A new deal with Poland's second largest cable company, the Vectra Group, will see The Poker Channel gaining entry to the Eastern European market.

The channel will begin airing tomorrow (January 30, 2009) and will be available to 16 million cable and satellite viewers in 17 markets in Europe and Polish viewers viewers will have access to such shows as the Pokerheaven European Cash Game, featuring 2008 WSOP champ Peter Eastgate, Cash Game Master Class, a number of "how to" poker series, as well as episodes of the WSOP and the WPT.

"Our expansion in to Eastern Europe further illustrates the growing demand for poker and gaming on TV," explained The Poker Channel's commercial director, Chris White.

"We are delighted to partner with Vectra Group and look forward to delivering quality programming to its thousands of customers."

"As [poker's] popularity continues to grow, we're delighted to be the first platform in Poland to launch The Poker Channel, and offer subscribers of our new sports package the very best poker action from around the world," said Vectra Group TV product manager Malgorzata Wojtaszko.

The Poker Channel is said to draw close to one million viewers from across Europe a month, 65 percent of which play online poker each day.