According to Card Player, Michael Phelps stopped by a World Series of Poker event on Wednesday with the intention of just checking out the competition and the players involved. But after some coercion by WSOP competitors Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross, Phelps bought into a $5,000 no-limit hold 'em tournament.
While Phelps does claim that Esfandiari and Gross convinced him to "just throw in a buy-in and see what happens," the retired 27-year-old swimmer's affinity for gambling is well known. From some of his friends' concern over his gambling to a rumored $100,000 card playing game at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas last year, Phelps' actions yesterday aren't really all that surprising.
Since Michael Jordan is in the advice-giving mood, maybe MJ could give Phelps some pointers on how a former great in his respective sport can deal with retirement and gambling. On second thought...maybe not.
RELATED: A History of Great Athletes Who Retired (By Choice) During Their Prime
RELATED: The 10 Biggest Gamblers in Sports History
[via Larry Brown Sports]
