Fascinating Male Vs. Female Gambling Statistics in 2024

Gambling has swept over societies since the beginning of time. However, research suggests men and women do it for different reasons. 

Men enjoy sports betting because of the strategizing and risks involved–at least 46% say that. 

On the other hand, women prefer being entertained and social by playing casino games such as solitaire (45.1%) and word games (48%). 

Know more about the statistics behind male vs female gambling, the betting gender distribution, population, activity type, and level of influence through the statistics below. 

Highlights of the Article

• American and French men are more affected by gambling problems than women.  
• 25% of British men lead the betting scene in the UK.
• About 30% of men place bets during live games over 11% of women. 
• Men dominate the e-sports betting scene by a 3% difference from women. 
• The average gambling debt for men is $40,000-$75,000 higher than for women’s. 
• 16% of British men know more about gambling management tools than 14% of women. 
• 6% of British men self-exclude to manage to gamble over 4% of women. 
• Gambling ads influence 46% of men over 42% of women.
• Gambling social media posts mainly influence 56% of women, more than 50% of men. 
• Women outnumber men by 3% for the count of daily gamblers worldwide.

What Percentage of Gamblers are Male and Female?

Men gamble more than women. About 64% of the gambling population are men, and only 36% are women. 

In Finland, both men and women showed increasing participation between 2007 and 2015. About 6.4% of women and 21.2% of men engaged in more than five types of gambling in 2007. 

Women’s participation increased to 7.3% by 2015, and about 23.8% of men now gambled–confirming the presence of both genders in the gambling community. 

Dive into the flashy world of gambling and see how it differs for men and women, its prevalence, and the gender’s preferred gambling types through the statistics below. 

Gambling Statistics: Male or Female–Who Bets More?

It’s no secret that gender disparity is a point of interest across many fields. The gambling industry is no different. 

This section focuses on gambling’s impact according to the genders’ gambling type, frequency, and disposition to problematic gambling. 

1. Around 69% of American men gamble, twice as much as American women gamblers.

(National Library of Medicine) 

Men (69%) gamble twice as much as women (36%) in the United States. This statistic may be due to their different tendencies in coping with impulsiveness and risk-taking. 

Researchers found that men are likelier to make impulsive decisions and take risks more than women– making it more difficult for them to stop gambling than for women. 

2. Gambling problems affect 20% of men and 7.8% of women in the US and France. 

(National Library of Medicine, University of Sydney) 

Gambling is fun, but it can cause disruptions to daily life when done excessively – especially with finances.

The National Library of Medicine found that men in American universities were 3x likelier to develop an addiction than women, at 20% over 7.8%.

At the same time, the University of Sydney confirmed that 5.1% of men and 2.3% of women in France were prone to gambling problems. 

Similar findings across different locations increase the likelihood of this statistic being a world-scale assumption. 

3. The UK betting scene is dominated by 25% of men over 17% of women. 

(UK Gambling Commission) 

Statistics found an increase in the use of online gambling for both genders in the UK– with a higher usage percentage for men. Britons’ use of online gambling platforms increased from 15% in 2015 to 21% in 2019. 

When looking closer, men (25%) engaged with online betting more than women (17%). Online bettors are likelier to engage in gambling in the following places. 

• About 95% of online gamblers place bets at home. 
• About 15% of online bettors gamble while working. 
• About 12% of them engage in gambling during their commute. 
• About 7% of bettors gamble in a club or a pub.
• Only about 4% place bets onsite or in sports venues. 

4. 30% of men favored in-play betting over 11% of women.

(UK Gambling Commission, Casino Org) 

While participation with in-play or live betting has decreased from 25% to 21% from 2015 to 2019, men’s favor for this type of gambling has been consistent throughout the years. 

In contrast, Bingo – a type of live betting game – won the favor of women aged 30 to 50 by a 70-80% landslide.

In-play betting is a predominantly onsite activity but rose to popularity through online betting – showing potential for further growth. 

5. eSports betting is more common in 8% of men than in 5% of women.  

(UK Gambling Commission, Gambling Insider) 

Online gambling gave way to eSports platforms. Competitive video game playing is more famous among men (8%) in the UK than women (5%). 

