Poker is not a suitable game for live television coverage, it has been claimed.
The recent increase in the number of televised poker tournaments is unlikely to lead to it becoming a prime time attraction, according to a leading industry figure.UK networks Channel 4, Five and ITV4 regularly show poker tournaments and Sky even has an interactive channel dedicated to the game.
Despite that Dave Woods, editor-in-chief of PokerPlayer Magazine, sees little chance of a channel transferring coverage from late night slots to a more high-profile part of the schedule.
"It's not really a game that you can show live and it's not so steeped in the mainstream that I think it will ever get to prime time," he explained.
However, Mr Woods admitted that some US networks are "making big strides" in promoting poker as a televised sport.
This is reflected in the decision of the World Series of Poker to change the date of the final table of its main event to allow ESPN to give it more publicity, he added.
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