Our Verdict:
Gus Hansen is a poker icon and one of the most successful tournament players of the modern era. He first exploded onto the poker scene in 2002 with victory in the WPT Bellagio Five Diamond Classic (for over $500,000) and has not looked back since. His live tournament winnings now exceed $7million and is not only Denmark’s top earning player of all-time by almost $5million, he also tops the Scandinavian charts by over $3million. The Dane is currently 16th in the all-time money list (only Carlos Mortensen is a higher ranked European) and has won more WPT Titles than any other player in history (4).
Live highlights include his four World Poker Tour Titles (he also has a second and two thirds) as well as victory in the 2007 Aussie Millions (for $1,192,919) and Season One of ‘Poker Superstars’ for $1million back in 2005.
Despite his phenomenal success, Hansen has not always been held in the highest regard by poker aficionados. His loose-aggressive style and apparently reckless strategy caused many players to describe him as a lucky player who viewed the mathematics of poker with disdain. After knocking Mike Matusow out of Poker Superstars III in 2006, ‘The Mouth’ said of Hansen: “I know what an idiot he is; I’ll never change my opinion of him, he’s an idiot.” (This was after Matusow had moved all-in with QQ, only to be called by Hansen with K9; after spiking a King on the flop Matusow said: “He’s the luckiest human being to ever walk the earth, isn’t he?”).
However, since then he has gone on to cement his place among the poker elite and is held in the highest regard by his peers. Hansen recently released his first book, entitled ‘Every Hand Revealed’, taking the reader through his thought processes during his Aussie Millions victory. He also has his own training website called ‘theplayr.com’.