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A 22-year-old college dropout from Denmark won the World Series of Poker and its $9.15 million prize, then spent the night partying with friends at a suite reserved for this city’s biggest gamblers.

And why not? He’s one of them.

Peter Eastgate became the tournament’s youngest champion early Tuesday, making a wheel straight and eliminating his final opponent, 27-year-old semiprofessional card player Ivan Demidov. Demidov held two pair, twos and fours, when Eastgate called his all-in bet.

Phil Hellmuth, perhaps poker’s most famous ambassador, was 24 in 1989 when he won the first of his 11 tournament titles.

Eastgate hit poker’s jackpot about 2 1/2 years after he started playing no-limit Texas Hold ‘em from high school friends in Denmark. He said he tried college for a week, but got into poker and found out he was good enough to make a living as a pro. He started at the lowest stakes and worked up to build a sizable bankroll.
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Eastgate now wants to take a long vacation with his family before examining his options, although a life of scholarship might not be one of them.

“I’m not necessarily going back to college, but I will look for more opportunities to become a more wise person,” he told.

After capturing the tournament and the gold bracelet that goes to the winner, Eastgate celebrated with some two dozen friends and family at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in a room that’s usually the territory of A-list celebrity guests.

Eastgate had said he would have been happy with a top-five finish, but he thought he had a chance to win it all after eliminating a few players from the final table.

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