<PAGE>   1
      As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 1997

                                                      Registration No. 333-_____

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           GTECH HOLDINGS CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                  Delaware                            05-0450121
         (State of incorporation)                    (IRS Employer
                                                  Identification No.)
              55 Technology Way
         West Greenwich, Rhode Island                    02817
   (Address of Principal Executive Offices)            (Zip Code)


                             1994 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)

                              --------------------

                              Cynthia A. Nebergall
                                 General Counsel
                           GTECH Holdings Corporation
                                55 Technology Way
                            West Greenwich, RI 02817
                                 (401) 392-1000
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)
                              --------------------

                                    Copy to:

                           John C. Bennett, Jr., Esq.
                           DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP
                       Philadelphia National Bank Building
                                   11th Floor
                              1345 Chestnut Street
                           Philadelphia, PA 19107-3496
<PAGE>   2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
=====================================================================================================================
    Title of Securities         Amount          Proposed Maximum       Proposed Maximum           Amount of
     to be Registered      to be Registered    Offering Price Per     Aggregate Offering     Registration Fee(1)
                                                    Share(1)               Price(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                        <C>                 <C>                    <C>                        <C>
Common Stock, par              950,000         17,250  @ $29.3750           $506,718.75            $8,344
value $0.01  per share        shares(2)        124,500 @ $26.1875         $3,260,343.70
                                               200,000 @ $25.6875         $5,137,500.00
                                               125,500 @ $28.9375         $3,631,656.20
                                               60,500  @ $27.6250         $1,671,312.50
                                               422,250 @ $31.5625        $13,327,265.00
=====================================================================================================================
</TABLE>

(1)      Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.
         In accordance with Rule 457(h) promulgated under the Securities Act of
         1993, as amended, as to shares subject to outstanding but unexercised
         options, the price and fee are computed based upon the price at which
         such options may be exercised. As to the remaining shares, the price
         and fee are computed based on $31.5625 per share, the average of the
         high and low prices of a share of Common Stock of the Registrant
         reported in the New York Stock Exchange consolidated reporting system
         on May 20, 1997. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the
         Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement also covers an
         indeterminate amount of additional shares as may become issuable under
         the 1994 Stock Option Plan in connection with share splits, share
         dividends or similar transactions.

(2)      The Registrant previously registered 850,000 shares on January 13, 1995
         and paid the registration fee in connection with such registration. The
         shares being registered hereunder represent additional shares
         authorized for issuance under the Registrant's 1994 Stock Option Plan,
         as amended in 1995 and 1996.
<PAGE>   3
         Pursuant to General Instruction E (Registration of Additional
Securities) to Form S-8, the Registrant hereby incorporates by reference the
contents of its Registration Statement on Form S-8 (Registration No. 88426)
relating to the GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, except for
the Items set forth below, which will supercede the applicable items filed with
the original Registration Statement or any amendment thereto.

ITEM 3.   INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

                  GTECH Holdings Corporation (the "Company" or "Registrant")
hereby incorporates into this Registration Statement by reference:

                  (a) the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended February 22, 1997;

                  (b) the description of the Company's Common Stock contained in
the Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") on July 6, 1992 (which Form 8-A
incorporates by reference the description of the Company's Common Stock in the
specified section of the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 No.
33-48264), including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating
such description; and

                  (c) all other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or
15(d) of the Exchange Act since May 23, 1997.

                  All reports and other documents filed by the Company pursuant
to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date
of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all of the
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all such
securities then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference
in this Registrations Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the
filing of each such report or other document.

ITEM 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

                  Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law the
("DGCL") enables a corporation in its original certificate of incorporation or
an amendment thereto to eliminate or limit the personal liability of a director
to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for a breach of the
director's fiduciary duty, except (i) for any breach of the director's duty of
loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not
in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
law, (iii) pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL (providing for liability of
directors for unlawful payment of dividends or unlawful stock purchases or
redemptions) or (iv) for any transaction from which a director derived an
improper personal benefit. The Company's Certificate of Incorporation, as
amended, contains such a limitation on the personal liability of directors.

