Since Peter Eastgate sold his WSOP bracelet, the one that bought it kept his identity a secret. Until now. It is finally public, who the mysterious man was. We know that it was not Tony G he acknowledged he couldn’t win the auction, and not even some major poker room as many predicted, but Scottish businessman, William Haughey.
As I wrote in November, Peter Eastgate put his 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet up for auction in November. The Danish pro didn’t need the money, he offered 100% of the profits to UNICEF. The $16,000 starting price rose quickly, the final bid was $147,500 at the auction’s end.
It turned out recently that the new owner of the bracelet is a Scottish businessman, William Haughey. Haughey became a millionaire while leading his own refrigeration company. In the previous 5 years, he donated more than $50 million to various charities, but he also donates money to his favourite soccer club, the Celtic FC.
Haughey gave the check to UNICEF‘s ambassador, Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the Manchester United football team and Joanne Andrews, representative of the UNICEF (in the picture above). $147,500 was exchanged to £94,000, and Haughey thought he would donate a round sum instead, so he paid £100,000, which looks much more impressive on the photo.
Haughey is also a huge fan of poker, he played a few live tournaments in his life and he was quite successful sometimes, in April 2008 he won the EPT Monte Carlo €500 NLHE side event and has 4 WSOP money finishes. According to the Hendon Mob database, he won $275,000 throughout his career.
