Online poker's popularity is continuing its meteoric rise and shows no signs of slowing down, new research shows.

In the first quarter of the year, there was a 30 per cent growth in the industry, when compared with the same period in 2005, according to the Poker Pages Industry Index (PPII).

The PPII for the period between January and March of this year is currently at 130, with the total buy-in value standing at $98 million.

Figures from over the course of the whole year show that the buy-in index for the quarter stands at 155, which represents a 55 per cent rise over the previous 12 months.

Mark Napolitano, founder of the PPII, said: "Industry growth is also being helped out by a rising average buy-in per entry."

He said that the average buy-in for the first three months of 2006 stood at 113 – representing a 13 per cent rise on the same quarter in the previous year, according to the study.

Despite the index reporting a slow March due to the 29 per cent fall in the number of competitors in the Party Poker.com Million Main Event coupled with a slow month for the World Series of Poker, April is set to see more success.

The PPII founder said that this month will see the introduction of a new World Poker Tour event to be held at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, as well as the same tour's $25,000 championship event, which will be held later in the month at the famous Bellagio casino.

Mr Napolitano also said: "Watch out for the newly formed International Poker Association's Tour to make a quick impact with its inaugural event in May."