Now there’s something else that women are doing online that guys have been engaged in for a while: online betting–specifically on the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Bucktown resident Mandy Sitzman started putting money down on tourney games just this year, after more than a year of playing poker on the Internet.
“I’ve always watched college basketball when I was growing up, just because I grew up in a very athletic family,” explained Sitzman, a 25-year-old graphic artist.
“The Big Dance is something that everybody watches and a lot of people bet on, so I figured, Why not give online a shot?”
Sitzman felt comfortable placing wagers with the sports betting site HollywoodLines.com because, aside from feeling secure that she wouldn’t be taken by some rip-off joint preying on Internet newbies, she likes the anonymity, which means there will be no second-guessing from bonehead chauvinists. “If you are female, you’re not going to feel outed because of your gender. . . . Online, it’s easier to feel confident.”
HollywoodLines president B.J. Anderson noted that 15 percent of NCAA betting there this year was by women. Last year it was “3 to 5 percent, almost non-existent.”
Betting on the women’s tourney also reportedly is on the rise, though modestly.
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Wanna bet there is a difference in how men and women feel about betting on sports? Put your money on Kathy and Judy between 9 a.m. and noon Monday on WGN-AM 720.