In time for this year’s International Women’s Day, both companies have collaborated on research which suggests there has been a 22% increase in female poker players across Britain over the past year.

While poker is a traditionally male-dominated game, their research seems to indicate that the tables are turning, and poker is becoming an increasingly popular pastime for women. 

Over the past year, new player buy-in from men has been considerably lower than from their female counterparts, at only 14%.

Likewise, more women have taken up poker in the past five years than men, with new player buy-in rising by 23% for women compared to 22% for men.

Female players are also partaking in a wide variety of formats, though casual games with friends and family remain most popular.

Broken down, 48% of women chose this as their preferred format, compared to 54% of men. Online cash games came in second place at 37%, a more popular format among female players than male ones, at only 35%.

Organised cash games, live buy-in tournaments and free mobile apps were female players’ third, fourth and fifth favourite formats, respectively.

Approximately 58% of women said they began playing poker because they think it’s “a fun and social game”, while 37% play because they believe it’s easy to learn.

Meanwhile, 33% of women chose to play poker because they believe it’s consistently easy to win money.

888poker added: “While 31% of women have never played in any competitive format, it’s clear that the tables are turning and more females are opting to play poker, as only 10% of women have played for 10-plus years, and 13% for five to 10 years.”