Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Poker News Daily. Before our readers could get their fill of turkey today, the industry learned that Peter Eastgate’s 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event bracelet, which had been up for auction on eBay, sold for $147,500 after 116 bids. The winning bid went to “7***l,” whose full identity has been preserved per eBay privacy rules.
The winning buyer had no previous history with eBay. Instead, they bid nine times on Eastgate’s bracelet, which nearly doubled in value in the final 24 hours of bidding. The victor has received no feedback and had no bid retractions throughout the course of the sale. The final bid came in at 5:38am PT today and the auction closed about a half hour later.
Eastgate put the heirloom up for auction to benefit UNICEF. Earlier this year, the 2008 WSOP Main Event champ abruptly retired from poker and instead sought refuge watching his home nation of Denmark battle it out in the World Cup. He did not appear at this year’s WSOP.
Earlier this morning, posters on TwoPlusTwo reported a bid of $150,017, which was retracted minutes before the auction came to an end. By the end of the fierce bidding war, one poster tipped his hat to the Danish PokerStars pro for his generosity: “Sold for $147.5K going to UNICEF. Peter Eastgate is one classy individual. My hats off to him.”
The starting price for the bracelet was $16,000 and, eight days after the auction began, the asking price soared into the six-figures. If you missed out on the bracelet, Eastgate is also selling a Corum watch that has a starting bid of $5,000. Like his other piece of hardware, all proceeds will go to charity.
Here is the full description of the watch as given on eBay’s website in case you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas present: “Corum timepiece specially made for the WSOP 2008 and engraved with Peter Eastgate’s name and final table starting chip stack (18,375,000). Swiss made water resistant with black leather strap. Stainless steel case with black Roman numeral. Black pattern designed face with hand painted green circle with a red diamond symbolizing the game of poker.”
The bidding on the watch will end on December 3rd. So far, there has been no action on the item.
According to eBay, $142,915.50 will be donated to UNICEF for Eastgate’s bracelet, while $4,587.50, or 3%, will be given to MissionFish, eBay’s nonprofit beneficiary. Text found on eBay’s website explains, “These deductions enable MissionFish to screen, train, and support nonprofits; process each donation; maintain technology; and handle administrative costs.” MissionFish is “dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations successfully raise funds online.”
