First WSOP Tournament for Michael Phelps

It seems that swimming his way to Olympic gold isn't Michael Phelps' only talent. The gold medalist made an appearance at a World Series of Poker event on Wednesday. He planned on checking out the scene and the players but participants, Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross convinced him to grab a seat a stay away making Phelps a player in the $5,000 no-limit hold 'em tournament. Phelps insists that Esfandiari and Gross persuaded him to "just throw in a buy-in and see what happens” but it likely took little effort or arm twisting to convince the retired 27-year-old to get in on the action. He's been spotted around the US poker scene lately so it's no surprise that he's a fan of the game. Despite his experience around the tables, this was Phelps' first WSOP tournament. "I always wanted to come out and play,” Phelps said. “This has been the first year I've been able to since I retired. I just came out and I wasn't going to play today, but I got talked into it. I'm just having fun.”