Gus Hansen experienced a marvelous year on the World Poker Tour where he was the only player to achieve final poker table in three of the tournaments. Gus Hansen has appeared on High Stakes Poker on GSN where he paid $400, 000 to play. You may recall one of the largest pots in high stakes poker history competing against Daniel Negreanu. Hansen secured a large pot with 4 of a kind against Negreanu’s full house. Gus has made many tv poker appearances and is deemed to be one of the best players anywhere in the world. While wagering on net poker, a different side of Hansen has been seen. He often plays in the 200/400 NL maximum buy in of Forty Thousand dollars. Hansen frequently buys-in for the min of $16, 000 and gambles very weak. He waits for a good hand and then goes all in. I know Hansen is an amazing poker player but certainly not even close to the familiar players at 200/400NL. Unless Gus is penniless, he has little or no reason to play at the table with the minimum buy in.
Playing for the minimum takes almost all of the skill out of big stack poker. Hansen is accepted to be one of the best poker players in the world but he can’t buy-in for the total dollar value. I believe television can skew our perception of the real world every now and then. The greatest players in the world may be guys you have will not have heard of. Gus can be seen playing web poker on Full Tilt. He generally participates in high stakes Omaha and texas holdem. Gus has shown himself as a competition player. Can he back up his talents in cash rounds?