Do Gambling Sites Favor Men Over Women?

The stereotypical idea of a gambler from Canada is of a man who is spending his time (and money) in a casino at the poker table with an attractive female croupier wearing a sexy cocktail dress. But how about online casinos? Is it still mainly men who they cater to or are they trying to attract the fairer gender as well? Have things changed in the world of gambling in recent years and in which direction the industry is going?

We have discussed gambling demographics with Canadian casino expert Daniel Bennet. Daniel knows the Canadian online gaming business inside and out and you can read more about him.

Male vs female gambling

The reason why gambling is more of a male pastime than a female one is the nature of it. It is competitive and the high stakes come with an adrenaline rush. For the same reason extreme sports, like mountain-biking and competitive sports, like football also have more male participants. Financial competition is again more often a macho thing and you will find more successful male stock traders than female ones. In general, women are more often the caretakers and most of them don’t like high risks and danger.

Gambling gender statistics

Not surprisingly gambling is predominantly a male activity, however, in the past decade more and more women have signed up on online gambling websites. Gambling online in Canada is very popular and over 19 million Canadians gamble regularly. Unfortunately, about 600.000 of these people are problem gamblers. If you are looking for new online casinos to play at, make sure you select a reputable one that takes responsible gaming seriously.

Some of the key points in general for the gender differences in gambling are:

• The amount of money men spend on gambling activities is larger than what women tend to spend.
• Men spend more time gambling than women.
• Men prefer to play table games and there are more male sports bettors.
• Women prefer to play slot machine games and bingo.
• Women often spend time with free games to practice and out of boredom.
• Men participate more in live-dealer games (with attractive hostesses).
• There are considerably more male problem gamblers than female ones.
• Women use their smartphones for gambling more than men.

Casinos that attract women

Women, of course, make up 50% of the population so any company trying to sell their products or services would miss out if they only catered for men. The way something is advertised for women differs from the ones that are targetting men. Since it is difficult to make a website to be attractive to both men and women at the same time, casinos try to target just one gender. The same corporation can have so-called white labels, such as different casino brands targeted at a different audience. 

Casinos websites that cater to woman gambling often use lighter and brighter colours or they can have specific themes such as popular series, like Sex and the City. Often, they offer special promotions where the players can win prizes such as designer handbags or perfumes. 

Women tend to like self-care themes like “Champagne and bubble bath” while to men a straightforward action vibe would do the trick.

Females like a different approach to the actual games as well. They are more social than men and they like to interact with each other and make new friends. Games that come with a chatroom are more popular for women and casinos catering for women tend to concentrate on offering these. 

When it comes to female gambling, the attitudes are different as well. Whereas men tend to decide to play for a certain amount of hours without a problem, women often just play for 5 minutes here and there when they have the time for a game. Women often feel ashamed of gambling and try to hide it from their husbands or other family members. Secret gambling is therefore more often a female phenomenon.

female gambling

Conclusion

In the past decades, gambling demographics have changed significantly. Nowadays women gamble almost as often as men but there are differences in their game choices, the amount of money and time they spend on gambling and the motivations behind gambling.