                  Section 145 of the DGCL provides that a corporation may
indemnify any persons, including officers and directors, who were or are, or are
threatened to be made, parties to any threatened, pending or completed legal
action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or
investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by
reason of the fact that such person was an officer, director, employee or agent
of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as
an officer, director, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership,
joint venture, trust or other enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses
(including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement
actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action,
suit or proceedings, provided such person acted in good faith in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation's best interests
and, for criminal proceedings, had no reasonable cause to believe that his
conduct was unlawful. A Delaware corporation may indemnify officers and
directors in an action by or in the right of the corporation under the same
conditions, except that no indemnification is permitted without judicial
approval if the officer or director is adjudged to be liable to the corporation.
Where an officer or director is successful on the merits or otherwise in the
defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him
against the expenses that such officer or director actually and reasonably
incurred.

                  The Company's Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that the
Company shall indemnify, to the full extent permitted under Delaware law, any
person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil,
criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he is or
was a director or officer of the Company or while a director or officer of the
Company is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director or officer
of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust employee benefit plan
or other enterprise.

                  The directors and officers of the Company also are parties to
indemnification agreements with the Company providing for indemnification for
liabilities (including legal fees and other expenses) incurred in any legal
proceedings in connection with their present or past status as directors or
officers of the Company. The Company maintains directors' and officers'
liability insurance.

                  The Company, the selling shareholders and the underwriters
have agreed to indemnify each other against certain liabilities arising in
connection with the Company's initial public offering of Common Stock in July
1992 and its secondary offering of Common Stock in December 1992, November 1993
and June 1996. The selling shareholders include officers and certain directors
of the Company, and the underwriters include Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
Securities Corporation ("DLJSC"), which was a major stockholder in the Company.
The Company also has agreed to indemnify DLJ Capital Corporation (an affiliate
of DLJSC) and its affiliates against certain liabilities arising in connection
with the February 1990 acquisition of GTECH Corporation by the Company and
various related financings and refinancings.

ITEM 8.   EXHIBITS.

         Exhibit 4.1       GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, 
                           as amended.

         Exhibit 4.2       Credit Agreement dated September 15, 1994 among
                           GTECH Corporation and certain financial institutions
                           and NationsBank, as agent (incorporated by reference
                           to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q for the
                           quarter ended August 27, 1994)

         Exhibit 4.3       Amendment dated May 29, 1996 to Credit Agreement
                           among GTECH Corporation, certain financial
                           institutions and NationsBank, as agent (incorporated
                           by reference to Exhibit 4 to the Company's Form 10-Q
                           for the quarter ended May 25, 1996)

                           Miscellaneous long-term debt instruments and credit
                           facility agreements of the Company under which the
                           underlying authorized debt is equal to or less than
                           10% of the total assets of the Company and its
                           subsidiaries on a consolidated basis have not been
                           filed as exhibits to this Registration Statement. The
                           Company agrees to furnish to the Commission, upon
                           request, copies of any such unfiled instruments.

         Exhibit 5         Opinion of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, counsel to 
                           the Registrant

                                       -1-
<PAGE>   4
         Exhibit 23.1      Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

         Exhibit 23.2      Consent of Price Waterhouse

         Exhibit 23.3      Consent of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (included in 
                           Exhibit 5)

         Exhibit 24        Powers of Attorney (see signature page)


ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.


         The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:


         (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made,
a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

                  
                  (i) To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of
the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act");

                  (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent
post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration
statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of
securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not
exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of
the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in
the aggregate, the changes in value and price represent no more than a 20%
change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of
Registration Fee" Table in the effective registration statement;


                  (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or
any material change to such information in the registration statement.

                  Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of
this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a
post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports
filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section
13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated
by reference in the registration statement.

         (2) That, for purposes of determining liability under the Securities
Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of the
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.

         (3) To remove from the registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         (4) That, for purposes of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's Annual Report pursuant to
Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by
reference in the registration statement shall be deemed a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.

                                       -2-
<PAGE>   5
         (5) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or controlling persons of
the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions or otherwise, the Registrant
has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission
such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against
such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred
or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                       -3-
<PAGE>   6
                                   SIGNATURES


         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly
authorized in the Town of West Greenwich, State of Rhode Island on May 27, 1997.


