Gus Hansen
- by Oliver Gaywood
Gus Hansen was born on the eve of St Valentine’s Day in 1974 near Copenhagen, Denmark. “The Great Dane” grew up with a keen interest in tennis before turning to backgammon and eventually finding his true love in poker.
In school his favourite subject was maths and the challenge of backgammon drew him in. He practised for hours every day for years before deciding he would like to test himself against the best in the game. After moving to New York in 2000, he looked away from the professional field of backgammon, deciding that the opportunities were too slim.
He entered his first World Series of Poker in 1996 but was eliminated on the first day. It was a harsh lesson but one that taught him that he needed to refine his game and begin to experiment with his style more.
His progression was duly noted in 2002. In the first ever series of the World Poker Tour, competing against big names including John Juanda and Scott Nguyen, Hansen came on top in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em event and walked away with the first prize of over $500,000.
The Dane’s success continued in this tournament with another first place finish at the LA Poker Classic in February of 2003 earning him a similar windfall. In WPT season 2, beginning early in 2004, Hansen won his third and fourth titles – again in No-Limit Hold ‘em – and became the first man to hold four WPT titles.
Since then he has played fewer tournaments and more cash games; he also plays poker online under a string of different usernames. In 2003 he was a founding partner of the website PokerChamps.com which was later sold to Betfair for around $15.000.000. In 2006, Hansen signed a deal with Full Tilt Poker to play online exclusively at their site where he plays Omaha Limit and Limit Hold’em.
In January 2007, Hansen won over $1,000,000 in the Aussie Millions No Limit Hold ‘em Championship to take his career earnings past $3,500,000. Despite this huge income, he has openly spoken of big losses in cash games – up to $1,000,000 at a time – and on sports betting.
He also writes a weekly blog for a Danish newspaper and often commentates on poker tournaments for both Danish and American television shows – not bad for a man who claims to have learned English by listening to Pink Floyd albums!
His gambling lifestyle is prominent in his life outside poker where he is willing to take bets on nearly anything. He still enjoys backgammon and tennis and he also plays football (soccer), squash and golf. Despite being named one of People Magazine’s 50th sexiest men of 2004, Hansen currently lives in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, by himself.
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