The World Poker Tour will continue to fly the flag for televised poker stateside after they agreed to a new five-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports Regional Networks.

Long before my romance with live tournament poker was punctured by 8-hours of watching Szabolcs Mayer fumbling with his chips in the heads-up finale of the Season IX World Poker Tour (WPT) Venice Main Event, there was the picture-perfect WPT TV slot that pulled me in.

There was the beauty of Shana Hiatt and the Royal Flush Girls. There was the chemistry between a commentary team that reminded me of the WWE owner Vince McMahon and some dude from Miami Vice. And then you had the action. None of the boring folds, and nothing but boom, boom, boom. The shiny lure of the WPT dragged me into poker, and I wonder how many more have followed my lead in the past 14-years?

Televised poker may have lost a few limbs after the online poker rooms fled the States in the wake of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The Internet and growth of live streaming sites like Twitch and YouTubeGaming may have changed the landscape. But televised poker remains a critical tributary into the game for new players.