Posts Tagged ‘Asia’
APPT Sydney Grand Final Kicks Off December 1st
The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is preparing to wrap up its 2009 schedule with the $6,300 AUD APPT Grand Final running from December 1st to 6th at the Star City Casino in Sydney. Team PokerStars Pros and former World Champions Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem are among the several hundred players expected to participate in the tour’s flagship tournament.
The APPT Sydney schedule kicked off with the $200 AUD Pink Diamond Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on November 22nd. Several other preliminary events are taking place before the Main Event gets underway, including a deep stack No Limit Hold’em tournament and a Pot Limit Omaha event. Once the Main Event is underway, side events include the $15,300 AUD High Roller, a $550 AUD Ladies Tournament, a $1,100 AUD team event, a $3,200 AUD Heads-Up event, and the $340 AUD Camp Quality Charity Event in aid of the Australian Children and Families Cancer Charity.
Last year, Martin Rowe defeated fellow Aussie Jason Gray for the APPT Grand Final title and $1 million AUD ($648,046) prize. The event was Aussie-dominated, as 39 of the 48 players who reached the money were from Down Under. The first ever APPT Grand Final was won by Grant Levy, who snagged USD $850,000 for his achievement and is now a member of Team PokerStars Pro Australia.
This season’s APPT champions – Dermot Blain, Simon Watt, and Dong-bin Han – won a seat to the APPT Grand Final as part of their victories. Blain collected $541,072 for his win at APPT Macau in August, while Watt earned $154,043 at APPT Auckland in October. Han took home $156,722 after claiming the APPT Cebu title earlier this month. The event in Cebu broke participation records for an event in the Philippines. The APPT Seoul event, scheduled for September 17th to 20th in South Korea, was postponed due to construction delays at the 7-Luck Casino and will be rescheduled once the construction is completed.
Overall, the APPT has been very pleased with the tour in 2009. Jeffrey Haas, President of the APPT, said: “This season’s APPT has been a great success with over a thousand players competing in the three events already held in Macau, Auckland, and Cebu. This has been made possible by massive enthusiasm for the tour right across the region. This season’s Grand Final in Sydney is set to cement the tour’s reputation for providing incredible events in great locations.”
On December 7th, the annual APPT Tournament of Champions event will take place. This invitation-only tournament features winners from the APPT as well as some of the biggest names in poker competing to help their favorite charities. The first year the tournament was held, Joe Hachem won; last season PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso took home the title.
Tags: 15, 2009, 5, Asia, Australia, charity, Joe Hachem, king, ladies, Macau, member, Omaha, Peter Eastgate, player, Poker, pokerstars, President, Pro, Sydney, tournament, usa, USD, Vanessa Rousso
Dong-bin Han wins APPT Cebu for $150,000
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu, Day 4: Han Bullies His Way to Title
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu, Day 3: Final Table Set
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu, Day 2: Han, Willcocks Pull Away from the Field
Asian Pacific Poker Tour – money bubble burst
APPT Cebu draws record-breaking numbers
A total of 319 players bought in to PokerStars' third foray into the Philippines. The field created a prize pool of $622,000, of which $158,000 will be awarded to the winner.
This year PokerStars shifted the event from downtown Manila to the five-star Shangri La Resort in the province of Cebu.
Players from 36 countries took part including players from as far as Mongolia, Sweden, Russia, Guam and the Ukraine.
APPT Cebu also drew a number of professional players including Team PokerStars Asia Pros Celina Lin, Tae Jun-Noh, Bryan Huang and Jonathan Lin as well as Team PokerStars Australian Pros Tony Hachem and Eric Assadourian.
Last year at APPT Manila, Australian Van Marcus beat Jun-Noh heads-up to take down a first-place prize of $162,856.
The 2009 edition of APPT Cebu will culminate with a final table this Sunday. The tour's next stop will be the Grand Final in Sydney, which takes place Dec. 1-6, 2009. Qualifiers for the event are currently running on PokerStars.com.
Visit PokerListings.com
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu, Day 1b: Record-Setting Field in the Philippines
Asian Pacific Poker Tour Cebu day 1a report
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu Day 1a: Fan Ends on Top
High Stakes Poker Season 6 Cast Released, Kara Scott Confirmed as Co-Host
In a press release distributed by cable station GSN on Thursday, Kara Scott was confirmed to be the new co-host of “High Stakes Poker,” replacing A.J. Benza. In addition, a list of 17 players was revealed.
