BY TOM SOMACH

The worldwide poker craze isn’t really worldwide if one-fifth of the world’s population–a billion people–isn’t playing.

That’s about to change.

A deal of historic proportion–for the poker world–was announced earlier this week when World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc., parent company of the World Poker Tour (WPT), said it reached an agreement with the Chinese government to bring poker to China.

The deal was made with the China

Leisure Sports Administrative Center, a government agency.

The agreement will “promote the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China’s first ever national poker competition,” World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. said in a statement to news media.

The statement also said that the agreement will run for five years, with an option to extend it.

The statement did not, however, make clear exactly what type of poker activities will come out of the deal.

All forms of gambling are prohibited in China.

However, the Chinese government says that poker is a “sport.”

It is expected that the deal will involve holding poker tournaments in China for the first time.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)