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Online poker players know where they can find Gus Hansen. On just about a daily basis, he can be found playing in the highest stakes nosebleed games on Full Tilt Poker. For quite some time, Hansen has been frequenting the Pot Limit Omaha tables as well as Mixed HA games which is a mixed game featuring Pot Limit Hold em and Pot Limit Omaha. The blinds for these games are $500-$1000 and players buy in for about $50,000. To say the swings at this level are large would be a huge understatement.
As of late, Hansen has engaged in a war of words in table chat with several of the top online pros, specifically, his running dialogue with the Dang brothers has been legendary. However, he has now taken to his personal blog to keep the feuds going and perhaps ignite some new ones.
In his latest musings, Hansen made a point to state that he believes that Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius are the two best all around players in the world and as such, doesn't really go out of his way to play against them.
In his blog Gus Hansen gives his opinion on some of the regulars at the nosebleed HA and PLO games. He regards Phil Ivey as the best all round player while the Finnish great Patrik Antonius takes the 2nd place. Of Ivey, Hansen states:
"He is not a true regular, but still plays regularly - especially the last while. I have said it many times. I consider him to be the best all-around poker player in the world and look for the same reason I am not playing heads up against him."
He heaps similar praise on Antonius though he does seem willing to mix it up with him from time to time. "I assess him as the second best all-around poker player in the world. I've played some brief heads up sessions against him. It is good enough to play a bit against them, which I believe are the best, but you have to squint a little to the pocket ..." In other words, he will play against the Finnish pro, but does so with less than the reckless abandon for which he has earned most of his notoriety.
However, it is in stark contrast to how he views Tom "Durrrr" Dwan and Phil "OMGClayAiken", whom he recognizes as good players but also feels that luck has played a large part in their recent domination of the online game. He calls Dwan "clever" but does not think he will emerge victorious in his matchup with Antonius and seems to believe that should Ivey get his chance in the challenge next, things could get quite ugly for Durrrr who has lost quite a bit of his bankroll as of late.
He is not quite as apt to praise Galfond as he believes he is an unorthodox type player whose style may catch up to him. Of the younger players, he warns of the big downswings that poker players inevitably experience and failure to recognize it or prepare for it could lead to their demise.
Source: www.aintluck.com
