Online poker

Nothing to do with rugby or horseracing, but the Times for two days now has been flogging online poker for all its worth. Is this simply journalists trying to fill space, do News International own an online poker site, or is there some other explanation for this puffery?
It seems to me entirely pointless, just like the lame attempts of some bookies to offer what they called "virtual horseracing" a few years back. Only the most compulsive gambler could gain any pleasure or interest from what is nothing more than a rather complicated online fruit machine. I haven't played the game for many a year but the essence of poker has to be the physical presence of the cards, the hands, the dealer and the other players and the interplay of them all is something that cannot be reproduced online