It appears that one Olympian’s quest to dominate the sport of poker may finally come to fruition. U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has been invited by Betfair to play in the World Series of Poker Europe, according to several media outlets. Betfair is the presenting sponsor of this year’s WSOP Europe and offered to cover Phelps’ £10,000 buy-in to the Main Event. The flurry of activity surrounding the heralded swimmer comes after he told the Baltimore Sun newspaper that he’d like to play in the World Series of Poker.
This is the second major live poker tournament that Phelps has been invited to in recent weeks. The Asian Poker Tour (APT) just wrapped up its Macau tournament; its organizers wrote an open letter to Phelps, who was about 1,000 miles away in Beijing, encouraging him to postpone his trip home and play in Macau. Phelps did not show. Now, Betfair is the latest company to try to take advantage of Phelps’ superstardom and public interest in poker.
The WSOP Europe consists of four tournaments, capped off by the £10,000 buy-in Main Event, which begins on Saturday, September 27th. Last year, Annette Obrestad, who plays under the screen name “Annette_15” online, took down the Main Event and established herself as one of the premier poker players on the planet. Obrestad is primarily an online player and has won the PokerStars $100 rebuy on several occasions as well as taken down the Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt Poker. She is a member of Team Betfair.
Last year marked the very first WSOP Europe tournament series, which was a rousing success. This year, the action will take place in Leicester Square at London Clubs International’s Casino at the Empire. The first of three preliminary events begins on Friday, September 19th. Here’s a look at the schedule:
Friday, September 19th at 1:00 pm
No-Limit Hold’em Four-Day Event
£1,500 + £75 buy-in
Monday, September 22nd at 2:00 pm
H.O.R.S.E. Three-Day Event
£2,500 + £150 buy-in
Wednesday, September 24th at 3:00 pm
Pot Limit Omaha Three-Day Event
£5,000 + £250 buy-in
Saturday, September 27th at 1:00 pm
WSOP Europe Main Event Six-Day Tournament
£10,000 + £350 buy-in
WSOP Director of Marketing Ty Stewart commented in a press release distributed by Harrah’s,
We are eagerly anticipating World Series of Poker Europe this year. We have enhanced the schedule to provide more variety, greatly broadened the worldwide television exposure, and have brought the event under one roof to better the player experience for this prestigious and premier event.
The tournament is expected to air on ESPN360.com.
Among those confirmed to play in London is Erick Lindgren, who won his first bracelet this summer at the 2008 WSOP. Joining him will be five-time bracelet winner and Full Tilt Poker pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and two-time WSOP winner Jennifer Harman. Eleven-time bracelet winner and Ultimate Bet personality Phil Hellmuth will also be in attendance. Hellmuth came within reach of a record-setting 12th bracelet, but finished third in the $1,500 HORSE event in 2008.
Also making the trek to London are three members of the WSOP November Nine. The group makes up one-third of the final table of the Main Event, which is two months away from resuming. Invading London will be Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate and David “Chino” Rheem. The three can also be seen on ESPN on Tuesday nights, when new episodes of the WSOP Main Event air on the cable network.
