PHOENIX -- More than half of the calls made to gambling hotlines in Arizona and elsewhere come from women -- more than double the number just two decades ago when only 20 percent of the calls were from females.

They are mothers, housewives and homemakers. Addiction experts said these women are a growing segment of the gambling population.

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It is estimated that five percent of the general population are compulsive gamblers, and one-third of those compulsive gamblers are women.

Elizabeth Morgan hits the casinos three to four times a week.

"I come here because I drop the kids off at school and then I get my chores done,” Morgan said. “My husband doesn't mind."

Morgan said slot machines are her game of choice.

"You can stay at home and worry about the little problems in life,” Morgan said. “But once you get in front of the machines, it's like OK. It's all the excitement."

Patti Loring, a wife and mother, said she hits the casino three times a week to play one machine -- the Scorchin' Fortune slot. And when Loring is not there, the machine is turned off as a courtesy to this regular customer.

"I've been known to stay on a machine for five, six, seven, eight hours at a time,” Loring said. “As long as it's paying, I'll be here."

Many women favor slots. For most of them, it's not about beating lady luck as much as it is finding an escape.

"We call that escape gambling,” said Don Hulen of the Arizona Council on Compulsive Gamblers.

The group takes about 1,200 calls a year and more than half of those are from women. In fact, Phoenix is the only city in the country 5 Investigates could find with two Gamblers Anonymous groups strictly for women.

"We don't get calls from pool players or big time players or sports betters,” Hulen said. “We get calls from women."

The intermittent winning streaks are what hooked Sara Decker and sent her life spinning.

"It's very addicting,” Decker said. "It was getting to the point where I was going literally every day. I wouldn't get home until 6 in the morning, trying to rush to get home before he woke up. And that was really stressful on our marriage."

Decker, a mother, wife and artist, said she still gambles four or five times a week, but not as fervently as in the past.

"You know people ask me what I do for a living,” Decker said. “Well, I'm a gambler."

The 5 investigates team found that 95 percent of the Arizona women who seek help for gambling problems are trying to escape boredom, stress and family problems.