                                    GTECH HOLDINGS CORPORATION


                                    By:/s/ William Y. O'Connor
                                       ----------------------------------------
                                       William Y. O'Connor
                                       President and Chief Operating Officer

                                       -4-
<PAGE>   7
                                   SIGNATURES


         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Guy B. Snowden, Victor Markowicz and
William Y. O'Connor, or any one of them acting alone, his true and lawful
attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and revocation, for
him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capabilities, to sign any
and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to the Registration
Statement referred to above and to file the same with all exhibits thereto and
other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do
in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and
agents, or his or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to
be done by virtue thereof.


         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
   Signatures                               Title                              Date
   ----------                               -----                              ----
<S>                                  <C>                                     <C> 
/s/ Guy B. Snowden                   Chairman of the Board and Chief        May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Executive Officer
Guy B. Snowden                       



/s/ Thomas J. Sauser                 Senior Vice President, Chief           May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Financial Officer and Treasurer
Thomas J. Sauser                     


/s/ Robert J. Plourde                Vice President and Corporate           May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Controller
Robert J. Plourde                    
(Principal Accounting Officer)


/s/ Victor Markowicz                 Founding Director                      May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Victor Markowicz


/s/ Robert M. Dewey, Jr.             Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Robert M. Dewey, Jr.


/s/ Burnett W. Donoho                Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Burnett W. Donoho


/s/ Carl H. Freyer                   Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Carl H. Freyer


/s/ The Rt. Hon. Lord Moore          Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
The Rt. Hon. Lord Moore
</TABLE>

                                       -5-
<PAGE>   8
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
   Signatures                               Title                              Date
   ----------                               -----                              ----
<S>                                  <C>                                     <C>        
/s/ William Y. O'Connor              President, Chief Operating Officer     May 27, 1997
----------------------------         and Director
William Y. O'Connor                  


                                                                            May 27, 1997
/s/ Anthony Ruys                      Director
----------------------------
Anthony Ruys



* by -----------------------
         Attorney-In-Fact
</TABLE>

                                       -6-
<PAGE>   9
                          INDEX TO EXHIBITS FILED WITH
                           THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Exhibit


4.1   GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, as amended.

5     Opinion of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

23.1  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.2  Consent of Price Waterhouse

24    Powers of Attorney (see signature page)
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 22203}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "GTECH HOLDINGS CORP", "cik": "0000857323", "assigned-sic": "7370", "irs-number": "050450121", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "0223"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-27835", "film-number": "97614422"}, "business-address": {"street1": "55 TECNOLOGY WAY", "city": "WEST GREENWICH", "state": "RI", "zip": "02817", "phone": "4013921000"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "55 TECHNOLOGY WAY", "street2": "LEGAL DEPARTMENT", "city": "WEST GREENWICH", "state": "RI", "zip": "02817"}}
1
      As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 1997

                                                      Registration No. 333-_____

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           GTECH HOLDINGS CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                  Delaware                            05-0450121
         (State of incorporation)                    (IRS Employer
                                                  Identification No.)
              55 Technology Way
         West Greenwich, Rhode Island                    02817
   (Address of Principal Executive Offices)            (Zip Code)

                             1994 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)

                              --------------------

                              Cynthia A. Nebergall
                                 General Counsel
                           GTECH Holdings Corporation
                                55 Technology Way
                            West Greenwich, RI 02817
                                 (401) 392-1000
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)
                              --------------------

                                    Copy to:

                           John C. Bennett, Jr., Esq.
                           DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP
                       Philadelphia National Bank Building
                                   11th Floor
                              1345 Chestnut Street
                           Philadelphia, PA 19107-3496
2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
=====================================================================================================================
    Title of Securities         Amount          Proposed Maximum       Proposed Maximum           Amount of
     to be Registered      to be Registered    Offering Price Per     Aggregate Offering     Registration Fee(1)
                                                    Share(1)               Price(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, par              950,000         17,250  @ $29.3750           $506,718.75            $8,344
value $0.01  per share        shares(2)        124,500 @ $26.1875         $3,260,343.70
                                               200,000 @ $25.6875         $5,137,500.00
                                               125,500 @ $28.9375         $3,631,656.20
                                               60,500  @ $27.6250         $1,671,312.50
                                               422,250 @ $31.5625        $13,327,265.00
=====================================================================================================================
(1)      Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.
         In accordance with Rule 457(h) promulgated under the Securities Act of
         1993, as amended, as to shares subject to outstanding but unexercised
         options, the price and fee are computed based upon the price at which
         such options may be exercised. As to the remaining shares, the price
         and fee are computed based on $31.5625 per share, the average of the
         high and low prices of a share of Common Stock of the Registrant
         reported in the New York Stock Exchange consolidated reporting system
         on May 20, 1997. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the
         Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement also covers an
         indeterminate amount of additional shares as may become issuable under
         the 1994 Stock Option Plan in connection with share splits, share
         dividends or similar transactions.

