I guess when Peter Eastgate says he is retiring from poker he is REALLY retiring from poker –going so far as to get rid of his 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship Bracelet. Eastgate announced he would be auctioning the 168 grams of 18k gold that also includes nearly 300 diamonds on EBay.
But don’t worry, Eastgate’s auctioning of his WSOP bracelet is not a cash-grab like we have seen from TJ Cloutier –who had pawned some of his poker trophies including a WSOP bracelet in the past. Eastgate plans to donate the proceeds from the sale to UNICEF.
Eastgate told the Danish poker site Pokernyhederne.com: “I am of course tremendously proud of my title, but I will never make use of the bracelet itself… I never wear jewelry, so I thought that I could put the bracelet to better use like this. Hopefully a lot of people will benefit from this. I hope that a lot of people will participate in the auction – every bid will support the many children that UNICEF helps”
Eastgate formally retired from professional poker in early May of 2010, and was later dropped from his sponsorship deal at PokerStars. At the time of his WSOP win Eastgate was the youngest champion in WSOP Main Event history at 22 years-old –later bested by 2009 Champion Joe Cada—and pocketed a massive $9.1 million in prize-money for the win.
The starting bid for Eastgate’s WSOP bracelet on EBay is $16,000; not bad considering the bracelet has a value of an estimated £10,000 on its own, without the historical significance associated with it.
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