The world of gambling has been alien to women since ancient times. This world has always been dominated by men for 4,500 years of known history. Sometimes women were even bets in the game, but women playing were a rarity.
Nowadays, according to researchers,
- 51% of the world’s population participates in some form of gambling every year, and online gambling is increasing by an average of 23% per year.
- The participation of women in live dealer casinos is also growing rapidly. Of course, there are no specific games for women in the casino, but what do women prefer? Casino statistics say they spend more time playing bingo, slots and, surprisingly, also online poker.
Why do women gamble?
There is a fundamental difference in the views of men and women on gambling. The difference in opinion is a consequence of the difference in the perception of gambling between men and women.
So, if you ask a woman to describe a visit to a casino, most likely she will begin to talk about the atmosphere of the casino, about the people she met there, about her feelings and emotions about this.
If a man starts describing the casino, then you will hear a completely different story: about how he got lucky at roulette, or got caught by a greedy slot machine, or about what cards he got in blackjack – and always his story will revolve around money won or lost.
There is an opinion that gambling for women is a means of escaping from everyday life, and also that they prefer games with less action and creativity. As a rule, women prefer to enjoy the game when they are financially and personally independent. Women go to casinos to have a good time, they don’t care about small things like winning and losing – they spend their time as if they are on vacation and enjoy every minute of their stay at the casino.
If you try to answer the question, what is the main reason for women to gamble, then it is impossible to choose one, there are at least three of them:
- First, gambling is a very good way to escape from problems. Women can gamble carelessly and not bother about who looked at them and how or who thought about them and what.
- Secondly, gambling is an excellent source of entertainment and pleasure for accomplished and wealthy ladies.
- Thirdly, some women gamble to get rich or improve their financial situation.
Based on these three reasons, we can conclude that women have good enough and quite reasonable reasons to gamble.
Bingo and women
Let’s start with Bingo. This is an old game that has a history dating back to 1530 and has since gained popularity around the world. In principle, bingo is considered a women’s game, and in fact it is. There are over 100 million bingo players worldwide, of which 70% are women. According to surveys conducted in the UK, 25% of respondents play twice a week or more. So why do women love bingo so much?
The reason lies in the social aspect of bingo – both in land-based casinos and online. Unlike men, women don’t play for the thrill. They love to socialize and bingo is without a doubt the most social form of gambling. In online bingo, chat functionality is of great importance, so that the player can have fun and play at the same time.
It’s almost like a bingo hall in a casino where you can both chat and play. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that online bingo is such a huge success. Bingo has always been a popular social game and now it has deservedly achieved such popularity online. Skill games like poker and blackjack have always been more popular with men due to their addictive nature. Women, on the other hand, love bingo, as it is a simple game that requires less of their attention, which makes this game more suitable for social interaction.
Slot machines through the eyes of women
We all know that men and women are very different creatures and this is also true of their gaming preferences. If we take into account the psychological aspects of gambling, then men in games seek to satisfy their desire for thrills, they must dominate their opponents. And women prefer games based on luck, and therefore they are more attracted to bingo and slot machines.
In addition, slots attract women with low stakes, because they do not want big winnings, but just entertainment, to enjoy the game. Slot machines and bingo is the most cost effective form of gambling and this is what attracts women. It is games with low stakes that are very popular among female players.
Online poker for women
Before the advent of online gambling, poker could only be played in land-based casinos and poker rooms. And such establishments are not the most hospitable places for women. Poker was considered a truly masculine game, if a woman appeared at the table, then she most often became the object of ridicule and disparaging remarks. But online poker has protected women from snide remarks and insults. Online poker is no longer a male-dominated game.
Recently, thanks to the communication opportunities provided by the Internet, the situation has changed. Women are starting to compete with men in online casinos. Statistics say that currently the percentage of female players in different online poker rooms ranges from 30% to 60%. Thanks to online qualifiers, in particular the World Series of Poker, women began to master offline tournaments as well. In recent years, the poker world has produced many female winners such as Annie Duke and Victoria Coren, Liv Boeree and Vanessa Selbst.
How has the Internet affected women in gambling?
Before the advent of the Internet in land-based casinos, the distribution of games seemed simple and straightforward:
- women played simple low-stakes games of chance such as slots and bingo;
- men preferred to play complex board games with higher stakes.
- However, in online games, these boundaries are blurring, and the number of female players online is growing very rapidly. The advent of the Internet has changed everything, and the world of gambling is no exception.
The accessibility of online gaming means that women, who used to be too embarrassed to sit at a poker or blackjack table with men and endure their disparaging looks, are now free to play in complete anonymity. This has yielded interesting results: while women in land-based casinos prefer to play slot machines or bingo, data from online casinos has shown that many games now have a 50/50 gender split.