Scott replaced Benza, who had flanked “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” announcing booth for the first five seasons. Scott’s role will not be play-by-play; instead, the television personality and expert poker player will “report from the High Stakes Poker suite, interviewing poker players about poker strategy, big hands, and the table dynamics,” according to network officials. The show will take on the same feel as NBC’s “Poker After Dark” for its sixth season. The two franchises are produced by the same company, Poker PROductions.
Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Valentine’s Day – Sunday, February 14th, 2010 – at 8:00pm ET. Encore presentations will air at 11:00pm ET and 2:00am ET on Sunday nights, meaning that poker fans have three chances to catch new episodes every week. Each of its contestants coughed up $200,000 of their own money as a minimum buy-in.
Five players are making their first appearance on “High Stakes Poker,” including Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. The youngster has been on a tear on the live poker circuit despite only weighing in at 21 years of age. Timoshenko was born in the Ukraine and won the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million. In September, Timoshenko took down the Main Event of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for another $1.7 million and is a former winner of the Asian Poker Tour’s (APT) Macau feature tournament.
Also making his debut on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” is Dennis Phillips, who gained notoriety by making back-to-back deep runs in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Last year, Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in gala for $4.5 million after entering the final table as the chip leader. Phillips came armed to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio with a throng of followers donning red St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps and white button up shirts. This year, Phillips finished 45th for $178,000 after being sent to the rails when an opponent made a flush with A-K suited; Phillips also held A-K.
High-stakes cash game player Sammy George will be right at home in the Golden Nugget when filming of the GSN poker franchise kicks off next week. George, who has earned the nickname “Any Two,” was scheduled to face off against Tom Dwan in the live version of the Durrrr Challenge in London back in September. However, the festivities never took place, although organizer Eddie Hearn noted that the mano-a-mano live contest may occur in December in Las Vegas. Dwan will take to the felts once again as part of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 after making his debut last season.
Returning to “High Stakes Poker” after a two season hiatus is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who currently appears on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.” Ivey last appeared on the GSN series back in Season 3 and is seeking his third WSOP bracelet of 2009 when the Main Event resumes on Saturday from the Rio. Ivey has career tournament winnings in excess of $12 million and is the horse of many pros in this weekend’s Main Event final table.
Andreas Hoivold and Lex Veldhuis will both be appearing on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time during Season 6. Returning to the program are Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, and Daniel Negreanu. The season will once again be taped at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas from November 11th to 13th.
Tags: 15, 2009, 2010, 5, aced, After Dark, Asia, Barry Greenstein, cash game player, Daniel Negreanu, David Benyamine, Dennis Phillips, Downtown Las, Doyle Brunson, durrrr, Eli Elezra, Gabe Kaplan, game player, high stakes, High Stakes Poker, interview, kara scott, king, Las Vegas, leader, London, Macau, member, Mike Matusow, NBC, Online Poker, Patrik Antonius, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, player, Poker, Poker After Dark, poker player, pokerstars, Pro, St. Louis, Tom Dwan, tournament, vegas, World Championship, World Poker Tour, WSOP
PokerStars Announces UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT)
PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, has introduced the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT). A total of nine events will play out beginning in Galway on December 11th.
The first UK-based event will be held in Manchester on February 11th at the Grosvenor G Casino. The Galway event, which serves as the kickoff tournament of the inaugural UKIPT series, will be part of the Irish Poker Championships. Players will descend upon the Radisson Hotel for the €2,000 buy-in event and the tournament crowns a champion on December 14th. In 2009, The Irish Poker Championship was brought to you by PartyPoker and saw 24 year-old Rory Rees Brennan bank €160,000 for the win in its Main Event. Seven out of the top ten finishers were Irish.
Team PokerStars Pro member Vicky Coren, a Brit, discussed the newest poker tour in a press release distributed this week: “This is an incredibly exciting addition to the range of PokerStars live events. Here is our own local British and Irish tour, nicely accessible for those who can’t travel abroad very often or who save their foreign travel for larger international events.” Champions of UKIPT events will take home an entry into the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) London Main Event next October. PokerStars officials noted that EPT London will also serve as the UKIPT Championship Event.
