Eastgate and Demidov sign with PokerStars

Once heads-up for poker's biggest prize, Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov are now Team PokerStars Pro teammates.

The two young men who went heads-up for the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event title this past November are now on the same team.

Danish 2008 WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate and Russian runner-up Ivan Demidov, who also made the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2008, have joined Team PokerStars Pro.

"It feels great to finally be part of the team," Demidov, 27, told PokerListings Thursday. "It's going to allow me to travel more and play more events.

"I really enjoy playing offline in live events and it's great to become a team member with all these other great players."

Eastgate, who at 22 years old became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion in history in 2008, followed up the $9,152,416 win by banking $343,000 at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure when he took down a $5k side event there.

However, the Danish pro is being careful with his newfound wealth.

When E.F. Hutton speaks, Eastgate is listening.

"I won't be splashing out on expensive things or living a crazy life," he said. "I'm thinking carefully about how to invest the money so that I make the right decision."

Both players were weaned on the game online, and now Eastgate can be found on PokerStars using the screen name "PeteEastgate" and Demidov as "Ivan Demidov."

On the live felt, both have committed to playing EPT San Remo and the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo before making their return to Vegas for the 2009 WSOP.

"I would like to repeat the success I had last year, but obviously I don't think I will be able to," said Demidov, who will also be playing in the PokerStars.com Russian Poker Tour event set for Moscow this May.

"I have serious plans to train and play a lot before the WSOP and hopefully I will be ready. I would like to make more final tables and I will be taking it very seriously."