Madison seems to be an area that is producing more miraculous poker players than any other. Phil Hellmuth, who holds a record in WSOP bracelets count, is right from here. Now, another Madisonian, Eddie Blumenthal, is making the headlines with his two top five finishes in the Rio in Las Vegas. Although he has not made it to the first place, he is obviously very satisfied with his achievements to date. Seven years ago, the now 25-year old professional poker player was nowhere near the poker felt - he was a professional wrestler who made a state championship record of 54-0. That he would succeed in something, some day, was crystal clear, but no one probably expected it would be with cards in his hand. The 42nd year of the WSOP started on June 1 and will end on July 7.

That many professional online poker players would find themselves out of work after the Black Friday was quite crystal clear. How many, however, they are? The Head of the Poker Players Alliance John Pappas estimates their ranks to about 50,000. All of these players will now have to seek income elsewhere, either by turning to live tournaments or changing profession altogether. Worse than that, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker still have not found any way to pay back their former U.S. clients and some players have significant amounts of money stuck on the frozen account of the seized websites. Several renowned poker pros even declined participation in this year's WSOP to make their statement of how unfair it would be to players who can't take part because they don't have their money at hand.