Poker , Helmuth Loses His Title In The World Series !

Eastgate bought into the Main Event with $10,000 cash and after seven grueling days, he finds himself as the youngest member of the November Nine, sitting in fourth place with 18,375,000 chips. Wherever he finishes in November, Eastgate will find himself on Denmark's all-time top 10 money list.

He already holds the distinction of being only the second Dane to make a WSOP Main Event final table and hopes to be their first Main Event winner. Before then, his plans leading to November include playing in the WSOPE, studying the videos of the final nine and "preparing myself mentally for the big pressure on the 9th of November. If I came first it would change my life for good."

PokerNews checked in with Eastgate for his thoughts on a few poker issues leading up to the final. Here's what he said:

PokerNews: Peter, you're among several young players who have turned your back, at least for the time being, on a college education in favor of a poker career. Can you comment on what led to that decision?

Peter Eastgate: I started economics the same time I hit my first solid upswing, which distracted focus for studies and finally discouraged me for putting any work in to it, and having poker as my only priority. I don't regret this decision, but I will definitely not recommend other young players to follow this example as I believe it is a good idea to have other priorities and other meaningful activities than playing a card game.

PokerNews: Reports from early in the WSOP suggested that you played the role of the "table captain" throughout, taking command of your early tables. You also mixed it up with several of the bigger stacks still in contention as the final table approached, being among the most active of the players. Was the early aggression a pre-set plan or more a case of you taking advantage of the circumstances you found yourself in throughout the tournament?

Eastgate:This is not entirely true. Some times I was pretty active, taking advantage of the very weak passive players, but on other stages I kept pretty tight as my tables were very loose and aggressive. I have no pre-set strategy for being either aggressive or tight, but try to adjust to my opponents and the table's dynamic. If you look at my chips counts for the first four days I kept my stack around average, which proves my point.

PokerNews: How has your life changed since becoming a member of the November Nine? Has anything occurred that's taken you totally by surprise?

Eastgate: There has not been anything which has surprised me. I've done a lot of media stuff, but it has been as I expected it to be.

PokerNews: The concept of coaching regarding the November Nine players has been frequently discussed. What are your thoughts on retaining coaches to prepare for the final?

Eastgate: I've been in contact with a numerous amount of pros - both famous and lesser-known competent poker players - to hear their take on ideas on playing the final table and how they would approach strategically it and go through a lot of possible scenarios. But I believe the primary focus is the mental pressure for playing for a huge amount of life-changing money, which does not involve technical or positional hand analysis, but keeping the nerves cool and mind clear even if things get rough.

So Bleachers , we have a new WSOP champion and a new youngest champ too , Although I'm sure Phil Helmuth wont be too bothered , he held the record for many years , It's time for new blood to start making a name for themselves .

Author note : Due to other commitments there have not been any poker articles from me for a while , I assure you I will do my best to keep on contributing poker articles .  

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