Las Vegas Weekly

November 11, 2008 · 7:05 AM

Morning Call: $9 million WSOP winner is youngest champion ever

By Robin Leach

Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov are ready to play.

Photo: World Series of Poker

Two young guns of poker unpacked their chips at exactly 10 p.m. yesterday to see which one would walk away with the $9 million World Series of Poker main event mega-prize.

At 10:06 p.m., slightly behind schedule, legendary announcer Michael Buffer introduced 22-year-old Danish player Peter Eastgate and 27-year-old Ivan Demidov as the cards went in the air for the less-than-9-minutes remaining in Level 37.

Eastgate was the chip leader with 79,500,000, and Demidov followed with 57,725,000. Both men began this battle back in July with a mere $10,000 buy-in. Now they play for a multi-million cash prize pot that in the end depends on the turn of a card!

The Penn & Teller theater at The Rio was jam-packed with a line of spectators four deep all the way back 500 feet to the Sao Paolo Café. The Jubilee showgirls in full feathered regalia took their high-heeled, provocative poses in place, and all $9 million of cash was stacked on the table.

The silence was deafening, and the tension was thick as the epic heads-up match got underway. Just 4 hours and 38 minutes later, Peter Eastgate became the new champion and broke the record as the youngest player ever to win -- a record held by Phil Helmuth Jr. for 19 years!

For the first time, Peter finally cracked a smile when he walked over to The Money, and at 2:42 this morning held two stacks of it above his head. It was the first time since July play began that his stoicism and single-minded determination gave way to celebration! Then his Danish fans broke out in a rousing, oddball “oooba, oooba” song!

I won’t bore you with the final card-by-card count from Hand #170 to #274 -- the beating that the Dane handed to the Russian -- but the beginning of the end really was at 2:08 a.m. with Demidov on the ropes, but he was saved by the bell for a 20-minute break. The chip totals at that point were Demidov at16,350,000 and Eastgate at 120,550,000.

Now since I don’t understand the intricacies of poker, I’ll leave it to the official WSOP commentator to run down the final moments of play:

“Peter Eastgate has the button. He limps in, and Ivan Demidov checks the big blind. The flop comes down 2 Diamonds, K Spades 3 Hearts. Action is checked to Eastgate, who bets 1.25 million. Demidov calls, then checks again when the 4 of clubs hits the turn. Eastgate doesn’t slow down, firing out a bet of 2 million more. Demidov counts to 20, then check-raises to 6 million. With that bet, he has committed half of his stack to the pot. It could be the point of no return if Eastgate comes along. Eastgate thinks things over for about 30 seconds and then calls. When he does, everyone in the gallery rises expectantly to their feet. The river is the 7 Spades. Demidov announces all in and Eastgate snap-calls. Could this be it? Demidov shows first, 4 Hearts 2 Hearts tabling for two pair, fours and deuces. Eastgate is next to show, turning over Ace Diamonds 5 Spades -- he’s made a wheel! It’s all over! Ivan Demidov has been eliminated in second place, earning $5,809,595 for his remarkable run through this tournament.”

The five-month journey had ended for Eastgate, who hails from Odense, Denmark. Nicknamed “Isser,’ he has played poker for only three short years and claimed just $76,084 in two prior tournaments. He said: “Poker is all about skill and class.” Moscow-born and -raised Demidov still returns home a hero with his $5,809,595 in winnings in the runner-up spot.

Once they’ve slept off their celebration hangovers this morning, they’ll hold their official WSOP celebration at 5 p.m. today at The Rio, as ESPN begins the full taped broadcast of the live final event!

It may be over, but you can bet the excitement will be even bigger in just eight months from now when it starts up all over again for the 40th!

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