Here is the schedule for the first-ever running of the UKIPT:
UKIPT Galway (Ireland): December 11th to 14th
Radisson Hotel
€2,000 buy-in (9% juice)
UKIPT Manchester (United Kingdom): February 11th to 14th
Grosvenor G Casino
£500+50 buy-in
UKIPT Coventry (United Kingdom): April 8th to 11th
Grosvenor G Casino
£500+50 buy-in
UKIPT Nottingham (United Kingdom): May 13th to 16th
Dusk Till Dawn
£500+50 buy-in
UKIPT Killarney (Ireland): June 24th to 27th
Gleneagles
€1,000+100 buy-in
UKIPT Brighton (United Kingdom): July 15th to 18th
Rendezvous
£1,000+100 buy-in
UKIPT Scotland: TBA
Venue is TBA
£1,000+100 buy-in
UKIPT Dublin (Ireland): September 9th to 12th
Burlington Hotel
€1,000+100 buy-in
UKIPT London (United Kingdom): October 1st to 10th
Hilton Metropole
£5,000+250 buy-in
UKIPT tournaments are expected to attract some of the top names in the poker industry, including PokerStars sponsored pros Coren and Teddy Sheringham. The former added that the presence of the UKIPT in Northern Europe will continue to grow the game: “The buy-ins are great: big enough to make chunky prize pools, not so big that they’re a huge drain on resources. It’s about time there was a serious, respected tournament with a £500 buy-in, like the new ones in Manchester, Coventry, and Nottingham.”
Ireland has laid claim to a crop of accomplished poker players, including Andy Black, who finished fifth in the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $1.75 million, a tournament ultimately won by Joe Hachem. Black finished seventh in the 2007 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final for nearly $320,000 and won an event during the PartyPoker Premier League in London in early 2008 for $250,000. Other top-tier Irish players include Liam Flood, bracelet winner Noel Furlong, Ciarán O’Leary, Marty Smyth, and Padraig Parkinson.
PokerStars also sponsors the EPT, Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), and Italian Poker Tour (IPT). Its marquee land-based event is the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which takes place each January at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. In 2010, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is a stop on the LAPT and EPT circuits.
PokerStars will host a £10,000 freeroll for the top 100 players on the UKIPT leaderboard at the end of its first season. The top three players will also receive sponsorship opportunities to play in the second UKIPT season. Visit PokerStars for satellite information.
Tags: 15, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5, Asia, buy-ins, Caribbean, Dublin, EUR, Europe, european, European Poker Tour, freeroll, Ireland, irish poker, Joe Hachem, Killarney, king, leader, London, member, Noel Furlong, Online Poker, online poker site, player, Poker, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, Russia, Russian Poker Tour, tournament, United Kingdom, WSOP
Macau Poker Cup breaks attendance record
PokerStars sponsored player Kitty Kuo from Taipei booked the win and HKD $550,000 first-place prize defeating PokerStars Team Pro Asia's Tae Joon Noh heads-up.
The field also included PokerStars Team Pro Asia members Celina Lin, Raymond
Wu and Jonathan Lin, 2008 PokerStars APPT Macau High Roller champ Nam Le and two-time World Champion Johnny Chan.
Plus, 2009 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro, who told PokerListings last month he was headed to Macau to play in some of the biggest cash games in the world, also played.
The 247 entrants and HKD $2.3 million prize pool smashed the previous Chinese record of 168 and HKD $1.6 million respectively.
The regional tournament series will finish up with the HKD $20,000 Macau Poker Cup Championship Dec. 12-20 featuring a guaranteed prized pool of HKD $2 Million.
Players can qualify for a seat on PokerStars.
PokerStars Macau also hosts a weekly HKD $2,500 tournament with an HKD $90,000 guaranteed prize pool.
For more information, check out the PokerStars Macau website.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2008, 2009, 5, Asia, Johnny Chan, king, London, Macau, member, player, Poker, poker player, pokerstars, Pro, tournament
Anurag Dikshit, The Founder Of PartyGaming, Leaves The Company
According to EGRMagazine, the Indian millonaire and founder of PartyGaming, Anurag Dikshit leaves the company completely.
Earlier today Anurag Dikshit announced that he is selling his 28% share of PartyGaming and will focus on charity work at Asia.
But now Anurag’s spokesman, Shimon Cohen, told EGRMagazine that Dikshit will sell his remaining stake too. All the profit (around 180 million pounds) will go to charity.
Dikshit pleaded guilty to internet gambling charges under the US Wire Act (UIGEA) last December and had to pay a $300 million fine.
“Anurag has a charitable foundation that has been running for a number of years that he would like to be able to transfer the proceeds into, and to continue to do the works of the charitable foundation.” Cohen concludes the brief.
