A gold bracelet guru has met a gold medal god.

In Las Vegas.

The last time there was this much gold in a western American city was in 1849, when prospectors found it near San Francisco.

Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, who has won 10 World Series of Poker championship gold bracelets in his career, has revealed on his “blog” (web log or online diary) at www.doylesroom.com that he just met Michael Phelps, winner of eight gold medals in swimming at last month’s Olympics.

Brunson wrote: “What a great feeling it must be to be 23 years old and on top of the world. I had dinner last night with Michael Phelps, the 8-gold-medal winner from the Olympics. What a nice kid! He had a bunch of his friends from home with him and they were the guests of the Palms Hotel and Casino.

“I got a call that he was an avid poker fan and wanted to meet me, Todd (Doyle’s son) and Hoyt Corkins. Jennifer Harman and her husband Marco were also there.

“Todd and Big Mike, Joe Montana’s manager, eat all the time at the Nine Steakhouse at the Palms. Chef Barry is a good friend of Todd’s and Mike’s and put out an elegant meal. We had seafood, salad, steak, chicken, lamb and vegetables. If you have never eaten there, you should try it.

“Phelps and some of his friends wanted books so I took Super System 1 and 2 to them and they asked all kinds of poker questions. Michael said all he wanted to do in life, was to eat, swim and play poker. We went up to his suite to hang out for a while. His suite had a basketball court, swimming pool, workout room, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. It must have been 15-20 thousand square feet, the nicest one I’ve ever seen. =A0 “After I had a few beers, I faded away at about 3 in the morning. The party was going strong and I think Michael left two things off what he likes to do. He should add girls and partying. Why not? He deserves to celebrate. Imagine how hard he has to train to be the best swimmer in the world. They invited me back for dinner tonight, but I’m going to pass. Michael is trying to outdrink Todd and he is going to find out what defeat feels like.

“I asked Michael’s agent if he would like to come to the opening of The Real Deal (a live poker show) at the Venetian. After I told him it would be in the middle of October, he said he would try to make it. There’s going to be lots of celebrities along with the 10 pros at the opening. I’m sure everyone will have a good time.”

Is there more to this meeting than meets the eye?

Speculation is rampant that Phelps, a huge poker fan who plays both at casinos and online, may have been discussing more than the merits of going for an inside straight when he spent the evening with Brunson.

Brunson fronts Doyles Room, an online poker room that like any other room is always on the lookout for celebrity flacks to shill for it.

Phelps loves poker and now could get paid for doing what he does already–play online–and talking about it.

Don’t be surprised if it’s soon announced that Phelps, winner of eight gold medals, and Brunson, owner of 10 gold bracelets, are going into business together–the online poker business–with Phelps flacking for Doyle’s Room.

It will be golden.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)