Television ratings for November's World Series of Poker final table were up 50 percent on last year, according to tournament officials and ESPN, the network covering the event.
ESPN recorded around 1.9 million households watching the two-hour broadcast of the final table, in which 22-year-old Dane Peter Eastgate defeated Russian Ivan Demidov to become the event's youngest-ever winner.
The format of this year's event was tailored so that the final table could be played at a closer time to its airing on television. Prior to this year, poker fans had to wait months to view the July tournament on the box.
The tournament's ratings have risen since the inaugural event in 2003, won by American Chris Moneymaker.
In a final lasting more than 15 hours and played over two days, it took Eastgate 274 hands to defeat Demidov, finishing with a winning hand of an ace of diamonds and a five of spades.
Eastgate won $9.1 million in prize money for his efforts.
