At last, Hollywood actress and ubiquitous partygoer Jennifer Tilly has become known for more than her recent star turn in "Seed of Chucky." It turns out she is one heck of a poker player, beating out 600 players to win $158,625 in the Ladies no-limit Texas Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker last month.

But representatives of online gambling interests would like you to know that Tilly is something of an aberration in the mostly male world of poker tournaments in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Women now outnumber men at so-called Internet casinos; they cite industry studies that show "many women prefer to double down while sitting at home in front of a PC."

Ever since the first online casino was launched in 1995, Internet gambling has grown exponentially, with estimated revenue of more than $6 billion a year and nearly 2,000 Web sites offering everything from sports betting, lotteries and blackjack to bingo. According to one industry study, 53 percent of those who gamble online rather than in casinos in the United States were female, and the numbers -- like those of women gamblers generally -- are growing.

If you had a choice between dressing up and traveling to a casino only to breathe in cigarette smoke, drink watered-down cocktails and get hit on, or staying home in your bathrobe and having the same gambling experience, which would you choose?

Well, duh, said Meagan Cooper, 27, of Springfield, Pa., readily admitted that she prefers playing poker in her pajamas. "Sometimes when I can't sleep, I just go online and play for a few minutes, and then go back to bed," she said. Plus, "I think for women, especially, it's a good way to learn the game."

While she has played in Atlantic City with her girlfriends and said she will continue to do so, Cooper said she finds that the testosterone-laden atmosphere of poker tournaments "can be intimidating."

"It's easier to bluff when you're online. ... At these poker games, you've got these people, men and women, wearing sunglasses, but playing on a computer, this way, it's your own form of sunglasses."

Online poker and other games of skill have become alternatives for women because they don't have the same macho element, the same level of competitiveness and people butting heads as they do in a casino.

At a Web site, a player downloads an application onto her computer, installs it and creates an interface that connects with other online "tables." At that point, the player can select how much she wants to gamble and can start to play.

The technology has increased so much that it is now a very smoothly run operation.

For women, in particular, the risks are great, noting studies that show men and women gamble for different reasons. "Action gamblers" tend to be men, in search of a "high" by playing games of skill like poker, blackjack or sports betting. Women, on the other hand, tend to be "escape" gamblers, attracted to games of chance like slot machines, video poker, lotteries or bingo, using gambling as a way to escape depression or physical or emotional pain.

"This is a very lonely person's activity," said Berlin of Internet gambling, "and maybe this is why many women are being lured into it."

Still Internet gambling will never replace casinos, said Holly Thomsen of the American Gaming Association, which represents the bricks-and-mortar part of the industry. People go to casinos for more than just gambling, she noted, such as for dining, shows, shopping and other diversions.

"Sitting in your living room playing online poker is a solitary activity, while visiting a casino is an inherently social activity, an entertainment activity," Thomsen said. "The social interaction and the energy of the environment lend a truly unique and exciting element to the experience that you just can't get from a computer screen."