William Haughey Identified as Buyer of Peter Eastgate Main Event Bracelet

When poker pro Peter Eastgate’s WSOP Main Event 2008 Bracelet was auctioned off on eBay about a month ago, it sparked off a lot of speculation about the identity of the buyer, which was natural enough in the circumstances but the mystery remained unsolved. That is, until now!

It seems that a famous Scottish philanthropist named William Haughey with poker affiliations has been the one to buy off Eastgate’s bracelet – or so the latest article published on Ekstrabladet.dk seems to want us to believe. The buyer has an interesting background in poker though he is said to have made his millions through his refrigeration company. His largesse for charity donations have brought Haughey a lot of public attention as well as media coverage since he is believed to have given away in excess of $50 million to various charities in the past 5 years alone besides having funded different political campaigns. The other entity to have benefited considerably from Haughey’s generous donations is his favorite football club, the Celtic FC.

The revelation of the buyer’s identity in the article also contained a photograph of the philanthropist with Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, who is rumored to be a close friend.

Haughey’s claim to fame doesn’t end with his generous donations. He is also a UNICEF Ambassador and thus, this international children’s relief organization also benefits from his wealth as a recent file photo of its representative Joanne Andrews clearly indicates; Andrews was captured on camera standing with Haughey accepting a check for £100,000. This figure was higher than the amount Haughey paid for Eastgate’s WSOP bracelet in November as he shelled out £94,000 (approx $147,500) for it when it was auctioned.

The article went on to mention that the philanthropist had been moved by Eastgate’s public intention to use his winning bracelet for positive things and wished its auction proceeds to go towards funding efforts of UNICEF. When he had heard about Eastgate’s good intentions he had immediately decided to be its highest bidder, or so the poker pro’s attorney, Claus Nielsen is said to have revealed to the media.

So, though the auction stretching across 10 days had begun at the bracelet being valued for 16,000 USD taking into account the gold and diamond scrap value of the prize ornament, with 116 bids coming in for it, including poker star biggies like “Tony G” (Antanas Guoga) eyeing it for a dog collar, it was destined to be Haughey’s haul, who emerged as the winning bidder eventually.

Apart from an eye to business and philanthropy, Haughy has also shown considerable prowess at EPT side events the same year as Eastgate won his WSOP bracelet; the Scottish businessman also notched up 4 WSOP cash wins, totaling in excess of $275,000 from casual run-ins with the game.

So, though Eastgate was not present for the check presentation for his WSOP bracelet auctioning, he did mention on his site that he was satisfied that his prize would go towards a good cause like UNICEF, which is a credible organization. He also added he wouldn’t regret the decision to auction his WSOP bracelet.

Categories: Poker Assistants