Ever since Lana Wood draped herself over the green baize table in Diamonds Are Forever, women have suffered a particular image problem when it comes to gambling.

The glamorous gold-digger who uses her feminine charms at the poker table was by far outnumbered by the men she hustled as she tried to take their winnings. Not any more.

Since coming into effect last September, the Gambling Act 2005 has lifted restrictions on betting in pubs with the result that low-stakes games - especially poker - are enjoying a surge in popularity. Now women are finding they don't have to be fantasy Bond girls to take their place at the table.

Tuesday is poker night at McGills pub in Bargeddie, east of Glasgow. Karen McKay and Jan Horn, both in their mid-30s, and landlady Zana McClymont, 48, are lining up their chips. "I love it," says Horn. "I've only been playing for a couple of months but I'm absolutely hooked."

The women say the rise in pub league poker, where the buy-in (the cost of a game) is only £5 and winnings are unlikely to exceed £70, is one of the things that attracted them to the game. Feisty and competitive, they are not put off by poker's image and are ready to take on men at their own game.

"I used to think poker players were aggressive, arrogant, chauvinistic old blokes," says McClymont. Now she says she can't miss her weekly fix.

Although the majority of McClymont's male opponents are happy to have a woman at the table, she admits she does receive the occasional derogatory comment. "You've got to give as good as you get," she says. "The last time a guy made that kind of remark, I played him off the table."

Horn agrees that women need to be alert to put-downs from male opponents, but says that being a woman has its advantages. "A lot of men assume women won't be able to play poker, or won't be able to play well. That can catch them off guard - as can a tight top," she laughs.

Eilidh McBean, a 24-year-old trainee teacher from Ayrshire, beat more than 60 men to top her local pub league this summer. "Playing poker has definitely made me toughen up," she says.

As Ayrshire champion she now faces the challenge of playing in pubs and clubs across Scotland. "There is still a bit of a seedy feel to poker nights," she says. "And I don't fancy playing at a table of men I haven't met before."

But all-male tables could soon be a thing of the past. Sarah Lawrence, the 27-year-old founder of www.ukpokerbuddies.com, says she has witnessed a huge change in the type of people playing poker over the past two years.

"I used to play regularly at all-male tables then gradually one or two women would come along to the games. Now the tables are nearly always mixed."

Lawrence's website attracts around 35,000 hits a day, of which she estimates about 30% are women.

"I think women are attracted to a game where they can compete with men on an even playing field," she says. "Poker is about mental, not physical strength. It's a psychological game and you have to be able to predict people's behaviour. Men tend to be more analytical than intuitive and they approach the game from a strategic point of view. I can do that too, but I can also throw the rulebook out the window and use other skills."

Back in Bargeddie, Horn smiles as she sweeps her male opponent's chips towards her. As the three-hour game comes to an end, she's cleared the table and she's ready for the next round.