Source: EGRMagazine
You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com
Anurag Dikshit, The Founder Of PartyGaming, Leaves The Company
Simon Watt Wins APPT Auckland
Hometown hero Simon Watt bested Frenchman Gerome Guitteau in the finale of the Asian Pacific Poker Tour’s (APPT) Auckland Main Event. Watt banked NZ $209,000 for his efforts, or US $156,000 at current exchange rates.
Michael Shinzak hit the rail in ninth place, earning NZ $14,000. He pushed all-in pre-flop over the top of a raise by Guitteau, who promptly called and flipped up A-J. Shinzak showed just K-5 and the board ran out 7-A-10-9-K, giving Guitteau top pair. Lance Climo was sent packing in eighth place after his chips hit the middle pre-flop with A-10. However, he picked an inopportune time to put his tournament life on the line, as Watt tabled A-K. The turn was a king, sealing Watt’s win in the hand, and Climo earned NZ $18,000.
Assadour Assadourian, who finished 31st in APPT Auckland last year, was up to his winning ways once again in 2009 and claimed seventh place for NZ $23,000. The Aussie shoved after a flop of 7-8-J with two hearts holding Q-J for top pair. However, Guitteau held 8-7 for bottom two pair. The turn came a deuce and, needing a two, jack, or queen on the river to draw out, Assadourian saw the four of spades hit the board. Jens Walther was then bumped in sixth place after losing a race with A-Q against Guitteau’s pocket fives.
The next to go was Richard Lancaster, a Kiwi who pushed pre-flop with A-K and was called by Guitteau, who turned over A-Q. The flop came a seemingly benign 3-J-8, but a 10 on the turn gave Guitteau a gutshot straight draw if a king hit. The river – you guessed it – the king of diamonds, giving Guitteau a runner-runner straight for the win.
Chinese poker player Ke Sijia hit the skids in fourth place in APPT Auckland. Sijia called all-in after a board of J-2-10-3 with two diamonds and two hearts holding 9-10 of hearts for second pair and a flush draw. He was up against Guitteau, who held J-7 of diamonds for top pair and a flush draw of his own. The river came the queen of diamonds, filling Guitteau’s flush and lining Sijia’s pockets with NZ $55,000 for his fourth place showing. The pot gave Guitteau the chip lead three-handed.
Jason Brown saw his bankroll grow by NZ $82,000 for finishing third in Auckland. Brown ran pocket fives into Watt’s pocket kings and watched the board come 4-K-A-6-6, giving Watt a boat. The misfire left Brown crippled and he pushed on the next hand with K-4, up against Guitteau’s J-9. The flop came nine-high and Brown could never catch up. Watt and Guitteau were nearly even in chips entering heads-up play.
In the final hand of the APPT Auckland feature tournament, Guitteau’s tournament life was on the line with K-7 of clubs against Watt’s wired pair of fives. The flop came Q-6-J, which was no help to either player, and the board filled out 9-J. Guitteau earned NZ $142,000 for his runner-up showing. Here were the final table results from APPT Auckland:
1. Simon Watt (New Zealand) – NZ $209,085
2. Gerome Guitteau (France) – NZ $142,020
3. Jason Brown (New Zealand) – NZ $82,845
4. Ke Sijia (China) – NZ $55,230
5. Richard Lancaster (New Zealand) – NZ $42,606
6. Jens Walther (Germany) – NZ $31,560
7. Assadour Assadourian (Australia) – NZ $23,670
8. Lance Climo (New Zealand) – NZ $18,936
9. Michael Shinzaki (United States) – NZ $14,202
All but three of the final nine runners in the event were PokerStars qualifiers. The world’s largest online poker site serves as the presenting sponsor of the APPT circuit, which now heads to Cebu in the Philippines on November 11th. The PHP 100,000 buy-in tournament (approximately $2,150) will be held at the Shangri-la Mactan Resort.
Tags: 15, 2009, 5, Asia, Australia, China, France, king, Online Poker, online poker site, player, Poker, poker player, poker site, pokerstars, Pro, qualifier, queen, Rome, runner, runner-up, tournament, United States
Simon Watt Wins APPT Auckland Main Event
Amazing Race: Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Finish Sixth in Dubai
Fresh off being spared elimination last week in Cambodia after a rival team lost their passports, poker players Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho finished sixth in the Dubai leg of the CBS reality series “Amazing Race.”
