3 Sports Legends Also Known as Famous Poker Players

This is an aura around poker that attracts players from all walks of life. The sports industry is a good example and many professional sports people have turned their hand to poker. Continue below as we take a closer look at three sports legends also known as famous poker players.

Michael Phelps

Olympians do not come much better than Michael Phelps and the American is a legend in the swimming pool. Phelps won 28 Olympic medals during his career and, at the time of writing, is the most decorated Olympian of all time. No less than 23 of the 28 medals won by Phelps at the Olympic Games are gold medals, which is also a record. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps won 8 gold medals, which broke the previous record set in 1972.

In addition to his swimming prowess, Phelps is regular spotted at high stakes poker games around the United States. When the World Series of Poker is played in Las Vegas, Phelps is usually on the scene. He may not be the best poker player in the world but Phelps has participated in the WSOP and has been involved in celebrity challenges, such as the competition held by Global Poker in 2023.

Richard Seymour

One of the most famous poker players to have started with a career in sport is Richard Seymour. The former defensive end played for New England Patriots in the National Football League for much of his career before finishing with the Oakland Raiders. In his prime, Seymour was regarded as one of the best defensive ends in the NFL and he won the Super Bowl three times with New England.

Seymour was named in five All-Pro teams and played in seven Pro Bowls, so he knows what it takes to succeed in a competitive environment at the highest level. Seymour retired from the NFL in 2012 and turned his attention to the professional poker scene. Seymour has played in several World Series of Poker main events and in 2018, he finished third in the PokerStars PCA High Roller tournament.

Paul Pierce

Switching from the NFL to the NBA and Paul Pierce played 19 seasons at the top level of basketball in the United States. Having played much of his career with the Boston Celtics, Pierce also turned out for the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and Los Angeles Clippers before retiring in 2017. Pierce was recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was an NBA Champion in 2008. The former small forward and shooting guard is a 10-time NBA All-Star and has used his winning mentality to succeed at poker. Pierce performed well in the 2015 WSOP main event, coming close to finishing in the money, and has appeared on the Poker After Dark television show. Unfortunately, Pierce has been in the poker news for all the wrong reasons lately and settled a poker debt in November 2023 with Stephen Carmona.

Conclusion

Some top athletes miss the competitive edge when they retire and turn to poker to fill the void. In addition to the three sports legends highlighted above, Boris Becker (tennis), Allen Iverson (basketball), Orel Hershiser (baseball), and Terrence Chan (MMA), have all had some involvement in poker at a professional level.