• Poker Profile: Gus Hansen

    All professional poker players have their own styles and techniques. Gus "The Great Dane" Hanson is no exception. Known for his extremely aggressive plays, this man will bluff or raise with almost any two cards making him an entirely unpredictable and dangerous opponent. Small wonder why the name Gus Hansen is feared in tournament poker tables.

    Born outside Copenhagen, Denmark on February 13, 1974 - Gustav "Gus" Hansen now resides in Monaco. Hansen was considered as an outstanding backgammon player and even won championships in tennis during his youth, even before turning into a professional poker player in 1997. A sports fanatic throughout his teens, Gus competed in numerous outdoor and indoor sports competitions as a successful junior athlete.

    Gus eventually moved to New York City in 2000, where he tried to play backgammon as a professional. He deemed the playing field too small for his own personal preference. He fashions himself a professional gambler, taking bets on different personal athletic challenges, other than the usual professional sports and poker.

    Hansen's professional poker career started in 1993 while he was an exchange student at The University of California. He first played poker in Santa Cruz, California at the Ocean View Card Room. The sum of his live tournament winnings is placed at more than $5,000,000 as of 2007, beating out the pot of other well known poker players.

    Among his accolades include three wins in the World Poker Tour Open Tournaments, which eventually led him to be inducted into the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame along with James Garner and Dayle Brunson; a win in the inaugural European Poker Masters event which saw him beating out Marc Goodwin for the title and check for $102,000; a first place finish in the inaugural Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, earning him $1,000,000 by beating out some of the most well known pro poker players today.

    Gus also competed in various other international events. He grabbed the first place finish in the 2004 World Series of Poker; became the first ever winner of NBC's Poker After Dark which earned him $120,000; a main event win at the Aussie Millions held in Melbourne, Australia which garnered him the first prize pot of AUD $1,500,000.

    Despite Hansen's string of successes, he is known to have money problems due to his losses while gambling. Gus admitted that his losses are no secret, and even disclosed the fact that he lost a million or so at a couple of games. His frequent losses in sports betting made him admit that he wanted to stop.

    Despite these setbacks, no one can take away the fact that Gus Hansen is one of the premiere poker players of the world today.