In 2008, Peter Eastgate hit the pinnacle of being a professional poker player. He defeated thousands of fellow participants to become the 2008 World Series of Poker Champion winning over $9m in the process. In doing so, he became the youngest player at the time to ever win the prestigious event. The young man from Odense, Denmark, was only 22 years of age when he won the biggest prize in poker.
However, in July 2010 at the age of 23, Peter Eastgate officially announced he was taking a break from playing professional poker. He felt that it was time to step away given that he had never intended to play poker professionally all of his life and it was just a method to gain financial independence. He succeeded at this by winning the WSOP in 2008. As part of his break from poker, Eastgate decided to put his 2008 WSOP golden bracelet up for auction on bidding site eBay with all of the proceeds going to the UN affiliated charity foundation UNICEF.
The auction starting price was a modest $16,000. 10 days, 116 bids and 42 different bidders later, a final bid of $147,500 was posted at 5:38am PST. The bid was entered at the last minute with the auction closing at 6:04am PST. By no means a respectable price for the bracelet which is one of poker’s most prestigious awards.
Many speculations and rumors surrounded the identity of bidders in the auction. There was also a minor scandal when professional poker player Tony G. announced he will be bidding for the bracelet to use as a collar for his dog… Inter poker immediately announced it will participate in the bid to prevent Tony G from making a mockery of this symbolic item. The happy winner is still unknown but will probably come forth within the next few hours, to enjoy the media coverage and PR such a momentous item will bring him.
