Eastgate, Demidov Join Team PokerStars Pro
Team PokerStars Pro has just announced its latest casting coups, confirming the ongoing presence on its roster the presence of two young European players who made poker history in 2008: Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov.
Last year, Danish pro Peter Eastgate outlasted 6,843 other players to become the youngest-ever World Series main event champion at the tender age of 22, earning himself the first-place prize money of $9 million and change, the priceless gold bracelet, and a place in the history books. With this win, Eastgate smashed a record that had stood for 19 years, ever since a 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth, Jr. won the main event in 1989. Before his historic run at the 2008 WSOP, Eastgate got his start playing poker on PokerStars when he was fresh out of high school, and went on to noteworthy finishes in the 2007 Irish Poker Open and 2008 European Poker Tour. Most recently, he cashed in the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event and won the $5,000 NL Hold'em side event.
Ivan Demidov, who hails from Moscow, Russia, made his mark on poker history when he became the first player to ever reach the final table of both the World Series of Poker and the World Series of Poker Europe main events – in the same year, no less. Demidov's third-place showing at the 2008 WSOPE earned him $608,995, and just a few weeks later he pocketed $5,809,595 for taking second place at the 2008 WSOP main event. Since this unprecedented accomplishment, Demidov has gone on to cash in several major tournaments around Europe.
Both Eastgate and Demidov signed on with PokerStars during their deep runs at the 2008 WSOP, and confirmed their continuing relationship with the online giant here. These two men, who battled each other for over four hours at the WSOP final table last year, will now be working together under the PokerStars banner. Demidov in particular is proud to be working alongside a pro player who has been a personal inspiration to him: "I was inspired to do well at this year's WSOP after watching the success of fellow countryman and Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko – so to join the team and play alongside him is a real honor."
PokerStars continues its strong tradition regarding WSOP Main Event winners, with former world champs Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, and Chris Moneymaker all currently on Team PokerStars Pro, with former world champ Tom McEvoy also an official "Friend" of the site. Of the new recruits, another illustrious Team PokerStars Pro, Daniel Negreanu observed, "I've played against Ivan at the WSOP-E and also watched them both closely throughout the WSOP final table – both players represent the young new rising poker talent emerging in Europe and they're a great addition to the team."
Both of the new Team PokerStars Pros can be found playing on PokerStars, under the screen names "PeteEastgate" and "Ivan Demidov".
