IT IS the game which appears to be taking over the world and it's got a thriving fan-base right here on Merseyside. Texas Hold 'Em poker is the fastest-growing game on the planet, after an explosion of interest fuelled by the internet.

Almost every night of the week, you'll find hundreds of players heading out to casinos across the region to pit their wits against each other.

Entering a tournament at Liverpool's Leo or Grosvenor casinos will cost you as little as £5, £10 or £20 and the rewards can be great, though there will be more losers than winners, of course.

Signs of the poker revolution are everywhere.

On TV, in the supermarkets, where poker sets have been one of this year's big presents, and on the book shelves where new publications and magazines are helping feed the public's appetite for the game.

So just why has Texas Hold 'Em so captured the imagination with an astonishing $100m in bets online every single day?

When Partygaming, which runs poker website Partypoker, was floated on the London stock exchange in the autumn, it was valued at £5.5bn, more than British Airways and ICI put together, and went straight into the FTSE 100.

Poker is not about smoky back rooms any more. Warringtonbased bookmaker Fred Done launched his Betfredpoker.com website back in June and it has proved a huge success.

Paul Gambrill, internet marketing manager, said: "On-line poker in the last three years has just gone mental. We launched into a very busy marketplace but we already have 10,000 players in tournaments every night.

"We've given away a lot of free tournaments called freerolls to allow people to learn and given out 50,000 how-to-play books.

"Texas Hold 'Em is quite a simple game and the popularity has come through the TV coverage and the internet. People prefer the anonymity of online play. There is also the big prize money in the world series which has got journalists writing about it. It's cool to play poker."

A newcomer could do worse than pick up a new book, called All In, by Anthony Holden, author of the poker classic Big Deal.

He says: "In terms of active participants, poker is unquestionably the world's favourite game. Around 75m people (1.25% of the global population) are said to play regularly - 4m of them in Britain,, a high proportion of them women."

Texas Hold 'Em features the right combination of skill and luck (estimated at about 80-20 in favour of skill).

You can have the worst hand but bet the right amount at the right time, convincing your opponents you've got strong cards, and you'll still end up a winner.

The winner of the WSOP in 2006 will pick up a cool $10m. Poker, of course, is as much about the legend as the fact and the names of previous winners of the coveted WSOP bracelet only add to that - "Amarillo Slim" Preston,, "Gentleman" Jack Kellar,, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Stu "The Kid" Ungar spring right out of the movies.

In the US, actors James Woods and Tobey McGuire played in the WSOP in 2005, Oscar winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are regular tournament players, while actress Jennifer Tilly has actually won a World Series event.

In the UK, Soccer AM presenter Helen Chamberlain won $400,000 in a recent pro-celebrity tournament.

Many fear the rise of poker, particularly on the internet, will lead to a worrying new wave of gambling addicts. It is something the authorities will need to keep a very careful eye on.

But, for now, poker seems to be holding all the cards.

andykelly@dailypost.co.uk