WSOP Final Table 2008
At this years World Series of Poker main event over 1,500 spectators gathered to be a part of this spectacular event. Some have said this was the most energized crowd in the history of this tournament. The event started on November 9th and completed early Monday morning with a total of 15 hours and 28 minutes of in play time which involved an astounding 274 hands.
The final table started out with 9 players and as the event progressed, ended up with the two final players being Ivan Demidov (who was marked as the projected champion) and Peter Eastgate. In the start of the event Eastgate was ahead on chips by 20 million. As the night progressed Demidov took the lead, but with the last few hands in heads-up Eastgate was victorious as the 2008 champion.
Peter Eastgate is from Denmark, he started playing poker only four years prior to last weekend’s substantial victory. Eastgate qualified for the WSOP 2008 Main Event via an online poker website. There is an enormous difference in playing poker online in the seclusion of your home compared to playing with clay poker chips and handling the plastic playing cards. Oh and don’t forget the crowd of spectators. Obviously he handled the transition quite well; he has over 9 million to prove it.
He won the second largest prize ever awarded; he’s earned more money than “The Professor” Howard Lederer. Eastgate’s most impressive feat is that he beat Phil Hellmuth’s record as the youngest player ever to win the main event. Phil won the championship in 1989 when he was only 24-years-old. Peter has him beat, 2 years as he is only 22-years-old, what an amazing accomplishment for someone so young.
WSOP enthusiasts are hopeful that due to this year’s excitement and energy of the crowd, along with the unprecedented exposure, that they may just reach their goal to be the year-round apple of poker’s eye. Preparation for the 2009 World Series Championship event has already begun. It will be interesting to see if the tour will maintain the high momentum it has gained throughout this year.