Nov 11 2008
Youngest Winner Ever of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. this morning, Peter Eastgate, age 22, won $9.15 million and the title, 2008 World Series of Poker Champion in the final game last night at the Rio Hotel Casino. Eastgate is the youngest winner ever, breaking the 19-year record held by Phil Hellmuth, who was 24 when he won the World Series of Poker in 1989.
Eastgate’s winning hand was the 102nd hand of the game, an ace to 5 straight. The final game began Monday night against Ivan Demidov at the Penn & Teller Theater before 1,000 fans. They were the final players from the World Series of Poker which started back in July with 6,844 entrants.
| World Series of Poker Main Event — Results | ||
| 1st place | Peter Eastgate, Odense, Denmark | $9.152 million |
| 2nd place | Ivan Demidov, Moscow | $5.809 million |
| 3rd place | Dennis Phillips, St. Louis | $4.517 million |
| 4th place | Ylon Schwartz, Brooklyn, N.Y. | $3.774 million |
| 5th place | Scott Montgomery, Toronto | $3.096 million |
| 6th place | Darus Suharto, Toronto | $2.418 million |
| 7th place | David Rheem, Los Angeles | $1.772 million |
| 8th place | Kelly Kim, Whittier, Calif. | $1.288 million |
| 9th place | Craig Marquis, Arlington, Texas | $900,670 |
The World Series of Poker began in 1970 at Binion’s Horseshoe and is the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment purchased Binion’s, and now the tournament consists of 55 events held at Harrah’s different properties in Las Vegas. The winner of the tournament wins the World Series of Poker bracelet, a cash prize based on the number of contestants and their picture is placed into the Gallery of Champions at Binion’s.
ESPN will be showing the game live tonight at 5:00 p.m.
