Poker Central thinks it has a winning hand with new 24-hour cable channel

Skinny cable-channel bundles are the latest trend as media executives realize that there are just so many 24-hour cable channels that they can launch, or that Americans have time to watch.

Now comes this: a 24-hour poker channel aimed at the nation's 55 million fans.

"More people play poker than tennis or golf - combined!" Poker Central CEO Clint Stinchomb said in a recent interview. "Tennis is a micro-niche. Poker is not a micro-niche. It's a big, big market." He adds that poker "rates. People watch it."

Stinchomb said that both Fox and ESPN televise big-money poker tournements.

Poker Central recently announced that it inked its first distribution deal with a Toledo cable system. Stinchomb expects more announcements in 2016.

Outside of Toledo, poker fans can access the Poker Central app through Roku, Xbox, Amazon Fire and Apple TV, Stinchomb said. These platforms are supported by Comcast, a spokeswoman said.

"There has never been a good time to launch a channel in the 24 years I've been in the cable business," the former Discovery Communications programming executive said.

But Stinchomb feels that Poker Central has a good hand to play and he's playing it.