William Haughey Buys Peter Eastgates 2008 WSOP Bracelet

1/27/2012 : EASTGATE WSOP BRACELET BUYER REVEALED
 
Scottish philanthropist seeks to generate more from bracelet for charity
 
Readers will recall when young Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate put his 2008 WSOP Main Event winners bracelet up for sale on eBay at the end of 2010 causing a bit of a stir in the poker world.
 
Eastgate at the time said as he didn't wear jewellery he would rather put the bracelet up for sale to generate funds for a charity than have it lying around gathering dust.
 
The bracelet sold for $147 500 to one of 116 bidders, raising a significant amount for Eastgate's chosen charity UNICEF.
 
Over a year later the buyer has been identified as Scottish multi-millionaire and philanthropist William Haughey, the founder and chairman of a GBP 400 million in turnover company.
 
“That was the only reason why I bought the bracelet,” Haughey said in an interview with Poker News.  “I paid $150,000 for the bracelet, but if the money wasn’t going to charity I wouldn’t have even paid $50,000 for it. Some of the younger players said that the integrity of the bracelet was lost, and there was no respect, but the kids in Africa will be cheering Peter Eastgate today and not worrying about what the poker blogs are saying.”
 
Haughey has laid down the charity drive gauntlet and directed it at the World Series of Poker.  He has proposed a special tournament offering the bracelet as a prize with the proceeds channeled to charity.  He has generously committed to matching the buy-in up to $1 000 000, with half of the funds raised going to a charity of the WSOP’s choice and the other half to a British cancer hospital due to be built.
 
Haughey's generosity extends to millions in charity donations, including Eastgate's favorite UNICEF who received $100 000 from Haughey in 2010 to aid children who were victims of the Pakistan floods.