When casinos first started appearing, the dealers running the games in the land-based establishments were mostly men. In Las Vegas, for example, the first job advert for female dealers on the Strip wasn’t published until 1943, years after women had been operating tables in Reno. Still, soon after, the Las Vegas city authorities banned women from working as dealers altogether, a rule which stayed in place until 1970. Once the restriction was lifted, the number of women behind the tables in Las Vegas casinos began to rise noticeably – a pattern that quickly spread across the world.
In the modern era, the gambling industry has seen a clear shift. Women now play a far larger role, both as players and as employees. The change has much to do with the growth of iGaming platforms, which have opened up gambling to anyone over 18. Access is easier, the environment feels less exclusive, and ideas about who fits the dealer role have evolved with it.
Just head to the live section of any online casino, for example, from the list on the LegalCasino platform, where experts review and rate licensed operators. You’ll notice women dealing at almost every table, from roulette, baccarat, and blackjack to craps, Sic Bo, and poker. The sheer number of female croupiers has given rise to a familiar belief that women are preferred as dealers in online casinos. But is that really the case?
Are Women More Active Than Men at Online Gaming Tables?
Recent figures show that women now make up around 36% of players at online casino tables, with men accounting for the remaining 64%. The balance is still uneven, but the female share continues to rise each year. On broader iGaming platforms, women may even be slightly more active. In the United States, for instance, recent data suggests that 26% of women place online bets daily, compared with 23% of men.
The same pattern appears on social media as gambling-related posts attract growing female interest. Back in 2016, 56% of men and 52% of women said they’d been influenced by gambling content online. By the 2020s, the numbers had shifted to 56% of women versus 50% of men.
This suggests that operators are no longer targeting only male audiences and are strongly tapping into the potential female market. As a result, more and more women are showing active interest in online play. But when it comes to live dealers, are there really more women than men?
How Many Online Casino Dealers Are Women?
Despite the common belief that women make up the vast majority of live dealers in online casinos, the reality is rather different. Only about 41.8% of croupiers are women, while 58.2% are men. So why has this myth persisted? Why do so many players still feel that women dominate the roulette, poker, baccarat, blackjack, and live-show tables?
Why Women Often Make Excellent Live Dealers
Shirley Brancucci, the first woman to deal baccarat in a Las Vegas casino, once recalled that some male players flat-out refused to play when a woman was at the table. That was 1971, and thankfully, the landscape has shifted a great deal since then. But it’s a shift that makes you wonder what people who refused to play at a women-led table would make of modern online casinos where women dealers are commonplace.
Nowadays, female dealers are often praised for their attentiveness and ease of interaction, quietly setting a welcoming tone at the table. Their knack for communication can be a lifeline for beginners, helping new players feel confident rather than overwhelmed. In short, they make the game less intimidating without even breaking a sweat.
On top of that, women bring all the technical skills a dealer requires: lightning-fast thinking, the ability to split attention between multiple tasks, and rapid reactions in fast-paced games like blackjack or roulette. They juggle bets, manage live chat, and distribute winnings with precision, all while keeping the flow of the game intact.
In online casinos today, women still represent slightly fewer dealers than men, but the difference isn’t dramatic. This mirrors the steady rise in female players, showing that online gambling is no longer the exclusive domain of men. It’s a space for anyone over 18, both as a form of entertainment and, for those inclined, a legitimate career path.
At the end of the day, players don’t really care whether the dealer is male or female. What counts is how well the table runs, how efficiently the game is managed, and the overall quality of the online platform.
