peter-eastgateAs we come out of this 20 minute break one is beginning to think if Demidov really can mount another come back? With a few more hands in the books there hasn’t been much action with each hand ending preflop.

We pick up the action on hand #208, and it begins with Peter Eastgate limping from the button and Demidov makes it 2.75 million to go and draws a call from Peter Eastgate. When the flop hits the table 9h 7s 6d and after some thought Demidov leads for 3.625 million taking control away from Eastgate who after some thought makes the call. Both players sit in a quiet calmly awaiting the turn which ends up in the shape of the Jack of Hearts. Both players decide to make the decision to check the turn and when a Queen of Spades hits the river there a plethora of straights out there. With that river Demidov settles on a bet of 7 million and is called so quickly he has yet to grab the chips, upon which Demidov show’s As 10h for Ace high and sees that he has lost yet another big pot, this one to the Js 8s and with that the Danish contingent is showing there support! With that pot Peter Eastgate becomes the first player to amass 100 million chips.

Eastgate: 100,300,000
Demidov: 36,600,000

Now one is really beginning to wonder what will happen but bear in mind just one double up for Demidov and we will sit virtually even in chips.

After a few pots end with small raises preflop, one small pot that made it to the river and one that made it to the turn. We continue to see Eastgate keep control of this heads up match; it seems that no matter what is happening right now Demidov can’t catch a break whether he’s raising or calling he keeps ending the same way, with the chips going Peter Eastgate’s way. On hand #222 Demidov finally does something to slow Peter Eastgate. Demidov check raises the 1.25 million bet from Eastgate, on an un-raised preflop board that reads 8s Kh 6s. Making it 3.25 million to go and in turns draws a fold and wins the hand. With #225 hands in the books the chip counts are essentially the same with Demidov having gained back only two hundred thousand chips:

Eastgate: 100,100,000
Demidov: 36,800,000

After the completion of hand #232 Tournament Director Jack Effel stopped the action to announce to all of us here that we have set yet another record in this years event. We have now officially outlasted the 2005 Main Event Final Table in which Joe Hachem won in a staggering 14 hours and 10 minutes. One also has to bear in mind about that final table was that those players did not have any of the breaks seen here in this event. First they played the following day upon losing the 10th place player; as well they played from nine players straight down to the winner Joe Hachem. None the less this table does set a new record. After another 10 slow hands we get to set a second record! According to Jack Effel he believes that the next blind level (level #39) is the highest blind level in WSOP history. The blinds are now a staggering 500,000 & 1,000,000 with a 150,000 ante.

Finally on hand #251 we finally get some action of more then a raise preflop and a fold. The hand begins with Demidov opening from the Button for 2 million and draws a call in the form of a splash from Eastgate. After the dealer supplies a flop of Ks 5s 3h Peter Eastgate elects to check the action to Demidov, who obliges with a bet of 3.0 million and is called by Eastgate. At this point one has to wonder if we may see our first All-in. when the turn falls the 2s it is either a miracle card or a disaster card for the mighty Russian. After a check from Eastgate, Demidov allows the River card to come off the deck. That card is none other then the King of Hearts! Eastgate once again checks and immediately Demidov is reaching for some ammo, and settles on 6.5 million bullets which scares Eastgate away. With that Demidov has restored a little of the optimism of a possible come back. On the very next hand Eastgate opens from the button for 2.35 million and is quickly pushed to 8 million by Demidov drawing a fold from Eastgate. On the verge of the 255th hand of this final table and the 85th of heads up the chip counts are as follows:

Eastgate: 85,300,000
Demidov: 51,600,000

And with that we are almost back to square one!

After 7 hands of preflop raise and fold, including one walk given to Peter Eastgate we are seeing more of the same we have seen for about an hour. The next 5 hands are no different expect that we get two limped pots that are both won with a small bet on the flop.

Hand #267 seems to be the final nail in the coffin for Demidov after clawing back for the 3rd time. Once again gets over aggressive and finds a huge leg cut out from under him. The hand begins with Ivan raising to 2 million from the button and is called by Eastgate. When the flop is produced it reads Kd 10d 7c and both players elect to check, bringing a Jack of Diamonds on the turn. With this Eastgate leads out for 2 million and is quickly raised to 8 million by Demidov. After calling the turn Eastgate checks the river which is a Three of Spades and finds himself staring at a bet of 12 million from Demidov and Eastgate insta-calls the bet. Once again Demidov produces Ace high (Ac 9s) and sees that he has walked ass first into a flush (4d 7d) at the hands of Peter Eastgate. This is the biggest pot yet and it goes to Peter Eastgate over 44 Million! After this pot Demidov finds himself at his shortest point yet:

Eastgate: 109,000,000
Demidov: 27,900,000

The misfortune continues for Demidov who after making it 2 million on the flop and checking the turn, calls bets of 2.5 million and 4.5 million on the turn and river only to see that Eastgate made 3’s full on the turn (Board reads: 8s 8c 5c 3d 9c). This leaves Demidov now at 19.650 million. With that we come to our next 20 minute break and it doesn’t look good for the young Russian who it now appears will follow up his 3rd place performance in Europe with a 2nd place finish here.

Hand #274 is our first hand after the break and plays out as follows. Both Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov limp in preflop. With the board reading 2d Ks 3h Eastgate bets following the check from Demidov in the amount of 1.25 million. With the Four of Clubs on the turn Demidov checks once again. This draws a second bullet from Eastgate this time 2 million, which after some counting and fumbling with chips Demidov makes it 6 million to go. With that bet Demidov now finds himself beyond what may be the point of no return as half his stack sits in the middle of the betting line. After short deliberation Eastgate makes the call and immediately everyone is on their feet as the sense this could be the last hand. When the river hits the board it’s the Seven of Spades and quickly Ivan Demidov announces ALL-IN!!! AND IS SNAP!!! CALLED BY EASTAGTE! Upon which Demidov tables his hand as 4h 2h for 2 pair and is then shown the WHEEL BY EASTGATE (Ad 5s). With that we have our Main Event Champion PETER EASTGATE.

Ivan Demidov will receive $5,809,595 for his second place finish and his accomplishment between here and Europe will be rivaled by few. It is my opinion that only the feats of Johnny Chan (Main Event winner in 1987 and 1988 and then finished 2nd to Phil Hellmuth in 1989) and Dan Harrington (Finished 3rd in 2003 with 839 entrants & 4th place finish in 2004 with 2576 entrants).

For finishing first Peter Eastgate will join a very exclusive group of individual that includes Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Stu Ungar, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth Jr. and few others. Peter Eastgate’s besting of 6844 is the second largest field only to the one Jamie Gold (2006) beat. For his efforts he receives $9,152,416 USD which is the second largest prize in poker history only to Jamie Gold (2006) 12 Million. Another accolade that Peter Eastgate gets for his win is he has bested the “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth Jr.’s mark as the youngest ever champion.

From all of us here at PokerProp I would like to congratulate all those who participated in the November 9, and as well thank all of those of you who followed my up to the minute coverage of the goings on here in Las Vegas! So now I bade you farewell and wish you all luck in all your endeavors not just poker! Till next year so long!