Peter Eastgate flogs his WSOP bracelet...

The latest thing that has the poker world talking is the news that Peter Eastgate is selling his WSOP Main Event bracelet on eBay. I was a bit sceptical when I first saw the auction page (here), as the seller is "petereastgate (0)". Personally I wouldn't bother trying to sell a friendship bracelet on eBay with a "0" rating. I know that I'm not even looking at the page unless the person has at least a fair few token 'A+++' comments! It does appear that it is legitimate though, and he is donating the proceeds to the charity UNICEF.

It's hard to rag on anyone for raising money for charity. However, to me it seems almost sacrilegious to sell off the bracelet. When you think about how insanely good you have to run to win the WSOP Main Event (see Jonathan Duhamel this year...and that's only in hands that were televised!), it's almost like you're being ungrateful that you won the damn thing! Out of the 6,843 other entrants in the 2008 Main Event field, and the hundreds of thousands of poker players around the world that wish they had such a bracelet, I bet most can't understand his decision.

I would think a very small percentage of people would do the same thing. Admittedly it was reported earlier in the year that TJ Cloutier had pawned off one of his WSOP bracelets, and the pawnbroker subsequently listed it on eBay. However that was more out of financial necessity (busto!) than anything. Okay, in this case it's going to a good cause as opposed to the craps pit, but I don't buy that as enough of a reason to sell the bracelet. If Eastgate wanted to donate money equal to the amount the bracelet is likely to raise then he surely could.

It seems Peter Eastgate has become somewhat disillusioned by poker, as evidenced by his retirement from poker, and therefore from his cushy role as a PokerStars Pro, earlier this year. Perhaps, as you often read about when people win the lottery, he feels his win has had a negative impact on his life, and that's the reason he is selling his bracelet. Maybe he simply wants to 'move on'. Or it could be that Peter feels his bank balance is souvenir enough of his main event win!

Yet, as if selling the bracelet isn't sacrilegious enough (imo), Tony G has vowed to win the auction and turn the bracelet into a dog collar! Perhaps the next "dogs in poker" painting you see will feature one of the dogs rockin' some major WSOP bling?

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James Atkin