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Posts Tagged ‘Denies’

Michael Phelps

This week it was reported that retired American swimmer and all-time record holder for most Olympics medals Michael Phelps, 27, won $ 100,000 in a single poker game in Las Vegas.

On Sunday, celebrity gossip website TMZ reported that Phelps won $ 100,000 while playing poker at Caesar’s Palace.

Phelps, who won four golds and two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, giving him a lifetime total of 22 medals, 18 of them gold, denied the report.

Phelps tweeted: “I wish I won a 100k… Haha not true tho:(“

Phelps was definitely in Las Vegas celebrating his retirement from an illustrious swimming career. He partied at Encore Las Vegas and received a decorated multi-layered cake with a congratulatory message poolside, where he was photographed surrounded by bikini-clad good-wishers.

Phelps has been playing poker for several years. According to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, his only win in a live poker tournament was when he finished 9th in a $ 1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the Caesars Palace Classic in October 2008 for a prize of $ 5,213.

“I love to play, and it’s fun,” Phelps told Card Player after that tournament. “It’s exciting. This is a good time for me to learn some things, to pick up a few things in poker, to try to read people and [learn the] mindset that goes into it and everything — just to try something new.”

Card Player talked to Jeff Gross, a roommate of Phelps, in August 2011. Gross told Card Player:

“Mike is easily one of the best celebrity poker players around. Overall, I’d say he treats the game seriously and loves the competition, but it’s just a hobby. Once he finishes up his career at the 2012 Olympics in London, I think you’ll be seeing him competing more in live tournaments.”

Last month it was reported that Phelps buys into a weekly, invitation-only $ 25,000 poker game. As reported on Chipist:

Phelps’ competitive edge has shown up in his personal life as well, as the athlete is apparently quite the poker fan. When he first started playing, Phelps began working with the $ 1/$ 2 level tables but now buys in to a weekly $ 25,000 game.

As far as we know, Phelps has not denied this report.

John Juanda

In what was undeniably the most star-studded final table so far at the 42^nd World Series of Poker, John Juanda took first place in Event #16 $ 10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship, winning $ 367,170 and the coveted WSOP bracelet.

The win was Juanda’s 5^th lifetime bracelet. In the process, he outlasted Phil Hellmuth, who was vying for his 12^th WSOP bracelet.

Among the players who reached the event’s final table was 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer, but he was eliminated in 9^th place.

Juanda had finished in fourth place in the 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship in the past two years. When heads-up play began, Hellmuth had a 3-1 advantage in chips, but from that point, it was Juanda’s skill that led him to the victory. According to Poker News, Juanda “picked away at Hellmuth’s stack with methodical precision.” For finishing in second, Hellmuth received $ 226,907.

As Poker News noted, “Many in the poker world consider Juanda to be one of the best 2-7 no-limit players in the world.”

The final nine players in the tournament had a combined 21 WSOP bracelets and lifetime earnings just over $ 40,000,000. The only player who reached the final table who had not previously won a bracelet was Joe Cassidy, who ended up in 8^th place.

The final table and their prizes:

1) John Juanda $ 367,170

2) Phil Hellmuth $ 226,907

3) Richard Ashby $ 143,833

4) Steve Sung $ 97,416

5) Nick Schulman $ 69,216

6) David Bakes Baker $ 51,485

7) Hasan Habib $ 40,020

8) Joe Cassidy $ 32,440

9) Greg Raymer $ 27,928