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Fearless Dane not afraid to ask

Denmark certainly has a burgeoning reputation in the poker world with the fearless Gus Hansen perhaps their most famous poker export with his success all around the world, writes Rob Eddy.

However, it is not all about the Great Dane as Jesper Hougaard proved by doing something that Hansen has not done yet and that is winning a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas earlier this year.

And to prove that was no fluke, Hougaard became the first poker player to win a bracelet on each side of the Atlantic by grabbing his second at this year's WSOP Europe in London, presented by Betfair.

There is also a new kid on the Danish block with Peter Eastgate looking to break a record of his own by becoming the youngest winner of the WSOP Main Event, and eclipsing Phil Hellmuth's record, when he returns to the baize with the rest of the 'November Nine'.

Prior to his performance in Las Vegas, his biggest tournament poker payday came with a ninth place finish at the Irish Open last year, in which he banked $46,714, but that has been put well and truly into the shade by making the WSOP ME final table.

However, that is not to say he has not been making his talent pay as he is ranked in the top five online players in Denmark, with comparisons being made to the more famous Hansen.

Speaking of the comparison, Danish poker pro Jacob Rasmussen said: "It's more like Gus Hansen is the first Peter Eastgate."

Despite his reputation for fearless play, the 22-year-old Eastgate has not been afraid to garner some advice ahead of his Las Vegas return.

"I've been in contact with a numerous amount of pros - both famous and lesser-known competent poker players - to hear their take on ideas on playing the final table and how they would approach it strategically and go through a lot of possible scenarios." Eastgate said.

"But I believe the primary focus is the mental pressure for playing for a huge amount of life-changing money, which does not involve technical or positional hand analysis, but keeping the nerves cool and mind clear even if things get rough."

In his bid for glory and a new record, Eastgate will be in seat nine with healthy chip stack of 18,375,000, the fourth largest of the remaining players with Dennis Phillips leading the way with 26,295,000.

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