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Let me start off this profile by stating that Gus Hansen is my favourite
poker player. He's the biggest star of the WPT by a mile, and he is the most
exciting player out there. He has become a celebrity far beyond what anyone
would ever have imagined. Hell, he was even named one of People Magazine's
50 Most Beautiful People, a feat Doyle Brunson certainly never achieved.
Gus came out of nowhere to take the WPT by storm. A former high stakes
backgammon player (playing for as much as $1000 a point), Gus Hansen turned
to poker and found instant success. He won the inaugral WPT event at the
Bellagio and then won the L.A. Poker Classic a few months later, winning
over a million dollars in the process. Opponenets were left shaking their
heads at his aggressive and unpredictable play. To them, Gus was wild and
crazy, an undisciplined freak who was extremely lucky. They couldn't have
been more wrong.
Gus Hansen definitely makes some crazy plays. He plays starting hands that
you'll never see in a book, and he has called large stacks of chips with
marginal holdings at best (he called an all-in bet for %40 of his stack
pre-flop with the 8-9 of clubs late in the EPT Final). But there is
reasoning behind every play Gus makes, and you can be damn sure it's rooted
in mathematics. Gus always knows the numbers when he's in a hand. He himself
says, "I think the strength of my game is my mathematical and analytical way
of looking at things...because I mix it up, I am hard to read." Another
element of Gus' game is his post-flop play. I believe that Gus is the best
in the game at playing after the flop. Through skillfull checks and bets,
Gus extracts information like no other player. It probably helps that he
plays more flops than anybody in poker.
The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure from WPT Season 2 is a fascinating
episode to watch. (Watch this episode with the commentary by Daniel Negreanu
and Erick Lindgren - they offer many crucial insights into what makes Gus
tick) On his way to victory, we get to see Gus Hansen pull out all of his
tricks. It is a master class of post flop play. A great example comes with
Gus and Hoyt Corkins heads up with roughly equal stacks. Gus raises to 45
000 with the K-Q off. Hoyt calls the raise with J-8 off. Flop comes 10-3-3
rainbow. Gus bets 45 000 and Hoyt raises to 112 000. Gus thinks for a bit
and calls. The turn brings the Ace of spades. Hoyt checks and Gus bets 150
000. Hoyt folds. Gus made the right play on every street, and he was inside
Hoyt's head during that hand. The tide shifted and Gus went on to win.
Gus Hansen is also a regular player in the big stakes cash game at the
Bellagio. Recently some nasty rumours have surfaced that Gus Hansen is $4
million in debt to Doyle. We can only hope this is not true, for it would be
a shame if Gus were to lose his focus. Gus Hansen has been the most
influential player of the televised poker age, and he is the games brightest
star.
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