WSOP crowns youngest ever Main Event champion

Denmark's Peter Eastgate was crowned the youngest ever World Series of Poker no-limit hold 'em champion yesterday after defeating Russia's Ivan Demidov in a marathon 4 hour heads-up battle.

Eastgate, a professional online poker player, won the 2008 World Series of Poker main event with a 5 high straight, earning himself $9.2 million in prize money. Ivan Demidov earned a generous payout of $5.8 million for his second place finish.

"I do not think I have realized yet what a big moment this is," Eastgate said after his win. "It will come the next days and weeks. I expect I will get emotional about it later. But not as much now. I like to gamble. The way I have learned to play poker is by putting a lot of hours into it and learning from my mistakes."

Eastgate's win makes him the second highest earner in the history of the World Series of Poker, behind Jamie Gold, who won $12 million at the 2006 event. The young Dane paid the full $10,000 buy-in for the tournament.

"There were swings and I didn't make any real mistakes," Eastgate concluded. "He was catching hands. I really didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't afraid or terrified. I was confident in my game."