Danish Poker Star Gus Hansen Makes Waves at WSOPThe second biggest chip leader during Day 2B of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Danish poker player Gus Hansen is no stranger to the winning tournament circuit.
"Much of the talk about the main event of the 2007 World Series of Poker revolves around the probability of a pro taking down the tournament. Skeptics claim the field is riddled with amateurs acting as human landmines, and every name player is just one perilous step away from being blown out of the tournament," writes Seth Nielsen of CardPlayer.com.
Hansen was able to thrive, despite a table draw that saw him seated with Mizzi and Pokerstars Supernova player Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan, according to Nielsen.
"Hansen and Mizzi pulled no punches on each other and in one hand it seemed that they were playing a game of chicken."
And with just over 700 players still alive in this year's World Series of Poker, the field should be cut nearly in half heading into Friday. Monday is the WSOP finale.
Gus Hansen is representing his home nation of Denmark, a country with a rich tradition of producing able online casino players. Now that skill has transcended into the poker realms it seems.
Hansen, born in Copenhagen, has a multi-country fan base. His current home is Monaco with its miniscule population of just over 32,000 people. But alas, Hansen is sure to have a following in the US as well, having resided in New York City for a brief time and Santa Cruz, California as an exchange student at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In fact, it is during college that Hansen began playing poker.
Gus Hansen's life time winnings according to CardPlayer.com are $3,461,846. That includes a first place finish in the 2007 Aussie Millions, which yielded $1.2 mil, and a total $60,000 in winnings at last year's Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament Season 3.
He is notorious for his extremely loose, aggressive play. He has a reputation for raising or bluffing with almost any two cards, which leads to opponents calling (or raising) his bets when he has a legitimate hand.
Gus has not done well in past WSOP tournaments. His best career finish came in the 2004 Main Event, where he finished in 150th place and in the money. Leading early may not be the best sign when we review past year's trends but Hansen has managed to outlive nearly every big name poker pro including one of the biggest, Daniel Negreanu, who busted out on Wednesday and sits as the third biggest poker tournament cash winner of all time.
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Ace King, Gambling911.com
Originally published July 12, 2007 3:35 pm ET
