Michael Phelps is coming off of another highly successful swimming performance on the world stage (or unsuccessful if you consider that he finally lost a race for the first time in a while), and so everyone is once again taking notice of him. As was the case last year, officials from the Asian Poker Tour are taking notice of him again too which means they are sending corny letters to draw him into the APT Macau event.
This year’s version of corniness includes plenty more innuendos about sharks, fish, goggles, and Phelps being a human dolphin. If Phelps doesn’t end up playing in the event based on the lame-assed letter alone then I certainly wouldn’t blame him. But one thing that the APT has proved is that they’ll be persistent in pursuing Michael Phelps until he agrees to do one of their events.
It also shows the poker world’s fascination with Phelps since his spike in fame this year hasn’t even come close to equaling last year, but poker organizations are still hot on the trail. The thing is though, no matter how much poker organizations and players such as Doyle Brunson pursue Phelps, I don’t think he’ll be logging any major hours at the table until his swimming career is over.
And if the segment I saw on 60 Minutes is any indication of Phelps’s normal life, he doesn’t really have time to get involved with poker while he’s training. Michael already has numerous sponsors breathing down his neck, and the workouts that his crazy swimming coach Bob Bowman gives him don’t allow for much free time either. But once the 2012 Olympics are over with, we may see Phelps on the felt more often.