The crackdown on several major online poker websites might have consequences even in the land based poker industry. Right now, the WSOP is in focus, with question marks hovering over the expected number of participants this year. The event is starting on May 31 in Las Vegas with the main event taking place beginning July 7. Last year, over 7,000 players turned up. Back then, there were multiple possibilities to win a buy-in and a poker round-trip at major poker sites like PokerStars whose business is now under investigation by the FBI. When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act was passed in 2006, operators remember the number of entries falling since poker sites were not able any more to pay their player’s entries via money transfers. Whilst the WSOP is operated by Caesar’s Entertainment who are not entangled in the current turmoil and even though it’s a land based affair, developments in the online branch of the industry might still affect this year’s turnout.