Teams began in Cambodia, where brothers Sam and Dan departed at 12:25pm. The clue instructed the “Amazing Race” competitors to fly to the Persian Gulf to find the world’s tallest building. Teams had to figure out on their own that the clue meant traveling to Dubai, United Arab Emirates to find the Burj Dubai, a building that is twice the height of New York City’s Empire State Building. Once there, they had to sign up for one of two elevator rides to the top. Michelle and Ho were the final squad to leave the Cambodia Pit Stop, departing at 12:55pm.
On the fate of the racers who misplaced their passports last week, Michelle noted, “It’s unfortunate what happened to Zev and Justin, but the rules are the rules. We’re appreciative for the lucky chances and we think we can be contenders.” All teams traveled to Dubai on the same flight and, once there, Michelle and Ho quickly righted the ship and left the airport in second place. They were the first team to arrive at the Burj Dubai and signed up for the 5:30am elevator ride, which carried four teams. The second lift departed at 5:45am.
Once at the top, the clue instructed teams to go to a parking structure at the nearby Dubai Mall, find a marked car, drive to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, and ride 4×4s to their next clue. They also received information about the only Fast Forward on this installment of “Amazing Race.” The first team that completed the Fast Forward would be able to skip all tasks on the leg and head straight for the Pit Stop. However, dating couple Meghan and Cheyne were the only team to attempt the task, which was to head to the Dubai Autodrome and drive an F3 racecar through a course in less than 45 seconds.
Michelle and Ho elected not to go for the Fast Forward and instead headed for the Conservation Center. On the way, Ho remarked, “Lots of sand in Dubai. Aside from the heat, this is an amazing place.” Once they arrived, a Roadblock, which is a task that only one team member can perform, was waiting for them. The challenge featured teams grabbing a traditional water bag and searching for water than had been placed in urns and buried in the sand. Several dry urns were also scattered, making the challenge tougher. Upon finding water, the team member had to fill their bag. Michelle performed the Roadblock, but came up dry on her first attempts.
Meanwhile, Cheyne registered 40 seconds on his F3 lap and received a clue to head to the Pit Stop, the amphitheater at Souk Madinat Jumeirah. Back in the desert, Brian, one-half of married couple Brian and Ericka, told Michelle where to find water, which allowed the last woman standing in the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event to complete the task. Upon leaving the Roadblock, Ho ran over a stake in the ground, which punctured her car’s radiator. A replacement car was provided and Ho remarked, “I have an excuse because I’m an Asian female driver.”
Teams then made their way to Ski Dubai, a massive indoor ski resort in the middle of the urban metropolis. There, they encountered the leg’s Detour, a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. The first option was “Build a Snowman,” in which teams had to carry snow from the wintry inside of Ski Dubai to the 120 degree heat outside and build a traditional snowman before Mother Nature melted their creation. Teams could also select “Find a Snowman,” in which they took a chairlift to the top of the massive Ski Dubai slope and then sledded down to the bottom, where they had to search through a giant pile of snow for a tiny snowman.
Michelle and Ho elected to find a snowman; however, the duo quickly grew frustrated and switched. Meanwhile, after not being able to find their way out of Dubai to the Conservation Reserve, engaged couple Lance and Keri were the last to leave the Roadblock, could not catch up, and were eliminated this week. After building their snowman, Michelle and Ho checked into the Pit Stop on Dubai in sixth place, ensuring another week on “Amazing Race.”
Next week, the seven teams still in contention for the $1 million first place prize remain in Dubai and head to the Atlantis Resort, which is similar to its counterpart in the Bahamas that hosts the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic. “Amazing Race” airs at 8:00pm ET on CBS on Sunday nights.
PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland: Simon Watt Keeps the Title In New Zealand
Pokerstars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland Day 3: The Final Table is Set
Pokerstars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland Day 2: Jason Brown Holds Massive Chip Lead
Jason Brown Leads Last 32 at APPT Auckland
PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland Day 1b: Climo Leads, Hachem Hits Royal Flush
PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland Day 1b: Climo Leads, Tony Hachem Hits Royal Flush
Climo Up the Ranks – Lance Climo Holds APPT Lead
Emad Tahtouh Holds Day 1a Chip Lead at APPT Auckland
PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland Day 1a: Emad Tahtouh Leaps Ahead of the Pack
The PokerNews Jet Set: Auckland
Aaron Gustavson takes the EPT London title
"I'm overwhelmed right now. The money is obviously amazing and having a title is amazing. It's a dream come true."
The final table started quickly with Moroccan Karim Bennani busting eighth.
PokerStars Team Asia pro Raymond Wu was the next to go, forced to push in with a less than premium hand and failing to get past Gustavson.
