One of the biggest stories over the weekend stemmed from a blog post written by poker legend Doyle Brunson on Sunday. The Texas Dolly posted an image from a recent dinner that featured Hoyt Corkins, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Todd Brunson, and himself. The guest of honor was none other than 23 year-old American swimmer Michael Phelps, who is fresh off winning a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The meeting has fueled speculation that Phelps may endorse Brunson’s online poker room, Doyle’s Room, in the future. However, no mention of any such business negotiations exists in the blog post. Instead, Brunson claims that he gave Phelps and several of his friends who were also in attendance a copy of Super System 1 and 2. Says Doyle, “They asked all kinds of poker questions. Michael said all he wanted to do in life was to eat, swim, and play poker.”
During the 2008 Olympics, Phelps told his hometown newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, “I think it would be cool to play in the World Series of Poker. My game is a little off right now, so I’ll have to start improving it a little bit. But I think that would be cool, and it would be cool to meet some of those poker guys.” He added that he played Spades with fellow U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte in between races.
Phelps won his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games by winning a four-man 4×100 medley relay. In the process, he also set his seventh World Record. He became an instant celebrity and, this week, will host the popular NBC television program “Saturday Night Live.” Phelps marketability has never been greater, sparking a mad dash for his services in the poker world. The Asian Poker Tour authored an open letter to Phelps offering to buy him into its Macau event, which began a few days after the conclusion of the Olympics. Among those in attendance in Macau were Doyle and Todd Brunson.
Brunson invited Phelps to opening night of The Real Deal, which is a poker stage show set to debut at The Venetian in Las Vegas on October 22nd. Brunson commented, “After I told him it would be in the middle of October, he said he would try to make it. There are going to be a lot of celebrities along with 10 poker pros at the opening.” Comedian Paul Rodriguez is slated to appear as the celebrity host of the show. A press release posted on The Venetian’s website describes what The Real Deal consists of:
The Real Deal will pit two of the world’s best poker professionals against a group of randomly selected audience members on stage. Every member of the audience plays against the head table using handheld state-of-the-art technology.
Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Gavin Smith, Scotty Nguyen, and Phil Laak are all scheduled to participate.
Brunson also revealed that he will play in a heads-up match against online poker pro Annette Obrestad (Annette_15), who won the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. The heads-up battle is scheduled to take place during the upcoming WSOP Europe. Brunson explained, “I know that she is a good player, but it will be embarrassing to lose to an 18 year-old girl. But if I do, I won’t have any excuse because I have almost completely recovered from the trip to Asia.” Betfair officials have also invited Phelps to compete at the WSOP Europe, which kicks off later this month from London.
