London, Nov 7 : Online poker is climbing the popularity charts as far as British pastimes are concerned, with nearly a quarter of internet users in the country logging on to gaming sites to play the game in the past 12 months, a new report has found.

But, the report also says that many are too uncertain of the rules to play with real money.

A survey by market analyst Mintel revealed that the game is becoming a popular British pastime, largely due to increased television coverage.

Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of 3,822 Internet users surveyed had played the game in the past year, according to the survey.

Half of those poker players watched it on television, while one fifth (21 percent) said televised poker had prompted them to have a shot. One third (35 percent) of the poker players surveyed took part just for the fun of it without gambling any money, the report said.

The amount of poker shown on television has climbed sharply from just 13 hours in 2001 to nearly 540 hours last year.

Most players seem to participate occasionally, with only 7 percent playing daily and 14 percent playing at least once a week.

Mintel senior leisure analyst Matt King said that poker had recently risen in popularity because it was seen as the one of the most "cool" forms of gambling.

"The popularity of poker has soared in recent years as the game undoubtedly has an element of cool lacking from many other forms of gambling. The growing television coverage has also played a key role,” the Scotsman quoted him, as saying.

Some 35 per cent of the poker players surveyed took part just for the fun of it, without gambling any money, according to the Mintel report.

King said that statistics suggested many newcomers to the game were still unsure of the rules and strategies involved.

"For the industry, it is clearly not ideal that so many players do not play for real money. But it does highlight that people do still feel intimidated by the game and that potential gamers are reluctant to dive straight in without having a chance to figure out the basics first,” he said.

"But once they have got a grasp on the game, they are then more likely to put their money where their mouth is,” he added.

However, 34 percent of players thought live games in person were more exciting than playing online.

Mintel's poker report draws on a survey of 3,822 Internet users aged 18 and over. (ANI)