Gus Hansen enjoyed a marvelous year on the World Poker Tour where he was the only player to achieve closing poker table in 3 of the events. Gus Hansen has appeared on High Stakes Poker on The Game Show Network where he bought into the game for $400, 000. You may remember one of the biggest pots in big stakes poker history up against Daniel Negreanu. Gus secured a big pot with 4 of a kind against Daniel’s full house. Hansen has earned many televised poker appearances and is considered to be one of the best gamblers around the world. While competing in online poker, another side of Hansen has emerged. He regularly participates in the 200/400 NL maximum buy in of Forty Thousand dollars. Hansen frequently buys-in for the min of $16, 000 and plays very poorly. He waits patiently for a good hand and then goes all-in. I believe Hansen is an excellent poker player but certainly not even close to the familiar players at 200/400NL. Unless he is flat broke, he has little or no reason to sit at the game with the minimum buy-in.
Buying in for the minimum takes almost all of the expertise out of big stack poker. Hansen is accepted to be 1 of the greatest poker players in the world but he cannot buy in for the full amount. I believe television can alter our perception of the real world sometimes. The best poker players in the world may be players you have never heard of. Gus can be seen playing internet poker on Full Tilt. He generally participates in high stakes omaha eight-or-better and texas hold’em. Gus has proven himself as a tournament player. Can he use his abilities in money games?