According to figures compiled by BoyleSports, the number of women playing poker online has increased from 10% to 40% of its business in just 12 months. The statistics show the average profile of the female players to be married women in their mid-30s who play poker from home.

A spokeswoman for the Boylesports website attributed the rise in female gamblers to the relative anonymity of playing online, as well as the opportunity to play for low stakes. The company expects to see the trend continue, to the point where there will be an equal number of men and women playing online poker.

Patricia McClean, a 45-year-old poker player from Co Kildare, says the rise of middle-aged women gamblers is already visible both online and at official poker tournaments.

"You'd see a lot more women now than before at the poker competitions in pubs around the country, " she said. "I think, for women, it's a very social thing.

It beats sitting in the pub and doing nothing, and it gives you a chance to use your brain. My mother is 81, and she's still playing poker, and she says that's what keeps the Alzheimer's away."

McClean has been playing poker with her family since she was a child, but it wasn't until recently that her son Stephen, who is a professional poker player, introduced her to the online games. Now, she says, she plays online a few times a week.

"I prefer the live games, because they're more sociable, " she said. "But it can be very relaxing to play online. I have a friend who used to play backgammon, and we go onto the same poker site, and we chat online while we're playing.

I think a lot of women still don't know about internet poker, and I think if they did, more would be playing."

Though she normally only bets $5-$10 in her internet games . . . dollars are the traditional currency for online poker . . .

McClean's biggest win was a pot of $6,000 eight months ago. A $5 bet also won her a ticket worth 1,000 which qualified her into the European Ladies' Poker Tournament in London, as well as accommodation in the London Hilton hotel.

For the bigger stakes, McClean regularly travels to live poker events around the country. This weekend, she was hoping to try her luck at the Dublin Poker Cup which was happening in Citywest in Dublin.

The cup, which took place on Friday and Saturday night, was the second satellite competition of the Boylepoker Irish Poker Tour, and had an 80,000 prize fund.

The top nine players from the cup were given a ticket worth 3,000 to enter the 1m Boylepoker Final, which will be held in Dublin on 2 June.