Peter Eastgate
- by Tiffany Cobane
The new wunderkind of world poker is none other than relative newcomer Peter Eastgate. The baby faced 22-year old Dane burst onto the major tournament scene only two years ago and in that time his success has been nothing less than amazing.
Like many of today's bright young poker stars, Eastgate's professional career began online. His general poker experience though began while he was in school. Surely when his classmates were teaching him to play the game they never suspected that he would go on to win its biggest prize.
Like many other aspiring poker players, Eastgate originally set out to get himself an education and earn a living in a more traditional way, but as his online poker exploits became more and more profitable he ditched school in favor of full-time poker playing.
He entered his first major tournament at the tender age of 21 and left the PaddyPower Irish Open with a 9th place finish in the Main Event, a win that sent him home with $61,224.
The following year (2008) he entered the European Poker Tour's Scandinavian Open and finished 32nd in its No Limit Hold 'em event. This time the prize was less impressive and Eastgate started hunting bigger game.
Later in 2008, Eastgate appeared at the EPT's European Poker Championship where he placed 18th in the No Limit Hold 'em Championship for $32,386. This was merely a warm-up for Eastgate's next big feat.
In the fall of 2008 Eastgate —sponsored by PokerStars — traveled stateside for his very first World Series of Poker. With his other recent wins, it was reasonable to expect that he would finish in the money, but among a field full of legends Eastgate managed to make it to the final table. The poker world was stunned when one by one he eliminated the competition and became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever. The title secured him a place in poker history along with a check for $9,119,517.
Eastgate shows no sign of stopping. Spurred on by his immediate success in the game, the young pro has already had two cashes in 2009, including a first-place finish in the No Limit Hold 'em event at EPT's PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure. He continues to play (and win) frequently online.
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