Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate put himself on the casino poker map by winning the 2008 WSOP Main Event. After the huge victory, Eastgate etched his name into World Series of Poker history by becoming the youngest player to win the Main Event at age 22. In doing so, Eastgate bumped Phil Hellmuth’s name from World Series of Poker history since Hellmuth was formerly the youngest winner.
After winning the holdem poker tournament, Eastgate cashed for $9,152,426 and instantly transformed himself into somewhat of a Texas holdem strategy expert. In fact, more than a few players were trying to mimic Eastgate’s Texas holdem strategy as he continued to experience success beyond the win that made World Series of Poker history. Just three months after winning the Main Event, Eastgate placed 18th in the 2008 European Poker Championships holdem poker event ($29,871).
With this cash, Eastgate was really starting compile some nice poker player statistics as he now had nearly $9.3 million in holdem poker winnings. Of course, the money didn’t stop here though as Eastgate cashed in another casino poker event at the Premier League Poker III tournament ($30k).
Eastgate started the New Year off right when he won a 2009 PCA holdem poker side event; this added another $343k to his poker player statistics! However, Eastgate would remain quiet over the next few months until the 2009 WSOP began. This year saw Eastgate attempt to set World Series of Poker history once again as he made a deep run using the same Texas holdem strategy that he used in ‘08. Unfortunately for Eastgate, he busted out in 78th place ($68,979), and had to watch Joe Cada go on to set new World Series of Poker history as the youngest Main Event champ.
Eastgate must not have been too grief-stricken though as he went on to finish 2nd in the EPT London holdem poker tournament. This remarkable casino poker finish earned Eastgate another £530,000 ($843,734) to add to his poker player statistics. 2009 closed out without any more significant cashes for Eastgate.
Once again though, Eastgate started the year off strong by placing 8th in the EPT Deauville - a feat that earned him an additional €70,000 ($99,094). At this point, it was pretty clear that Peter Eastgate definitely knew his Texas holdem strategy since this was already his 16th live cash. The next couple of months saw Eastgate rack up two more major cashes with a 22nd place finish at EPT Copenhagen ($14,646), and a 5th place finish at the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Championship 2010 ($75k).
With all of his cashes, Eastgate’s poker player statistics showed over $10.9 million in live tournament winnings. Shockingly though, Eastgate decided to take a hiatus from poker claiming he was burnt out from the game. People began to wonder if he would ever return to the game after auctioning off his 2008 Main Event bracelet for $147,500 (the profits went to benefit UNICEF). However, Eastgate pleased fans by making his return at the 2011 EPT Copenhagen event in February. Now back in the game, it appears as if Eastgate has a very bright future with the game.
