11 Nov 08

WSOP: Final Table Updates – Eastgate Triumphs

Peter Eastgate triumphed in the finale of the WSOP Main Event and thus became the youngest Main Event winner of all times, a title held by none other than Phil Hellmuth.

Update #6: 11:40 – Shortly after the break, the Dane Peter Eastgate seals the deal and wins the Main Event of the WSOP.

With , Eastgate (picture on the left) got his straight on the turn, and let Demidov build up the pot as he did with the turned flush. The latter one raised Eastgate's bet on the board of and being committed pushed all-in on the river . Both times, Eastgate only had to call. He showed the straight and thus secured the most important poker trophy and over 9 million dollars. Demidov's became a minor matter, and he had to content himself with $5,809,595.

Thus the 22-year old Eastgate advanced to the most successful tournament poker player of Scandinavia over night, and even surpassed his big role model Gus Hansen. At the same time, he broke Phil Hellmuth's record from 1989 and is the new youngest WSOP Main Event winner of all times.

With his performance, Eastgate is a worthy champion. Smart as he was, he let Demidov walk into the trap over and over again, and exploited his imprudent style. Twice Eastgate only had to call with the better hand, enticing expensive river bluffs from Demidov.

Only around the mid-heads-up, it seemed as if Demidov could oppose the young Dane, but Eastgate was not misled, played solid tight poker during the difficult phase and waited for his chances which Demidov offered him with his mistakes.

After he won a 45 million pot with the turned flush, he was unstoppable. Naturally, the cards also helped him, but how he played them bears witness to a high intelligence for the table dynamics and Demidov's increasing impatience.

Update #5: 11:10 – Eastgate wins two important pots and now holds about 120 million in chips. Demidov is thus down to about 16 million. For the first time, Eastgate puts Demidov all-in.

Blinds: 500k/1,000k + 150k ante. Demidov held the button and raised to 2 million pre-flop. Eastgate called and the flop came with . Both checked, and on the turn came the . Now it became interesting. Eastgate bet 2.5 million, and Demidov raised to 8 million, which Eastgate called.

The river brought the and about 20 million were in the pot. Eastgate checked to Demidov who fired another 12 million bet, Eastgate called once again and showed for the turned flush. Way too much for Demidov who once again only held A-high. 44 million moved over to Eastgate, who thus held over 105 million anew.

With a further noteworthy pot, Eastgate extended his stack to 115 million to about 23 million for Demidov a bit later, his biggest chip lead in the heads-up so far. Eastgate's fans celebrated the last pots loudly.

However, this really puts the pedal to the metal. Eastgate seems to be willing to seal the deal, and put Demidov all-in after a pre-flop raise from the Russian, who (still?) folded. In any case, things are heating up.

With 120 million for Eastgate and 16 million for Demidov, the players go into the next break.

Update #4

Update #4: 10:40 – Finally some action at the table. Demidov is back to about 50 million and gets into his game again a bit better. Eastgate holds about 90 million in chips.

The blinds were at 500k/1,000k + 150k ante. Demidov (picture on the right) raised to 2 million pre-flop, and Eastgate called. The flop came with and Demidov made a conti-bet of 3 million. The turn card was the , and both checked. On the river fell the and Demidov bet another 6.5 million. This time, Eastgate folded and Demidov took the pot.

Thus Demidov has about 50 million in chips and plays more aggressively again since then. He raises more often and higher pre-flop, and re-steals Eastgate more often. Currently, things are looking good for Demidov, who thus contained Eastgate's brief domination. Eastgate on the other hand seems to have been put off his stride.

Update #3

Update #3: 10:20 – Blinds increase to 500k/1,000k + 150k ante. However, not a lot of action is coming from both opponents. The stacks hover around 100 million for Eastgate and 40 million for Demidov.

Eastgate extended his stack to almost 110 million for a while, but Demidov was able to counter with a few smaller pots and got back to 40 million. Since then, the game has toughened up considerably. After raises and re-raises, both muck their hands quickly, and interesting setups which could lead to big pots, fail to materialise – with the exception of the chopped straight – so far. Update #2: 09:35 – Eastgate holds over 100 million in chips. With J-8s he won against A-T for Demidov, and thus extended his stack to over 100,000,000.

Eastgate (picture on the right) limped into the pot, and Demidov raised to almost 2 million. Eastgate called, and the flop came with .

It was Demidov's turn and he made a conti-bet of 3.75 million. Eastgate called, and on the turn came the . Both checked, and the river brought the . Demidov barreled about 7 million, and received an insta-call from Eastgate who didn't believe him the straight.

Rightly so: Demidov showed nothing more than A-high with . Eastgate held for the pair and so took the pot.
Update #1: 09:00 – The game is on break – the heads-up opponents are currently in a 20-minute break. Time for a short recap of the first hour.

After an hour of game time, Eastgate extended his stack to about 85 million in chips. Demidov holds 50 million in chips. However, there was not a lot of action – with the exception of one hand:

The blinds were at 400k/800k and 100,000 ante. On the non-raised flop of , the first big confrontation took place. Demidov check-raised Eastgate's bet of 1.25 million to 2.15 million. Eastgate called, and the turn brought the . Demidov checked once again, and Eastgate fired 4.25 million. After some lengthy deliberation, Demidov check-raised to 14 million. This time, it was Eastgate who took his time with the decision, and called eventually. The river was checked by both players, and over 35 million in chips were in the pot.

Demidov showed , and Eastgate held . Both made the straight with their six and chopped the pot.