The British pre-occupation with crossdressing is running rampant through the supposedly macho game of online poker.

According to new research an estimated £213m is being staked each year in Internet card rooms by British ‘betrosexuals’, with over ten percent of blokes donning virtual make-up and 23 percent of women sprouting electronic beards.

Gambling expert and professor Mark Griffiths, resident egghead at Nottingham Trent University, believes that online poker rooms allow players to pull off the ultimate bluff. According to Griffiths: ‘If your opponent thinks you’re the opposite sex it can lead them to make all sorts of judgements about your character that affect how they play.