Peter Eastgate Retires from Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate decided to call it quits. The young Team PokerStars member said he will no longer continue with his poker career and will pursue other challenges in life.

Source: PokerStarsBlog

The 24 year-old PokerStars-sponsored player Peter Eastgate announced that he will quit playing poker professionally. He revealed that for him, poker was not a long-term commitment, as it was merely a means of ensuring a financial ground for his life:

"When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I achieved that by winning the WSOP Main Event in 2008."

Another reason behind his decision is apparently the loss of motivation. For him, quitting also means that he will no longer be part of Team PokerStars Pro:

"In the 20 months following my WSOP win, I feel that I have lost my motivation for playing high-level poker along the way, and I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life. What this will be, I do not yet know. I want to thank PokerStars, my friends and family for their support over the last 20 months, and for their support in my decision to take a break from poker."

Regarding Eastgate's departure, a PokerStars spokesperson said: "PokerStars has only the deepest respect for Peter's decision. Peter has played amongst world champions and he has carried his title in the most admirable fashion."

Peter Eastgate stepped into the spotlight in 2008, when he managed to win the World Series of Poker Main Event for $9,152,416, becoming the youngest Main Event champion at the time. This distinction was rewarded one year later to Joe Cada.

Eastgate also came first at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January 2009, cashing $343,000. In October same year, he finished in second place at EPT London for a prize of $843,734. Overall, the young Danish player has almost $11 million in career winnings.