The demographic also gambled in-game items or money following the gender distribution below. 

Data also shows that betting in eSports is most famous among the ideal demographic of 18 to 24-year-olds – establishing the potential for market growth. 

Gambling Insider conducted a similar study, confirming that men (45%) used eSports platforms more than women (23%) – proving that eSports gambling is growing.  

6. Men’s average gambling debt is $55,000-$90,000 worldwide – higher than women’s average $15,000 debt. 

(Scan Team)

Gambling problems are bound to make a dent in a player’s finances. With men’s likelihood to gamble came higher debt averages for their demographic. 

Men’s gambling debt averages were dramatically higher than women’s. 

• Men had an average of $55,000-$90,000 gambling debt worldwide. 
• Women only had an average of $15,000 in gambling debt worldwide. 

Nonetheless, gambling should be an engaging and stimulating recreational activity that shouldn’t rack up debt for such as these. 

7. Only 14% of British women know about gambling management tools – men know more, with a slight 2% difference. 

(UK Gambling Commission, Nottingham Trent University) 

Gambling can quickly become an addiction, so using gambling management tools and strategies to self-check is important. 

A study in the UK focused on four gambling management tools to see which is most used by gamblers. 

Setting financial limits is the most common tool for 35 to 44 years old gamblers – an ideal age group with higher expendable income established financial habits.

Nottingham Trent University found that voluntarily setting financial and time limits helped intensive online gamblers control impulses the most.

8. Self-exclusion is used as a gambling management tool by 6% of British men, while only 4% of women use it. 

(UK Gambling Commission) 

Only 47% of Britons know about gambling management tools – leaving 53% of British bettors in the dark. 

Despite growing awareness, only 5% of British gamblers practice self-exclusion to control their betting habits.

Of this pool of gamblers, men (6%) outnumber women (4%).  

However, as the gambling industry becomes more regulated, gambling management tools like this will surely increase. 

9. About 50% of men and women who self-exclude do it to control the amount of money spent gambling. 

(UK Gambling Commission) 

Self-exclusion is one of the least popular gambling management tools. However, there’s plenty of hope in making it widespread since awareness of the strategy has increased from 35% in 2015 to 47% in 2019. 

Data showed that the few people who self-exclude do it for two reasons, which are as follows. 

• About 50% of gamblers use self-exclusion to control the total amount of money they spend on gambling. 
• About 41% used the method to control the money going towards a specific gambling company. 

As you can see, statistics confirm that consciousness of the finances involved in gambling is one of the best approaches to self-exclude and manage the habit. 

10. 46% of men get influenced by gambling ads over 42% of women. 

(UK Gambling Commission) 

About 89% of men see gambling advertisements on TV, websites, radio, and newspapers, 6% more than women. 

Despite the decrease in online gamblers influenced by advertising from 2015 to 2019, men are steadily the most influenced demographic. 

11. Social media posts on gambling influence 56% of women better than 50% of men. 

(UK Gambling Commission)  

Women are more influenced by social media gambling posts. 

The level of influence for both genders has interchanged from 2015 to 2019. Social Media had a stronger influence over men than women in 2015. 

Free bets and bonuses were the most motivating advertising strategy for both genders – with about 29% users in 2019 and a record of 39% usage in 2017. 

12. Daily gambling is common for 26% of women worldwide – higher than the 23% of men who do it. 

(Action Network) 

Women engage in daily gambling more than men. About 26% of American women participate in sports betting daily, while only 23% of men do. 

Data shows that 45% of men favor sports betting a few days per week instead of a daily occurrence. On the other hand, only about 36% of women favored infrequent betting like this. 

Infrequent betting signifies cautiousness surrounding the activity and naturally brings down the financial risk associated with gambling. 

Wrap-Up

With such a broad reach and versatile options for participation, the gambling industry is undoubtedly a strong contributor to the worldwide economy. 

When implemented with the right strategies and gambler welfare in mind, it will transform the scene and bring it forward to a better light – possibly bringing in more participants.

Considering the growing interest surrounding the activity – this kind of growth isn’t far off.