Gus Hansen had a marvelous year on the WPT where he was the only participant to make it to the last table in 3 of the competitions. Gus Hansen has appeared on High Stakes Poker on The Game Show Network where he paid $400, 000 to play. You might recall one of the largest pots in high stakes poker recorded history against Daniel Negreanu. Hansen secured a massive pot with quads against Daniel’s full house. Gus has earned many televised poker appearances and is thought to be one of the greatest bettors around the world. While betting on internet poker, a different side of Hansen has been seen. Gus frequently participates in the 200/400 NL maximum buy-in of $40, 000. Hansen more often than not buys-in for the minimum of Sixteen Thousand dollars and plays very poorly. He waits for a good hand and then pushes all-in. I accept that Hansen is an excellent poker player but certainly not even close to the everyday players at 200/400NL. Unless he is penniless, he has little or no reason to play at the game with the minimum buy in.

Playing for the min takes a majority of the expertise out of big stack poker. Gus is presumed to be one of the best poker players anywhere in the world but he can’t buy-in for the total dollar value. I think television can skew our view of the real world every now and then. The best players in the world could be guys you have will not have heard of. Gus can be seen betting on internet poker on Full Tilt. He usually participates in high stakes omaha eight-or-better and texas hold’em. Gus has proven himself as a competition player. Can he use his talents in money rounds?