07.03
Web High Stakes Poker- Who is Gus Hansen?
Gus Hansen had a wonderful year on the WPT where he was the only player to make it to the final table in three of the competitions. Gus Hansen has been seen on High Stakes Poker on GSN where he bought into the game for $400, 000. You might recall one of the largest pots in big stakes poker recorded history competing against Daniel Negreanu. Hansen secured a large pot with quads against Negreanu’s full house. Gus has made many televised poker appearances and is deemed to be one of the strongest bettors in the world. While playing online poker, another side of Hansen has been seen. He often competes in the 200/400 No Limit max buy-in of $40, 000. Hansen generally buys in for the min of $16, 000 and gambles very poorly. He sits there waiting for a decent hand and then goes all in. I accept that Hansen is an excellent poker player but not even close to the familiar players at 200/400no limit. Unless Gus is broke, he has little or no reason to play at the table with the min buy in.
Playing for the minimum takes a majority of the ability out of big stack poker. Hansen is presumed to be one of the best poker players in the world but he cannot buy in for the full dollar value. I think television can skew our view of the real world sometimes. The best players in the world might just be guys you have never heard of. Gus can be seen participating in internet poker on Full Tilt. He usually competes in high stakes Omaha and texas holdem. Gus has shown himself as a tournament player. Can he back up his abilities in money rounds?