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A 22-year-old Dane rated
6,941st in poker's rankings became the youngest champion at
the World Series of Poker's richest event, collecting $9.15
million in Las Vegas on Nov. 11.
Peter Eastgate, known as
the ``Ice Skate,'' won the longest final in series history
by defeating Russia's Ivan Demidov -- another low-ranked
player who learned his poker on Internet sites -- to eclipse
Phil Hellmuth, a 24-year-old winner in 1989.
 ``I wasn't thinking about
the records or anything like that, I just was thinking about
playing my game,'' Eastgate said.
The final, held at the Rio
All-Suites Hotel-Casino, started with nine players and
lasted 15 hours and 28 minutes -- 78 minutes longer than the
previous longest final table in 2005.
In July, more than 6,800
participants began in what is officially called the World
Championship No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. It's known as the Main
Event because it's the richest of more than 50 tournaments
on a circuit founded in the 1970s.
The 27-year-old Demidov,
ranked 425th, won $5.8 million for finishing second.
Eastgate's paycheck was the second-largest in series history
after the $12 million won by 2006 World Series of Poker
champion Jamie Gold.
``I don't know right now,''
said Eastgate, when asked in a televised interview how he
would spend the money. ``I haven't planned.''
Scandinavia is proving a
hotbed for poker. Last year, Norway's Annette Obrestad won 1
million pounds ($1.5 million) at the World Series of Poker
Europe in London to become the youngest winner in series
history at age 18. She's too young to compete in the U.S.,
where the minimum age is 21.
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