Nobody keeps count of how many Americans play poker, but from his office in Los Angeles, World Poker Tour spokesman Jim Lewellyn estimates 50 million. And that's an approximation from a 2-year-old story.

"Lord only knows," he says. "They need to start counting with the U.S. Census Bureau."

As the Travel Channel's highest rated show, the WPT and its Texas Hold 'Em format now reaches 116 countries, and it recently established regional tournaments for amateurs -- like the Final Table Poker Tour in Brevard -- in Canada and the Philippines.

Sponsored in its upcoming fourth season by Budweiser, the WPT is difficult to evaluate in terms of player numbers, says spokesperson Gayla Daugherty in St. Louis. It has two seats reserved for next year's WPT Invitational Celebrity Pro-Am in Las Vegas.

"About all I can tell you is we had 22 states and 1,600 bars on board last season," says Daugherty. "There are so many people with other sponsors, it's hard to keep track of them all."