{"id":26688,"date":"2021-02-19T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=26688"},"modified":"2021-05-17T08:07:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T13:07:46","slug":"what-happened-to-peter-eastgate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/what-happened-to-peter-eastgate\/","title":{"rendered":"What Ever Happened To Peter Eastgate?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in 2008, Peter Eastgate took the entire\npoker world by surprise when he took down the WSOP Main Event, becoming the\nyoungest player in history to do so at the time. He was only 22 when he\ntriumphed in the 6,844-strong field, banking $9.1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young Eastgate\u2019s story was the stuff that\ndreams were made of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was only at the start of his poker journey,\nand he had already achieved more than most players manage in their entire\ncareers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poker media was ecstatic. Everybody\nexpected the young champion to go full throttle moving forward, traveling the\nworld to play cash games and tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the money won, Eastgate probably\nhad many sponsorship opportunities, which would allow him to live the good\nlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, he was the youngest WSOP Main Event winner, and that had to count for something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the young Dane never really fell into his\nrole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gave it a try for a couple of years, playing\nsome tournaments and appearing on a few poker shows, but it was pretty clear\nhis heart just wasn\u2019t in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had a few more memorable results after the\nMain Event, the most notable one being his second-place finish in the EPT\nLondon Main Event in 2009, good for around $850,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as time went by, he started to play less\nand less, and by 2013, he was pretty much gone from the poker circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what ever happened to Peter Eastgate, the\nyoung Dane who made the entire poker world buzz with excitement in 2008? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did he go bust, has he been playing in some\nprivate games away from the public eye, or has he substituted poker with\nsomething else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Eastgate: An Accidental Pro?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of those who get lucky enough to win the\nMain Event are over the moon because of all the opportunities that come with\nthe title, but not Eastgate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never really cared too much about being an\nambassador for the game and didn\u2019t feel like it was his duty just because he\nhappened to win in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several years later, in one of his interviews,\nEastgate explained he didn’t feel like he owed anything to anyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not like there is some contractual\nobligation for Main Event winners to promote the game. They’re free to do with\ntheir time and their money as they like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Peter Eastgate chose soon after his big win\nthat being a full-time pro wasn\u2019t his dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was signed by PokerStars and spent a couple\nof years traveling the circuit and playing in some of the major tournaments\naround the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had a few decent scores after the Main, as his lifetime winnings now stand at $11.1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Peter
Image: YouTube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But, as 2010 rolled out, Peter Eastgate was\nnowhere to be found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He played in a few events earlier in the year, but he wasn\u2019t there for the World Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in 2010, the Dane came out with an\nofficial statement that he was retiring from poker. The news came as quite a\nshock, especially given the fact he\u2019d only been around for a few years and was\nstill in his prime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not that unusual for poker pros to\nannounce their \u201cretirement,\u201d only to come back to the felt a couple of years\nlater, but Eastgate seemed pretty determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auctioning Away His\nMain Event Bracelet<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after announcing his intention to quit\npoker, Eastgate did something that caused a lot of turmoil among fellow players\nand fans alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He put his Main Event bracelet up for auction\non eBay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2008 champ wasn’t looking to make any money\nfrom this transaction. All proceeds were going to the charity, but many still\ncharacterized this move as disrespectful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Main Event bracelet is probably the most coveted piece of poker memorabilia<\/a>, and for someone to just sell it without a huge reason was confusing, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the bracelet appeared on eBay, Tony G<\/a> was one of the well-known pros who wanted to get their hands on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, keeping up with his persona, Tony said he wanted to buy Eastgate\u2019s bracelet so he could use it as a collar for his dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Peter
Image: Poker News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The G-man didn’t get his wish in the end. The\nbracelet was sold to an unknown bidder who paid $147,500 for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The money went to UNICEF, so Eastgate\u2019s action\ncould hardly be described as selfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But many still couldn\u2019t get over the act\nitself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the news, Scotty Nguyen, another\nWSOP Main Event winner, said that he\u2019d never sell his bracelet as it was\nvirtually priceless to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, though, despite all the outrage,\nthe bracelet was Eastgate\u2019s to do with as he liked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He won it fair and square, and if he didn\u2019t\nhold it in as high regard as other winners, that\u2019s his prerogative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastgate played a few more events after 2010,\nincluding a $1,500 WSOP tournament where he came close to winning another\nbracelet but ended up busting in 4th<\/sup> place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, it was pretty clear that the Dane was done with his career as a professional poker player<\/a> by that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Eastgate\u2019s Life After Poker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having disappeared from the public eye, the\npoker world didn\u2019t have much information about Peter Eastgate\u2019s whereabouts or\nplans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After some time, it was safe to assume that\nmost people stopped caring and it seems that was the way Eastgate preferred\nthings to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he did share some of the details of\nhis post-poker life in a few rare interviews, explaining to some degree his\nreasons for leaving poker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Eastgate registered for the Main\nEvent, and his presence piqued the poker media’s interest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thought that the former champ might be on\nthe comeback trail. But, it soon turned out it was a fluke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dane was just in Las Vegas for a vacation\nand decided to register the Main at the last moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During one of the interviews from that period,\nhe explained that he never felt that he owed anything to the poker community in\ngeneral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was lucky enough to win the Main Event in 2008, but he just didn\u2019t see himself in a poker ambassador’s role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Peter
