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AT last,
Hollywood B-actress Jennifer Tilly has become known for more
than her recent star turn in Seed of Chucky. It turns out
she is one heck of a poker player, beating out 600 players
to win $158,625 in the Ladies no-limit
Texas Holdem
event at the
World Series of Poker last month.
But
representatives of online gambling interests would like you
to know that Tilly is something of an aberration in the
mostly male world of poker tournaments in Las Vegas and
Atlantic City, N.J.
According to the folks at Sportsinteraction.com, women now
outnumber men at so-called Internet casinos; they cite
industry studies that show many women prefer to double down
while sitting at home in front of a PC.
Since
the first online casino was launched in 1995, Internet
gambling has grown exponentially, with estimated revenue of
more than $6 billion a year and nearly 2,000 Web sites
offering everything from sports betting, lotteries and
blackjack to bingo. According to one industry study, 53
percent of those who gamble online rather than in casinos in
the United States were female, and the numbers — like those
of women gamblers generally — are growing.
If you
had a choice between dressing up and traveling to a casino
only to breathe in cigarette smoke, drink watered-down
cocktails and get hit on, or staying home in your bathrobe
and having the same gambling experience, which would you
choose? e-mailed Alana Sorrentino, a New York
public-relations representative of Sportsinteraction.com.
Well,
duh, said Meagan Cooper, 27, of Springfield, Pa., offered up
by Sorrentino to answer the question. Cooper readily
admitted that she prefers playing poker in her pajamas.
Sometimes when I cant sleep, I just go online and play for a
few minutes, and then go back to bed, she said. Plus, I
think for women, especially, its a good way to learn the
game.
While
she has played in Atlantic City with her girlfriends and
said she will continue to do so, Cooper said she finds that
the testosterone-laden atmosphere of poker tournaments can
be intimidating.
Its
easier to bluff when youre online. ... At these poker games,
youve got these people, men and women, wearing sunglasses,
but playing on a computer, this way, its your own form of
sunglasses.
Online
poker and other games of skill have become alternatives for
women because they dont have the same macho element, the
same level of competitiveness and people butting heads as
they do in a casino, added Anthony Munnelly, vice president
of sports and events for Sportsinteraction.com.
At his
Web site, a player downloads an application onto her
computer, installs it and creates an interface that connects
with other online tables. At that point, the player can
select how much she wants to gamble and can start to play.
The
technology has increased so much that it is now a very
smoothly run operation, Munnelly said.
All of
this comes as bad news to Diane Berlin of the
Pennsylvania-based National Coalition to Ban Legalized
Gambling, who says Internet gambling is very scary to begin
with.
Because
it is so private, you can hide your losses even more easily
than a trip to the casino or bingo hall, and people can be
in extremely deep trouble before the family has any clue as
to what is happening, she said.
For
women, in particular, the risks are great, she said, noting
studies that show men and women gamble for different
reasons.
Action
gamblers tend to be men, in search of a high by playing
games of skill like
Texas Holdem
poker,
blackjack or sports betting. Women, on the other hand, tend
to be escape gamblers, attracted to games of chance like
slot machines, video poker, lotteries or bingo, using
gambling as a way to escape depression or physical or
emotional pain.
This is
a very lonely persons activity, said Berlin of Internet
gambling, and maybe this is why many women are being lured
into it.
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