Gus Hansen 

Description:

Born on February 13, 1974 in Denmark, this self-proclaimed ‘professional gambler’ started his poker career by playing something other than poker.  Prior to breaking into professional poker, Hansen was a world class backgammon player as well as a youth tennis champion. 

He moved to New York City to continue his professional backgammon game but there was not enough interest in the game keeping the playing field too small and not to his liking.  Instead, he got a taste of poker through stud games and the rest is history.

Hansen loves to gamble and has been known to make few side bets on professional sports, poker and even personal challenges.  He has a deep love for math and numbers and if he is not playing online poker at Full Tilt (the poker room that sponsors him) or at the felt in one of the many casinos around the world, then you will most likely find him outside.  He enjoys golf, tennis, squash, and soccer, and he truly believes that working out physically keeps him in shape for his poker playing.

Aggressiveness:

Loose aggressive play is Gus Hansen’s trademark.  He is known for bluffing or raising no matter what two cards he is holding and he has become so good at it that his opponents tend to throw down serious money in order to figure out exactly what he’s doing.  He has won hands on cards that most people would have considered unplayable by any means, but in the hands of this player, they are obviously gold.  He is one of the few Hold’em players who know how to play his opponents.

Experience:

Hansen began playing poker in 1993 while attending the University of California at Santa Cruz.  It was at the Ocean View Card Room and to this day only Gus knows how he did.  He played his first World Series of Poker game in 1996 and was knocked out the first day.  This only made him even more determined to play and be successful at poker and by the 2002 World Poker Tour his aggressive style had developed.

He has participated in the World Poker Tour, European Poker Masters, Poker Superstars and many other games that have been televised around the world.  He was part of the 2006 winning Danish team in the PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup and he is the only poker player to win four World Poker Tours.  He was inducted into the WPT Walk of Fame alongside actor James Garner an avid poker player and poker superstar Doyle Brunson.

Tournament Play:

Calling Gus Hansen gutsy is probably an understatement considering he even admits not having enough poker experience to have won that first World Series of Poker tournament in 1996.  While he still has not won a bracelet at this crème de la crème poker party, he has made the final table, which is more than most can say.

Hansen’s game however, seems to be the World Poker Tour events with his amazing four wins at these tournaments.  He is one of the few professional poker players on the circuit who prefers to concentrate on his cash game instead of tournaments.

Cash Game Play:

Gus’ cash game play is as aggressive as his tournament play and he can be found quite often in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio playing against other well known names in poker like Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson.  He enjoys high-limit pot-limit Omaha and Omaha8/B games as well as low-stakes limit Hold’em, Razz, and low limit sit and go’s which he plays exclusively on Full Tilt Poker.

Winnings:

While he may not be much of a tournament player, Gus Hansen has some substantial wins to his name.  Here are the tournaments he has won since turning professional.

• 2008 Five Star World Poker Classic World Championship (WPT) - No Limit Hold'em - 26/04/2008 - $1,714,800
• 2007 Aussie Millions - No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Championship - 01/19/2007 - $1,200,000.00
• 2006 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament Season 3 - Quarter Finals Group B - Match 2 - 10/15/2006 - $30,000.00 
• 2006 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament Season 3 - Final 16 Group C - Match 2 - 09/03/2006 - $15,000.00 
• 2006 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament Season 3 - Heat 20 - 07/23/2006 - $10,000.00 
• 2004 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (WPT) - No-Limit Hold’em - 01/24/2004 - $455,780.00 
• 2003 L.A. Poker Classic (WPT) - No Limit Hold’em Championship - WPT - 02/23/2003 - $532,490.00 
• Five Diamond World Poker Classic - No Limit Hold’em - Final - 05/31/2002 - $556,460.00
  

Gus Hansen is another poker superstar that frequents the Bellagio Casino and Resort in Las Vegas.  If you keep your eyes open you may be lucky enough to spot him and maybe even get a chance to play a few hands of poker with him.