Are women better at betting than men?

• A 2019 study found that women who bet on sports saw an average return on investment (ROI) of 19.79%, while men lost an average of -4.60%.
• One 2012 paper discovered that women spent less time and money on gambling than men did.
• Research done in New Zealand showed that women were more infrequent and casual about their sports betting and gambling activities.

Are women better at sports betting and gambling than men?

Sports betting is an activity that has been dominated by men for a long time but this is beginning to change.

While there is data that suggests that women may be better, and more responsible, than men when it comes to sports betting and gambling, it would still be foolish to make a blanket statement like women are better at betting than men.

Despite this, gender-based research from around the world does show that there are clear differences between the relationships that women and men have to betting. The data also shows that female punters have more success than their male counterparts when participating in online sports betting and gambling activities.

Women make money on sports, men lose it

A recent study conducted by 888 Holdings, the company behind 888sport and 888casino, found that women make more money than men when betting on sports online.

In fact, on average, women made money betting on sports whereas men lost money.

The study done by the NJ based bookmaker discovered that the average return on investment (ROI) for female sports bettors in the US was 19.79%, compared to -4.60% for males.

Women aged 25-34 and 35-44 saw the highest average ROI of over 127.06% and 129.60% respectively, with all other age groups (except 55 to 64), experiencing a negative ROI.

For men, average ROI was only positive for individuals aged 18-24 (0.14%), 35-44 (0.88%) and 45-54 (16.90%), but these numbers were significantly lower than for winning women.

The authors of the study suggest that cultural, psychological and strategic differences may play a part in the success women have when betting online, hinting that less emotional attachment to sports, and a better relationship to money, may lead females to make smarter bets than men.

Of course, this is all speculation, but considering that women also lost less when playing games of chance like online casino games (-24.07% compared to -47%) there may be some truth to the idea that women make smarter betting decisions than men do.

Women have a better relationship to betting than men

The idea that women are more careful when betting online is supported by research from around the world.

A UK-based study on the gender differences between users of international online gambling websites found that females gambled online for a shorter period of time and that they spent less money on online betting sites than men did.

The authors of this study posit that this difference may be due to increased feelings of guilt or shame felt by female players, or that there is still a stigma that surrounds female gambling that puts some women off participating.

In New Zealand, data from the Health Promotion Agency found that females were more likely to be infrequent gamblers (participating in gambling activities like sports betting, lotteries, and online casino less often than once a week), while males were more likely to be frequent, continuous gamblers.

Data also showed that men were significantly more likely to bet on sports, horse racing and dog racing, than females, while females participated more in games of chance with family or friends (raffle tickets, sweepstakes, and fundraising events).

This data about female bettors in New Zealand seems to support the notion that females have a healthier overall relationship to sports betting and gambling than males.

In New Zealand, women and men have a variety of online sports betting and online casino sites to choose from and the lack of restrictions means that Kiwis can be enticed to bet online by lucrative welcome offers. My Betting Sites NZ compares all of the sign-up bonuses and betting offers available to New Zealand players.

Betting and gambling responsibly

Despite all that has been said in this article it is, of course, important to note that females are no more immune to the dangers of problem gambling than men are.

According to research conducted in Australia, there is an increasing number of young women who are gambling and betting on sports and in general younger women perceive bookmakers and gambling products as less harmful than older women do.

As to the question of whether women are better at betting than men.

Research may show that women win more, and lose less than men who bet and gamble online, however, this could be because of a variety of social and cultural factors and certainly does not mean that women are luckier than men or less likely to become addicted to online betting.