By Alison Maxwell

It’s a great time of year for would-be athletes to morph into couch potatoes. Summer’s broiling heat makes running, or tennis, or any other sweaty sport unappealing, and with so many sporting events on TV in the next few weeks, you’ll stay busy in the La-Z-Boy working out those fingers with the remote.

But since just watching is so, well, sedentary, we’ve got great ideas for fans of three big sports competitions this summer: the World Series of Poker (which has already started), the U.S. Olympic swimming trials and the U.S. Open tennis tourney.

Whether it’s a deck of cards you deal, a Speedo you sport or a racket that rocks your world, we’ve scoured the Web to find the best stuff for fans and potential players.

The World Series of Poker
May 29 through July 14

The 2008 World Series of Poker features 55 card events with buy-ins of up to $50,000. Event winners are awarded a jewel-encrusted bracelet created by Corum and LA-based fine jeweler Uneek. Obviously, you won’t get your hands on one of those, but you can still browse Uneek’s full collection of jewelry here.

The players are the main act in elite poker competitions, and there’s no shortage of characters. Doyle Brunson (aka Texas Dolly) is a legend who’s played professionally for 50 years and always sports a white cowboy hat (right). Grab a look-alike at Shepler’s, like the Larry Mahan 15X El Primero hat with a snakeskin-print leather hat band and diamond-shaped vents on the crown ($100). If you’re not willing to go that far, you can start to get your head in the game with his book, Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course in Power Poker ($20).

Five-time World Series winner Chris “Jesus” Ferguson usually dons a black cowboy hat and black leather coat. Embrace his unique style with a coat of your own, like this lamb Hipster from Wilsons Leather (left), with zip-out Thinsulate lining, a full zip front and slash pockets ($250).

Greg Raymer won the crown four years ago, and his quirky good luck hobby is collecting fossils, hence the nickname Fossilman. He even uses a fossil as a card protector during his games. If you don’t want to go digging in the dirt for your guard, go to PokerGuard.com, which features protectors ranging from the Jack of Spades ($35) to the American flag ($30). Or scoop up a custom-engraved protector with your initials ($37).

Don’t feel left out if you’re not an actual poker player. Send your favorite card shark this Teleflora gift basket to spice up his/her Poker Night festivities. It includes cards, chips and variety of snacks to munch on for $75. The Passion for Poker set at FTD.com includes 200 chips, two decks of casino-quality playing cards and

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