Blessed

Peter St. Onge: By noon on Day 8, Nick Maimone's life already had changed. He was one of 27 poker players finding his seat at three tables in a Rio Las Vegas casino ballroom. He had made it deep into the 2009 World Series of Poker, a tournament that began with almost 6,500 players and guaranteed each of these final 27 at least a quarter-million dollars in prize money.

If he did the math – and how could you not do the math? – Maimone would be getting about $90,000 after splitting the money with the backer who paid his entry fee, then paying taxes. Ninety grand. He was 22. He'd been playing poker full time for about a year.

He knew, for now, only this: "I've really been blessed."