Home / Poker News August 2008 / Is Phelps WSOP gold material?
Is Phelps WSOP gold material?
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2008-08-31 17:50
Everyone knows that Michael Phelps, the Olympic legend is the definition of “gold material” when it comes to swimming. The question is, is he any good at the green felt? In the wake of his Beijing success, several news sources have reported that one of his hobbies was poker. He might’ve dropped a word or two about how he’d like to take part in a
WSOP event someday too. Apparently, when you’re the Olympic Champion of 8 different swimming events, your wishes are command in all the right places, especially so when it comes to poker.
Betfair intends to find out whether Phelps is indeed as good a poker player as he is a swimmer, by offering him a buy-in to the WSOPE’s upcoming London event. The GBP 10,000 would certainly be enough of a deterrent for any amateur player, whether or not that player happens to be responsible for 8 of the U.S. gold medals brought home from Beijing. Well, Phelps can no longer resort to that excuse. His buy-in shall be paid by Betfair, and this way he’ll get the opportunity to add another lump of gold to his already impressive collection, one which bears the logo of the WSOP.
The WSOPE’s GBP 10,000 London event will feature a prize-pool of over GBP 1,000,000, and it will take place from Sept. 19th to Oct 2nd at the Empire Casino in London. In addition to celebrities like Phelps, the tournament is a magnet for high stakes poker professionals from all over the world, partly because of the significant prize-pool involved and partly because it offers an opportunity for the acquisition of a WSOP bracelet, the most coveted piece of jewelry in any poker player’s book.
The WSOPE’s London stop usually consists of three events: a H.O.R.S.E event, a PL Omaha one and the NL Holdem Main Event with the above mentioned mind-boggling buy-in. An additional NL Holdem event will be featured this year, with all events televised and broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic. If Michael Phelps is to prove anything in poker, this is the perfect-caliber event for him to do so.