(2)      The Registrant previously registered 850,000 shares on January 13, 1995
         and paid the registration fee in connection with such registration. The
         shares being registered hereunder represent additional shares
         authorized for issuance under the Registrant's 1994 Stock Option Plan,
         as amended in 1995 and 1996.
3
         Pursuant to General Instruction E (Registration of Additional
Securities) to Form S-8, the Registrant hereby incorporates by reference the
contents of its Registration Statement on Form S-8 (Registration No. 88426)
relating to the GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, except for
the Items set forth below, which will supercede the applicable items filed with
the original Registration Statement or any amendment thereto.

ITEM 3.   INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

                  GTECH Holdings Corporation (the "Company" or "Registrant")
hereby incorporates into this Registration Statement by reference:

                  (a) the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended February 22, 1997;

                  (b) the description of the Company's Common Stock contained in
the Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") on July 6, 1992 (which Form 8-A
incorporates by reference the description of the Company's Common Stock in the
specified section of the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 No.
33-48264), including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating
such description; and

                  (c) all other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or
15(d) of the Exchange Act since May 23, 1997.

                  All reports and other documents filed by the Company pursuant
to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date
of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all of the
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all such
securities then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference
in this Registrations Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the
filing of each such report or other document.

ITEM 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

                  Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law the
("DGCL") enables a corporation in its original certificate of incorporation or
an amendment thereto to eliminate or limit the personal liability of a director
to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for a breach of the
director's fiduciary duty, except (i) for any breach of the director's duty of
loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not
in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
law, (iii) pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL (providing for liability of
directors for unlawful payment of dividends or unlawful stock purchases or
redemptions) or (iv) for any transaction from which a director derived an
improper personal benefit. The Company's Certificate of Incorporation, as
amended, contains such a limitation on the personal liability of directors.

                  Section 145 of the DGCL provides that a corporation may
indemnify any persons, including officers and directors, who were or are, or are
threatened to be made, parties to any threatened, pending or completed legal
action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or
investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by
reason of the fact that such person was an officer, director, employee or agent
of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as
an officer, director, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership,
joint venture, trust or other enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses
(including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement
actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action,
suit or proceedings, provided such person acted in good faith in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation's best interests
and, for criminal proceedings, had no reasonable cause to believe that his
conduct was unlawful. A Delaware corporation may indemnify officers and
directors in an action by or in the right of the corporation under the same
conditions, except that no indemnification is permitted without judicial
approval if the officer or director is adjudged to be liable to the corporation.
Where an officer or director is successful on the merits or otherwise in the
defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him
against the expenses that such officer or director actually and reasonably
incurred.

                  The Company's Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that the
Company shall indemnify, to the full extent permitted under Delaware law, any
person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil,
criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he is or
was a director or officer of the Company or while a director or officer of the
Company is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director or officer
of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust employee benefit plan
or other enterprise.

                  The directors and officers of the Company also are parties to
indemnification agreements with the Company providing for indemnification for
liabilities (including legal fees and other expenses) incurred in any legal
proceedings in connection with their present or past status as directors or
officers of the Company. The Company maintains directors' and officers'
liability insurance.

                  The Company, the selling shareholders and the underwriters
have agreed to indemnify each other against certain liabilities arising in
connection with the Company's initial public offering of Common Stock in July
1992 and its secondary offering of Common Stock in December 1992, November 1993
and June 1996. The selling shareholders include officers and certain directors
of the Company, and the underwriters include Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
Securities Corporation ("DLJSC"), which was a major stockholder in the Company.
The Company also has agreed to indemnify DLJ Capital Corporation (an affiliate
of DLJSC) and its affiliates against certain liabilities arising in connection
with the February 1990 acquisition of GTECH Corporation by the Company and
various related financings and refinancings.

ITEM 8.   EXHIBITS.

         Exhibit 4.1       GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, 
                           as amended.