Portugal's Rui Milhomen then took sixth losing a race to Eastgate that put the 2008 WSOP Main Event champ in the lead.
The last Brit left, Dominic Cullen was the next to go, busting fifth when he ran ace-ten into Eastgate's eights and failed to improve.
Left short when he doubled up Nikolai Senninger, Martin Gudvangen shoved ace-three into Senninger's ace-queen shortly thereafter to bow out fourth.
Eastgate continued to hold the lead three-handed until Senninger got it in really bad with eights and two over cards on the board against Aaron Gustavson - who happened to have top pair and the will to make the call.
Heads-up started with Gustavson holding a near 2-1 chip lead and it lasted all of seven hands when Eastgate shipped it with ace-nine and was completely dominated by Gustavson's ace-queen.
A disappointed Eastgate said he was still satisfied with his play throughout.
"I'm happy with the way I played getting to heads-up," he said. "Heads-up was very few hands, but until the last hand, I can't fault myself for anything.
"I won a half million pounds, so you can't really ask for much more than that."
Although Eastgate's presence in the final stole the headlines coming in, Gustavson actually entered the final with a massive chip lead.
But rather than try to bully his way to the win, he stayed patient throughout.
"There were like three or four shorter stacks, so I couldn't open very wide because I knew they'd be shoving light," he said. "I had to make sure I could call their shoves when I was opening, so I definitely just sat back and waited for hands I could call their shoves with.
"I didn't need to go crazy. If I was in late position I could raise light, but I pretty much just played solid hands."
Primarily an online pro, Gustavson, whose biggest cash to date was a win in the PokerStars Sunday Warm Up for $135,010 this past July, credits the Two Plus Two Poker Forum for helping improve his game dramatically.
"I've been playing poker pretty seriously for two or three years, but when I started studying the forums more and posting on the forums, definitely over the last six to eight months, it took my game to the next level," he said.
For a look at all the action from the PokerStars EPT London final table check out PokerListings' Live Updates.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2008, 5, Asia, Las Vegas, London, Peter Eastgate, Poker, pokerstars, Pro, queen, tournament, vegas, WSOP
World Champ Eastgate headlines EPT London final
"It sounds strange, but I actually kind of felt more nervous at this table than at the Main Event," said Eastgate, who eventually booked his seat in the London final and will come into Wednesday's playdown to a champion sitting second in chips.
"I've lost quite a bit since I won the World Series and I think that's the reason why. I think the losses have had an effect on my demeanor and my confidence."
Poker's world title appears to bring more than fame and fortune. It often invites criticism and Eastgate has had more than his share of people questioning his game over the past year.
But ultimately he plays to win, not to silence his critics.
"I don't feel like I need to prove anything," he said. "But should I win this, that would certainly solidify my victory at the World Series and quiet all the doubters.
"It's not something I think about, though. I don't take that much prestige in what others think of my poker talents. I love the game, I'm very passionate about the game, and I'm not necessarily giving that much thought to other people's respect."
Born and raised in Odense, Denmark, Eastgate moved to London after winning the Main Event and said he has particularly enjoyed playing at home this week.
"That's one of the things I don't like about playing poker tournaments all around the world," the Team PokerStars Pro said. "Staying in hotel rooms, you can't get decent food or sleep all the time.
"At home you can get a decent, healthy meal and sleep in your own bed."
When he awakes tomorrow after a night in his own bed and heads into the final with a legitimate shot at EPT London's £850,000 first-place prize, Eastgate plans on feeling awake, refreshed and as confident as he can be.
"I am feeling confident, but the players I'll be up against tomorrow, they are all very fierce and competent players," he said. "It's going to be very tough. The average player nowadays is so much better than even a year ago."
23-year-old Las Vegas pro Aaron Gustavson will come into the final with a massive chip lead holding twice as many chips as Eastgate and the almost-equally stacked Martin Gudvangen from Bergen, Norway.
The middle of the pack includes 19-year-old German Nikolai Senninger, Nottingham's Dominic Cullen and PokerStars Team Asia pro Raymond Wu.
Portugal's Rui Milhomens and Morocco's Karim Bennani are the shortest stacks.
For all the action from Wednesday's final at PokerStars EPT London, including chip counts, photos and live updates, click through to PokerListings' Live Tournaments page beginning at 12 p.m. BST.
Visit PokerListings.com
Lady Gaga invited to Irish Poker Festival
Tags: Asia, irish poker, Killarney, Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival, Macau, Poker, Poker Festival, Pro, singer