Bodog Beat

Olympic swimmer and multiple gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps showed off his poker skills in Vegas this past weekend. (Image from wickedchopspoker.com)

According to Wicked Chops Poker, Michael Phelps, everyone's favorite American swimming hero from the 2008 Beijing Olympics this past summer, has been showing he's got some wicked chops (get it?) in something other than swimming. As the site reports:

Phelps, an avid online poker player, final tabled a $1,570 buy-in event at the Caesars Poker Classic (at Caesars Palace). Phelps banked $5,213 for his efforts.

That's pretty much all the information there seems to be. However, since that event, it seems that Phelps has been making some more splashes in the poker world. He showed up at the WPT Festa al Lago yesterday escorted by Phil Hellmuth. Here is the scene as described by BJ Nemeth for WorldPokerTour.com:

The tournament nearly came to a stop when Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps showed up during the third level. Phelps has mentioned in interviews that he loves the game of poker, and would like to start playing some big tournaments. But as Phil Hellmuth escorted him through room, introducing him to top pros like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu, it was the players that seemed to be in awe rather than the other way around.

Rumors are now abounding that he will buy into Day 1B today when that gets underway in a few hours. The question is: Can Phelps dominate the poker table as he does the swimming pool? You gotta think that the poker pro's awe will evaporate quickly when he sits down and they start treating him like any other player who has chips that they want.

We'll keep you updated on the happenings at the WPT Festa al Lago as the day progresses. As for yesterday's action, poker pro Antonio Esfandiari opened up a huge chip lead on the field, with a 100k chip lead on second place. Other big names left standing after the first day of play include Jennifer Tilly, Joe Sebok, Johnny Chan, Allen Cunningham, J.C. Tran and the aforementioned Negreanu and Brunson.

Don't forget that you could have the chance to play in a major poker tournament with these big name poker pros or even someone like Phelps with one of Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice packages. Head over to the Bodog Poker room and see how to qualify online for the WPT for as little as $1.