Peter Eastgate Quits Poker 4 Years And $11 Million Later

Having earned around $11 million since cashing in at his first live tournament in 2006, the 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate has decided to call a day on his poker career at the ripe old age of 24.
The young Dane had already earned $63,324 between 2006 and 2008 playing live tournament poker before his career sky rocketed after becoming the youngest person at that time ever to win the WSOP Main Event. His victory aged just 22 earned him the second largest pay-out ever in WSOP history of $9,152,416 and he has since been honouring his obligations to his sponsor, notching up a further $1,688,471 in tournament wins over the past 20 months along the way.
Amongst those wins were a 1st place finish at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $343,000 and a 2nd place finish at the 2009 EPT London for $843,734.
Explaining his decision to quit the game which has been so kind to him, Eastgate said that his original motivation for playing poker had been to achieve financial independence, which he managed with his WSOP victory. Elaborating further, he said:
“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 have decided to take a break from live tournament poker, and try to focus on Peter Eastgate, the person. 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.”
How long the poker pro from Denmark stays away from the game remains to be seen, but in the meantime having achieved his goal you have to admire his decision to take a break and concentrate on other aspects of his life. Commenting on Peter Eastgate’s surprise announcement, 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.”