No matter occurred to Peter Eastgate, who on the age of twenty-two received the 2008 World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) Fundamental Occasion for $9,152,416? And no matter occurred to his Fundamental Occasion gold bracelet that he offered for $150,000 to lift cash for charity?
Carry on studying to seek out out, but in addition you’ll want to take a look at the next clip from a latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast through which the crew breaks it down.
The place’s Eastgate?
The 12 months following his huge win, Eastgate hit the event circuit exhausting as a Staff PokerStars Professional and amassed $1,276,860 in earnings in 2009. In 2010, that dropped to $272,740; the 12 months after that, it fell to only $14,232 (regardless of returning to the sport by competing within the 2011 NBC Heads Up Championship).
He made a short comeback in 2012, successful $209,111 – he signed on as a member of Staff Betfair Poker that 12 months to play the WSOP Fundamental Occasion – however his final event money of $3,896 got here when he completed eightieth within the 2013 ISPT London €3,000 Fundamental Occasion, based on The Hendon Mob.
So, what occurred?
“After I began taking part in poker for a residing, it was by no means my objective to spend the remainder of my life as knowledgeable poker participant,” Eastgate shared in an announcement on July 6, 2010, when he shockingly skipped the WSOP Fundamental Occasion. “I’ve determined to take a break from stay event poker, and attempt to concentrate on Peter Eastgate, the individual. I wish to thank PokerStars, my family and friends for his or her help during the last 20 months and for his or her help in my determination to take a break from poker.”
Nicely, that break became an indefinite one, as Eastgate has basically disappeared from the poker world.
“It is no secret that I’m a fairly introverted man. I’ve all the time mentioned that I am not good within the highlight,” Eastgate advised Bernard Lee in a 2018 interview for ESPN. “I’ve all the time been nervous about that, and I do not like the way in which I sound in interviews.”
Bernard’s piece additionally defined that sports activities betting, particularly throughout the 2010 FIFA World Cup, fueled Eastgate’s determination. He misplaced $1.2 million by the quarterfinals and an extra $500K when Spain received.
“That performed an important issue of me being very fed up with the entire playing business. It is very tiring in your emotional stage,” Eastgate mentioned. “I made a decision I did not wish to go to Las Vegas and play the primary occasion. … Being on a downswing, I did not wish to go to Las Vegas and be in a gambling-related setting, particularly after I was dropping quite a bit.”
He continued: “I may have caught to my endorsement deal and I’d have freerolled the tournaments I performed. However I used to be additionally a degenerate gambler; in any other case, you can’t [lose] $2.2 million in sports activities betting. So, I used to be placing a cease to that by quitting the entire business and poker. I used to be additionally bored with my temper being so depending on how I did within the playing world, together with on the poker tables.”
“Dwelling an extravagant life has by no means actually been my factor. I am nonetheless safely economically impartial.”
Whereas he made periodic poker appearances within the following years, Eastgate tried to discover different avenues. He hung out pursuing careers in engineering and educating however determined neither have been for him. Final the poker world knew, he had moved again to Denmark and lived a easy life.
“Dwelling an extravagant life has by no means actually been my factor. I am nonetheless safely economically impartial,” Eastgate mentioned within the ESPN piece. “My spendings are very low. The way in which I stay my life, I may stay my life like this for one more 200 years. To others, it looks like a giant thriller when I’ve to account for all of the occasions I’ve completed nothing. From the skin, it appears extremely boring, however I am thriving. I am not depressed by any means … General, I am very unproductive — simply think about a Sunday, and I stay that day by day of the week, however I am having fun with myself.”
Click on right here to learn Eastgate’s full interview with Bernard Lee
Promoting His Gold Bracelet for Charity
In November 2010, Eastgate introduced he would public sale his bracelet on eBay with all proceeds going to the United Nations Kids’s Fund (UNICEF). Why half with the bodily embodiment of his outstanding poker accomplishment? Based on him, the bracelet was simply gathering mud, so he wished to do one thing worthwhile with it.
The eBay description learn: “The distinctive piece of a Corum bracelet weighs 168 [grams] and is fabricated from 18kt White Gold paved with 291 diamonds and the face, which says ‘World Sequence of Poker 2008’, is hand-painted in silver and embellished with black and crimson card fits.”
Reactions to the announcement have been blended, particularly when the all the time boisterous Antanas “Tony G” Guoga mentioned he was going to purchase the bracelet and have it usual right into a collar for his canine, Zasko. A PokerNews op-ed dissected your complete situation, describing Tony G’s intentions as “a little bit of enjoyable for an incredible trigger.”
In his weblog, Tony G defined his plan previous to the bracelet’s sale: “I’ve determined that I’m going to purchase Peter Eastgate’s WSOP Fundamental Occasion winner’s bracelet. It’s presently buying and selling at $16,500 on eBay and I’m going to guide the bidding at $17,500 – I don’t anticipate any additional bids and as I do know there are only a few folks with the guts and braveness to problem a decided Tony G. What am I going to do with Peter’s bracelet? Nicely, the plan is to get it tailored right into a particular collar for my trusted German Shepherd, Zasko. The final word canine bling – as my gladiator and protector he deserves to be kitted out in such type. My canine will probably be carrying Eastgate’s bracelet.”
In fact, there have been different bids, a complete of 116 as a matter of reality, with the ultimate bid of $147,500 taking down the public sale. The client, who was solely recognized solely as “7***1” per eBay’s privateness coverage, positioned the bid solely 22 minutes earlier than the public sale’s finish. Regardless of bidding up into six figures, Tony G mentioned in his weblog that he was not the phantom bidder.
Greater than two years later, it was revealed the winner was William Haughey, a Scottish businessman profitable via his refrigeration firm, Metropolis Refrigeration Holdings. Haughey, a leisure poker participant who had donated tens of millions to charity, was impressed by the truth that the acquisition would profit UNICEF.
In January 2012, throughout Day 1a of the Aussie Hundreds of thousands Poker Championship, PokerNews was granted an unique interview by Haughey, who shared a bit about buying the bracelet.
I assumed it was an impressive gesture when Peter mentioned he was going to provide the cash to charity
“I assumed it was an impressive gesture when Peter mentioned he was going to provide the cash to charity,” he mentioned. “That was the one cause why I purchased the bracelet. I paid $150,000 for the bracelet, but when the cash wasn’t going to charity, I would not have even paid $50,000 for it. A few of the youthful gamers mentioned that the integrity of the bracelet was misplaced, and there was no respect, however the youngsters in Africa will probably be cheering Peter Eastgate as we speak and never worrying about what the poker blogs are saying.”
Initially, Haughey wished to make use of the bracelet to lift much more cash for charity, even providing to associate with the WSOP to discover a option to do it and indicating he would match something raised as much as $1 million. Sadly, such an occasion by no means got here to go and Haughey maintained possession of the bracelet.
That was just about that, no less than till late March of this 12 months when Haughey made a shock look taking part in the 888poker LIVE Glasgow £888 Fundamental Occasion.
Not solely did Haughey navigate a 407-entry discipline to complete in eighth place for £7,430, he introduced the 2008 WSOP Fundamental Occasion bracelet with him to point out folks. It was the bracelet’s first public look in practically 15 years, and makes us marvel when, if ever, we’d see Peter Eastgate once more.
Chad Holloway
PR & Media Supervisor
