Gus Hansen is a remarkable poker player who achieved professional stardom during the first season of the World Poker Tour, winning first place in both the Bellagio Casino and Commerce Casino events. Born outside Copenhagen, Denmark, February 13, 1974, Gustav Hansen now lives in Monaco as a career poker player, though he actually started out as a youth tennis champion and world class backgammon player.

Gus prided himself on his athletic abilities as a teenager, competing in numerous sporting events, both indoors and outdoors. Gus Hansen was a very successful junior athlete before moving to New York City, New York in 2000. He tried to make a name for himself in the professional backgammon circuit, but claimed the field was too small for his taste.

In 1993, Gus took on the poker world while enrolled as an exchanged student at University of California at Santa Cruz. He began playing poker regularly at the Ocean View Card Room in Santa Cruz. Gus became notorious for his loose, aggressive playing style, often bluffing no matter what cards he held. This led to his opponents frequently calling or even raising his bets when Gus has a legitimately good poker hand.

Gus Hansen is now reputed for his inability to be read by his opposition. Hansen mixes up his playing styles constantly throughout every event, leaving the competition at a loss for predicting his skilled maneuvers. Apparently having no feasible strategy at all has become the perfect poker strategy for Gus Hansen.

Gus Hansen Achieves Poker Stardom - WPT
Gus became a celebrity poker icon in the debut season of the World Poker Tour. Gus took down not one, but two, final tables in the WPT’s first season, including the Bellagio Casino and Commerce Casino events. Hansen also finished in first place at the WPT Bad Boys of Poker invitational event.

Hansen is currently the only poker player to win three WPT open tournaments. In 2004, Gus was inducted into the World Poker tour Walk of Fame, alongside poker legend Doyle Brunson and star of the famed poker playing ‘Maverick’, James Garner.

Gus Hansen and the WSOP
Hansen’s poker skills are less prevalent in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), but certainly notable achievements, nonetheless. In the 2004 WSOP Main Event, Gus finished in 150th place, far enough into the event to cash. The Tournament of Champions in 2006 saw Gus make his way to the WSOP Main Event final table, but he lost in the very first hand, holding Ace-King versus a pair of 9’s.

In the 2007 WSOP, Gus Hansen pocketed $154,194 after placing 61st in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event Championship, from a field of 6,358 competitors.

Gus Hansen and the EPM
In the European Poker Masters (EPM) inaugural event, Gus Hansen beat out the entire field to take the first place prize of £53,600. Heads-up action came down to Gus and the talented opposition of Marc Goodwin, who settled for second.

Gus Hansen’s Other Poker Accomplishments
Gus appeared in the first Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, a single-table event featuring some of the largest names on the professional poker circuit. After a grueling battle, Gus took down the table for the first place prize of $100,000.

The PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup tournament in 2006 was won by Gus Hansen’s Danish team, which included Theo Jorgensen and Kim Christofte.

Gus made history by winning NBC’s first ‘Poker After Dark’ series, competing against 6 other professional poker players to take down the $120,000 first place prize.

January of 2007 saw Gus heading to Melbourne, Australia, where he whittled his way through a field of 747 players, taking yet another first place win, at the $10,500 Aussie Millions Main Event. Gus collected a staggering $1,500,000 AUD for this victory.

Gus Hansen can be seen on the Professional Poker Tour and High Stakes Poker, in its second season. Gus pocketed the second highest winnings in the poker show’s history going heads-up with Daniel Negreanu, taking the $575,700 prize with four-5’s over Negreanu’s three-6’s.

Gus Hansen’s Poker Losses
Though he has cashed more than $5,000,000 over his professional poker career, Gus admits to having struggled with financial problems, attributed to frequent losses in live cash games. Hansen is not shy when it comes to money related issues, claiming to have lost a million at various poker matches. Gus also wishes he could stop betting on sports, admitting to being a perennial loser at such gambling.

Gus Hansen Behind The Scenes
In 2003, Gus co-founded the popular online poker room, Poker Champs, where he sustained house pro status until 2005 when the company was acquired by British gaming company BetFair for 100-million Danish kroner (approx. $15-million USD). Even after the online poker operation switched hands, Gus remained involved in the 2005 PokerChamps Danish Championship.

“Texas Hold’em Poker Advanced Strategies With Gus Hansen” is part of a series of instructional DVD’s, “Going All In”, in which Gus appears, offering his advice, strategies and other useful information to poker enthusiasts and veterans.

Gus can be seen wearing ‘Frank Q’ clothing in all public appearances. He is currently the spokes-model for the Danish clothing line.