Ladies night: the growing number of female casino fans

Casinos have always been seen as a bit of a male preserve. Smoke-filled rooms, whisky and lots of testosterone flying about – not always in equal measure – can be a little off-putting to the female gambler. But times are changing and casino games are becoming increasingly popular with women.

The social casino market was worth $2 billion last year and a fairly large chunk of that is coming from female players, says a new report from IGT that shows women accounted for a third of social casino gaming in 2013.

Poker is the game of choice for women, according to the stats, with female players in Hawaii spending almost 6.5 hours a month on games like Texas Hold ‘Em. While men still make up the majority of poker players, there was a 22 per cent increase in female players in 2013 over the previous year.

Poker is appealing to broader audiences both online and on casino floors, says John Clelland, vice president of global marketing at IGT Interactive Group.

“Poker is traditionally thought of as a male-dominated game but our data proves that female poker players are on the rise in social casinos,” he adds.

Whilst these online games are a laugh, there is no match for throwing down some chips at a real poker table. Certainly there’s been a lot more interest recently from women wanting to hire poker games for events. Again there is no reason to conform to stereotype – Texas Hold ‘Em is just as fun for a hen party as a stag night. Why not ditch the butler in the buff and go for something a little less cringe worthy? Instead the focus can be on the croupier and the hands being dealt. And with him there – let’s assume that at the very least a male croupier is a must for a hen do – even total novices can enjoy themselves. The croupier can give your party a rundown of the rules and make sure there’s no cheating going. Instead of money you could always bet drinks or, to spice things up a bit, dares.

 

If you’re arranging a large hen do, a number of fun casino games could work well – why not opt for a roulette wheel and blackjack table as well? One arm bandits are also really good fun and will make sure you’re evening gets off to the right start.