Poker: Keeping it Professional
Written by playerpress.com, Friday November 21 2008
The 2008 World Series of Poker had several magic stories. Along with the pros was a smattering of amateurs to raise the hopes that an unknown could walk away with the riches.
In the end a young, but seasoned pro named Peter Eastgate walked away with the $9M prize pot. At the age of 22 the Danish pro probably has a lot of young friends to help him spend his winnings. If he doesn’t he no doubt will soon make the acquaintance of many who seek his friendship.
Eastgate rose out of the group known as the November 9. The nine were an eclectic bunch that included Dennis Phillips, an amateur who drew an army of fans who adopted his style of wearing a white dress shirt and a St. Louis Cardinals cap. Phillips lasted until November 10 when he finally went out. He took $4.5M away with him, but did claim he would be back at work soon. I’m sure we would all be running back to the grind if we lost and walked away with over 4mil.
Another fan favorite was Ylon Schwartz a chess player for NYC who went down in flames. In his swan song he had over $12M to Eastgate’s $3M, but watched the tide turn. At that point Schwartz was the consensus favorite to win it all and his crash brought an end to his willingness to talk. Having secured a lot of face time on ESPN’s WSOP coverage, he made a quick exit from the Penn & Teller Auditorium when his end was brought about by Eastgate’s rivered full house. Chess probably isn’t quite as big of a money losing proposal as high stakes poker, so look for Schwartz to be filling a chair at a Central Park table when the weather warms. Just don’t ask him about his Vegas experience. It still may not be time for him to talk.
Canada had two native sons that made the fabled 9, but they too were sent away before grasping the big prize. Darius Suharto and Scott Montgomery may have booked a flight back north with Schwartz since they were eliminated on the same night. In their finale the Canadians were forced to take sides since Suharto was eliminated by Montgomery. Suharto, an accountant by trade, lost 8.55M to Montgomery. He expressed disappointment and probably felt that he had betrayed the staid nature of his profession by becoming a little too anxious with his wagers.
Montgomery didn’t have long to celebrate since 14 hands later he met his demise at the hands of the WSOP Champ. This paved the way for the head on head between Eastgate and Ivan Demidov.
Demidov started the one on one action behind, but got hot quickly. Then, the deck and his luck both went cold. Demidov admitted that his strategy was the main cause of his demise. He called too many times and resorted to big bluffs that never worked. Eastgate may be the youngest player to ever win the WSOP, but his skill, cunning and knowledge are ageless. That combination, along with the deal of the cards was too much for Demidov.
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