         Exhibit 4.2       Credit Agreement dated September 15, 1994 among
                           GTECH Corporation and certain financial institutions
                           and NationsBank, as agent (incorporated by reference
                           to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q for the
                           quarter ended August 27, 1994)

         Exhibit 4.3       Amendment dated May 29, 1996 to Credit Agreement
                           among GTECH Corporation, certain financial
                           institutions and NationsBank, as agent (incorporated
                           by reference to Exhibit 4 to the Company's Form 10-Q
                           for the quarter ended May 25, 1996)

                           Miscellaneous long-term debt instruments and credit
                           facility agreements of the Company under which the
                           underlying authorized debt is equal to or less than
                           10% of the total assets of the Company and its
                           subsidiaries on a consolidated basis have not been
                           filed as exhibits to this Registration Statement. The
                           Company agrees to furnish to the Commission, upon
                           request, copies of any such unfiled instruments.

         Exhibit 5         Opinion of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, counsel to 
                           the Registrant

                                       -1-
4
         Exhibit 23.1      Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

         Exhibit 23.2      Consent of Price Waterhouse

         Exhibit 23.3      Consent of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (included in 
                           Exhibit 5)

         Exhibit 24        Powers of Attorney (see signature page)

ITEM 9.  UNDERTAKINGS.

         The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

         (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made,
a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

                  
                  (i) To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of
the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act");

                  (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent
post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration
statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of
securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not
exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of
the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in
the aggregate, the changes in value and price represent no more than a 20%
change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of
Registration Fee" Table in the effective registration statement;

                  (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or
any material change to such information in the registration statement.

                  Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of
this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a
post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports
filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section
13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated
by reference in the registration statement.

         (2) That, for purposes of determining liability under the Securities
Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of the
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.

         (3) To remove from the registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         (4) That, for purposes of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's Annual Report pursuant to
Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by
reference in the registration statement shall be deemed a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.

                                       -2-
5
         (5) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or controlling persons of
the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions or otherwise, the Registrant
has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission
such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against
such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred
or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                       -3-
6
                                   SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly
authorized in the Town of West Greenwich, State of Rhode Island on May 27, 1997.

                                    GTECH HOLDINGS CORPORATION

                                    By:/s/ William Y. O'Connor
                                       ----------------------------------------
                                       William Y. O'Connor
                                       President and Chief Operating Officer

                                       -4-
7
                                   SIGNATURES

         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Guy B. Snowden, Victor Markowicz and
William Y. O'Connor, or any one of them acting alone, his true and lawful
attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and revocation, for
him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capabilities, to sign any
and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to the Registration
Statement referred to above and to file the same with all exhibits thereto and
other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do
in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and
agents, or his or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to
be done by virtue thereof.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signatures                               Title                              Date
   ----------                               -----                              ----
/s/ Guy B. Snowden                   Chairman of the Board and Chief        May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Executive Officer
Guy B. Snowden                       

/s/ Thomas J. Sauser                 Senior Vice President, Chief           May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Financial Officer and Treasurer
Thomas J. Sauser                     

/s/ Robert J. Plourde                Vice President and Corporate           May 27, 1997
----------------------------         Controller
Robert J. Plourde                    
(Principal Accounting Officer)

/s/ Victor Markowicz                 Founding Director                      May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Victor Markowicz

/s/ Robert M. Dewey, Jr.             Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Robert M. Dewey, Jr.

/s/ Burnett W. Donoho                Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Burnett W. Donoho

/s/ Carl H. Freyer                   Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
Carl H. Freyer

/s/ The Rt. Hon. Lord Moore          Director                               May 27, 1997
----------------------------
The Rt. Hon. Lord Moore
-5-
8
Signatures                               Title                              Date
   ----------                               -----                              ----
/s/ William Y. O'Connor              President, Chief Operating Officer     May 27, 1997
----------------------------         and Director
William Y. O'Connor                  

                                                                            May 27, 1997
/s/ Anthony Ruys                      Director
----------------------------
Anthony Ruys

* by -----------------------
         Attorney-In-Fact
-6-
9
                          INDEX TO EXHIBITS FILED WITH
                           THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Exhibit

4.1   GTECH Holdings Corporation 1994 Stock Option Plan, as amended.

5     Opinion of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

23.1  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.2  Consent of Price Waterhouse

24    Powers of Attorney (see signature page)