Home / Poker News November 2008 / Peter Eastgate wins 2008 WSOP Main Event
Peter Eastgate wins 2008 WSOP Main Event
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2008-11-11 08:29
It’s official: Peter Eastgate is the newest and youngest WSOP Main Event champion. The Heads-up stage of the WSOP’s final table lasted a little over 5 hours, and saw Eastgate capitalize on the chip lead he started the day with.
Aged 22 and born in Odense, Denmark, Peter Eastgate won his WSOP Main Event seat through Ladbrokes Poker. He later switched allegiances to PokerStars, and played under their colors at the final table.
The prize that Eastgate took down today was a $9.15 million one, the second biggest
WSOP Main Event first prize, after the $12 million haul that Jamie Gold registered in 2006.
The heads-up stage of the 2008 Main Event started with Eastgate holding a 80,300,000 stack, which he had mostly built by busting out a couple of bluffers on the previous day. Ivan Demidov, the Dane’s opponent – himself a relative newcomer to the poker spotlight – started with 56,600,000 chips.
At the beginning of the heads-up action, the blinds were 300,000/600,000 with 75,000 antes, which meant that there was no immediate pressure on either of the two players. Demidov began to pour on the pressure in earnest, looking to make Eastgate’s lead disappear. To that end, he took down a nice pot by forcing the Dane to fold on a board of 10,K,10,K,K.
Soon, the Russian’s aggressive attitude began to pay dividends as he managed to catch up and eventually take over the chip lead.
The hand on which the lead changed hands was a K,J,6,5,3 on which Demidov took more than 10 million chips off Eastgate having made two pairs, Ks and 3s.
Eastgate struck back a few hands later, betting 1 million chips into Demidov on a flop of 8,3,2. Ivan called, and they both checked the 5 on the turn. A 9 fell on the river, which prompted Eastgate to bet a further 2.6 million. Demidov called hoping to bust a bluff, but Eastgate turned over J,9 for the pair and the pot.
Eastgate then managed to reclaim the chip lead before the first break, when he hit top two pair on a board of A,J,3,J,Q.
Having regained his aggression, Eastgate never gave Demidov a chance after the break. He kept increasing his lead, especially after taking down a huge pot of more than 45 million chips. With hindsight, this hand may indeed have been the turning point of the confrontation. On a board of Kd, 10d, 7c, Jd, 3s, Eastgate hit a flush with his 4d,7d, and Demidov called him all the way with A, 9 and the A-high, again – hoping to catch him red-handed on the bluff. The final hand started out with Eastgate limping in from the button and Demidov checking the BB. The flop came 2,K,3 and Eastgate moved onto the offensive with a 1.25 million bet. Demidov called him and checked the 4 on the turn, only to have Eastgate bully him around for another 2 million. Demidov struck back by check-raising it to 6, virtually pot-committing himself. The 7 on the river was followed by an all-in from Demidov who had already hit two pairs on the turn. His 4h,2h failed to hold up against Eastgate’s A,5 who made a straight for the last pot and the win. Demidov took home $5,809,595, as Eastgate scored a payday of $9,152,416.
