The number of online bingo, casino, poker and lottery players in the U.K. has grown by 40 percent from July of 2009 to 2010, according to a new study by Nielsen research. That’s 3.2 million new players to online gambling this year, a higher number than that of those who used social networking sites like Facebook (which only reached 2.2 million).

The research said that almost half of all users earn over £30,000 and close to 46 percent of total users were female , therefore destroying the stereotype that gambling is for the poor and male. The report suggests that by using pink colour schemes and features like horoscopes, these poker and bingo sites were reaching out to the female demographic more than they had before.

The amount of young people interested in bingo has also grown . “The over-65s and those on lower household incomes have in the past been heavy users of gambling sites, but in the face of the economic downturn this profile is ever-changing,” said Neil Beston of Nielsen.

“While the extraordinary growth in gambling sites over the last couple of years has been driven by men and women of all ages, it seems to be powered especially by middle-aged men, the well-educated and high-earning households.”

Interest in online bingo doesn’t seem to be dropping either. With more sites launched nearly every week, bingo players have many more games to select from and many more ways to win. Often, bingo sites will offer promotions to encourage people to join — up to hundreds of free bingo games and even some cash to spend.

Also, much like with Facebook, word continues to disseminate about the fun and attraction of online bingo. As more people find out about new bingo games and join virtual bingo halls, they’ll keep returning, while sending others to these sites with the hopes of winning multi-thousand pound jackpots.