Proportion of Female Problem Gamblers Increasing – February 23rd, 2010

Women players now constitute a significant proportion of the Connecticut gambling population if an extrapolation from the state’s problem gambling statistics is made.

Martin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, told the Norwich Bulletin newspaper this week that the problem gambling gap between men and women is closing rapidly, with the latest figures to hand – from 2008 – showing that 44 percent of troubled punters are females.

Giving historical background, Steinberg revealed that in 1999, women made up a third of the problem gamblers who called the council help line.

By 2004, the percentage had grown to 38 percent, and by 2008, 44 percent of calls came from women.

Online gambling and online casinos are levelling the playing field, Steinberg said, revealing that women often have issues with slot machines and bingo, where they are almost three times more likely to have a problem with than men.