Gus Hansen enjoyed a marvelous year on the WPT where he was the only gambler to achieve final table in three of the events. Gus Hansen has appeared on High Stakes Poker on GSN where he bought into the game for $400, 000. You might remember one of the biggest pots in high stakes poker recorded history up against Daniel Negreanu. Gus raked in a large pot with 4 of a kind against Negreanu’s full house. Gus has made many tv poker appearances and is considered to be one of the greatest players around the world. While participating in internet poker, another side of Hansen has appeared. He frequently competes in the 200/400 No Limit max buy-in of $40, 000. Hansen more often than not buys-in for the min of Sixteen Thousand dollars and plays very poorly. He waits for a good hand and then goes all-in. I know Hansen is an excellent poker player but certainly not even close to the familiar players at 200/400NL. Unless Gus is flat broke, he has absolutely no reason to settle at the table with the minimum buy-in.
Buying in for the minimum takes almost all of the expertise out of big stack poker. Gus is supposed to be one of the best poker players anywhere in the world but he cannot buy-in for the total dollar value. I believe television can skew our perception of the real world at times. The greatest players in the world might be players you have never heard of before. Gus can be seen participating in net poker on Full Tilt. He commonly participates in big stakes omaha hi-low and Holdem. Gus Hansen has shown himself as a tournament player. Can he back up his skills in cash rounds?