"The competition in Scandinavia is not like it is anywhere else in the world."
These were the words of Peter Eastgate, spoken in Copenhagen, Denmark, tonight. Eastgate, for those cave-dwellers among us, is the man who made the journey from Scandinavia to Las Vegas last summer, then went back in November, and only returned to his native Europe when he had $9 million in his pocket as the 2008 World Series of Poker champion.
Tonight he was collecting his prize as winner of the best all-round performance at the Scandinavian Poker Awards, given on the eve of the fifth EPT event to be held in Copenhagen. He offered a knowing tribute to the region that schooled him; the undisputed hotbed of poker talent through five years of the European Poker Tour.
Double-award winner Peter Eastgate
Talk to any poker player who is serious about the game and they say: "Fear the Scandis." And no one was surprised late last year that a Dane was the last man standing at the big dance. Appropriately also, no one begrudged Eastgate his award tonight -- even he knew he was a hot favourite. "I would have been very disappointed if I didn't win," Eastgate said. "But I am very happy with this prize. It means a lot to me."
Eastgate actually secured two gongs on his night on home soil. He was also awarded the Rookie of the Year trophy in addition to his main prize, kind of the equivalent of winning the $5,000 side event at the PCA to compliment your World Series Main Event success. Eastgate did this too, of course, proving if ever proof were needed that he is the real deal and looking to cement his place at the top of the poker standings for many years to come.
Watch Scandinavian Poker Awards: Highlights on PokerStars.tv
He was not alone. The full list of prize winners tonight (representing a pretty good success for Finland, especially for a country not actually in Scandinavia) is as follows:
Best live player: Patrik Antonius (Finland)
Best online player: Ilari Sahamies (Finland)
Rookie of the year: Peter Eastgate (Denmark)
Female player of the year: Magdalena In De Betou (Sweden)
All round performance of the year: Peter Eastgate (Denmark)
Magdalena In de Betou
So this was the curtain raiser to what seems certain to be another terrific European Poker Tour event. We begin tomorrow at Casino Copenhagen for the first of two flights of day one, from where we will play to a champion on Saturday. As ever, we're expecting a record-breaking turn-out, somewhere in the region of 500 players, and probably considerably more.
The usual smattering of massive poker stars have all made the trip to the snow-covered Danish capital, and we'll know all the details tomorrow. Be sure to join us as we welcome the EPT back to the lion's den.
