prize was never collected.
The State, from this point of view, always wins. In 2024 it collected 17.7 million euros in profit through tax revenues, a growth of 30.4% compared to 2023 as announced by the Customs and Monopolies Agency.