Image: Poker News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He is also rather humble in many ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastgate says that he was lucky to be at the\nright place and at the right time but that he doesn’t believe he was in any way\npredetermined to win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describing his skills and intelligence as\naverage, he believes he got extremely lucky to achieve what he had achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October of the same year, Peter Eastgate\nvisited Georgia\u2019s capital Tbilisi to present the Georgian version of CardPlayer\nMagazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this visit, Eastgate revealed more\ndetails about why he decided to exit poker and what his life has been like\nafter that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living A Modest, But Comfortable Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, Peter Eastgate decided he was finally\ndone with poker and moved back to Denmark from London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tried studying biomedicine for a while, but\nit just wasn’t for him, so he dropped out despite being passionate about the\nsubject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, he was trying to find a new\npassion, and, according to his interview in 2015, he was still looking at the\ntime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also revealed that when he first started\nwith poker, he was fairly certain this would be something he\u2019d spend the rest\nof his life doing as he enjoyed the game a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, with time, that passion disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young champion grew tired of his mood being\nconstantly affected by how well he was doing at the tables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swings<\/a> are harsh in poker, especially if you play at the high stakes, and Eastgate was no stranger to nosebleeds, neither live nor online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also developed a passion for other forms of gambling, primarily sports betting<\/a>, which ended up costing him a lot of money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lost several million while betting on sports,\nwhich made him realize that he just couldn’t handle spending too much time in\nthe gambling environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Main Event winner, Eastgate could have\neasily played any tournaments he wanted for free. He didn\u2019t lack sponsorship\nopportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, deep down, he understood that his future\nwould be very uncertain if he didn’t quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, he pulled the plug on all of it: poker,\ngambling, and everything the lifestyle brought with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He still had a nice chunk of his Main Event win\ntucked away, so he was financially in a good spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it wouldn\u2019t be enough for everyone, but\nEastgate seems to enjoy living a simple life without extravagance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as his interest in poker is concerned,\nthe Dane says it’s very marginal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t just because he’s no longer a part\nof that world but also because the numbers you get to see aren’t really\nindicative of how well someone is doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s impossible to say how big of a piece a\nparticular player has of themselves, and you have no idea of what their\nbankroll actually is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Eastgate in Recent Years: Every Day Is Sunday<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eastgate’s most recent interview for a poker media outlet was in 2018 when he talked to ESPN<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this interview, he repeated some of the\nthings he’d already explained a few years ago and offered some additional\nanswers to “burning” questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such question was, of course, about his\ndecision to sell the bracelet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told ESPN that he was rather confused by the\nreaction from the poker community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His decision to put the bracelet up for the\nauction wasn’t an attempt to show disrespect for the game. For him, it was just\na trophy that was sitting in a drawer and that he no longer had the use for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, although Eastgate didn\u2019t talk about it\nexplicitly, perhaps it was an important step towards cutting ties with the\ngambling world, which was something he realized he had to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With enough money to live the rest of his days\n(in his own words), he decided to take up a simple, quiet lifestyle in Denmark,\nspending time taking long walks and hanging out with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says that his every day is pretty much like\nSunday, and he’s not very productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This may sound very boring or depressing to\nsome, but the 2008 Main Event champ seems very happy with his current\narrangements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a simple lifestyle that he enjoys and that\nmakes him happy, which is ultimately the only thing that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s not planning to spend the rest of his life\n\u201cdoing nothing,\u201d but he\u2019s satisfied for the time being and grateful for what\npoker gave him, even if it may not look that way to some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What If\u2026? – The Unfinished Story Of Peter Eastgate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The number of poker players out there who dream\nof achieving what Eastgate had achieved during his relatively short career is\nprobably in tens of thousands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a huge bankroll, lucrative sponsorship\ndeals, and the freedom to travel the world and play poker sounds like a dream\ncome true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, in many ways, it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What more could you ask for as a poker player?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Eastgate\u2019s story also has a few details\nhinting at the other side of this Cinderella story, the side that\u2019s not nearly\nas bright or cheerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he\u2019d decided to stick around, what would have\nbecome of Peter Eastgate? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps a few more tournament wins along the\nway, but at what cost? Could he fight off other demons that were haunting him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From everything he said in later interviews, it\nseems like he made the best choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some players and fans didn\u2019t think it was a\ncool thing to do, but even professional players have a life away from the felt.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Eastgate felt that being around poker and\ngambling was making him miserable, he only had one real option, and that option\nwas to quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out\nmore guides in this series:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
What Ever Happened To Jamie Gold?<\/a><\/blockquote>