Denmark’s Peter Eastgate beat Russia’s Ivan Demidov in a four-hour head-up match on Monday night to win the World Series poker main event and $9.1 million. Demidov won $5.8 million as the runner-up. With this victory, 22-year-old Eastgate became the youngest WSOP main event champion. The previous record holder, Phil Helmuth, was 24 when he beat Johnny Chan in 1989 to win the prestigious event.
Shortly after his victory, Eastgate said he was happy with the way the final table went, “especially because I won.” Eastgate also showed grace in his victory. “Ivan was a very tough opponent. He is a great player and we will see more of him in the coming years.” Demidoff thought his inexperience came during head-up play. “I had no idea how Peter was going to play,” Demidoff said after being sent off in the final 274th game. “Peter has a lot more head-up play experience than I do, and I think it helped. Looking back, there were times when I called when I should have folded and it cost me.”
Eastgate’s match with Demidov was said to be the biggest night in poker, and Haras went out of his way to do so. Admiring the customized Harley given to Eric Lindgren, who won the Player of the Year Award, Eastgate and Demidov took to the table to unwrap their chips. Because there were more than 137 million chips between the two players, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Ifel and a WSOP dealer helped players count and stack chips.
After the players placed their chip stacks at both ends of the table and held $9.1 million in cash between them, Michael Buffer stepped forward and introduced the players. Buffer, who was editing his script until minutes before the introduction, finished his trademark introduction with a poker twist, “Let’s trade too mixed up.” Eastgate started head-up play with 79,500,000 chips, and Demidov started with 57,725,000 chips. And with 75,000 ants on 300,000 to 600,000 blinds, Demidov started to set the fire. 파워볼실시간
After defeating the Monster Port, Eastgate took control of the game, outpacing Demidov with 109.0 million to 207.9 million. After two hands, Eastgate staked out Demidov from that hand for a big sum of money. Moments later, Eastgate took another major port, casting three pockets into a full house full of eight. And in the very next hand, Eastgate pushed everyone into a free-flop, prompting Demidov to withdraw. After this fierce end of the game, Eastgate led Demidov from 102.45 million to 116.45 million, and the players took a 20-minute break.
In the first moments after the break, Eastgate finished the tournament with Demedov going all-in in two pairs, but saw Eastgate finish off Demidov. Eastgate limped and pressed the button, and Demidov checked the big blinds. Flops came out as 2dKS 3h. Demidov and Eastgate, who admitted they were tired after Sunday’s tournament was reduced from nine to two, looked fresh and nervous at the start of the match.
And being in the crowded auditorium of poker royals and showgirls like Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson and Jamie Gold, and 1,000 people, it didn’t seem to unsettle them. The 2008 World Series of Poker marked the first time the event was suspended to allow recorded television coverage. The goal was to create the excitement and drama surrounding the final table, and to provide the opportunity to create the final table coverage of the day, “Reliable Live.” And early results indicate that the TV strategy paid off.