"The Great Dane" Gus Hansen

Gus Hansen, a.k.a. The Great Dane, hails from Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Copenhagen has the best of weathers during summers. When it is raining, the sporty Danes enjoy their indoor bowling alleys and go-cart tracks. Their craze for physical fitness is so strong that they go about their daily business by bike on the well-marked-out cycle lane system; and the entire city has special tracks for joggers. This competitive spirit – the-vanquish-the-opponent mindset – is ingrained in sportsmen right from the beginning.

When Gustav Hansen decided to enter the gutsy world of backgammon and Poker, his Danish traits helped him to the fullest extent. A psychologist nonpareil, Gus can read the players sitting around the table like the back of his hand. His aggressive play makes it appear that every hand of his is aces; this unnerves the most unflappable of veterans, and the game meekly folds around him. The appetite for taking huge risks has landed him in soup a few times; but his incredible successes with this singular tactic have far outweighed his risks.

Gus came to the US under a student-exchange program. His passion for lawn tennis made him a champion on the courts in no time. Santa Cruz, California, his naturalized home city, soon sucked him into the world of backgammon, and he found himself spending more and more time moving the fifteen checkers between the twenty-four points. Soon, the high stakes world of casinos – plenty of them in Santa Cruz city – began tugging at the young Dane’s heart. For the by-now backgammon champion, graduating to the big game of poker was just a matter of hop, skip and jump.

Not for Gus Hansen the slow, steady climb to the top; with lots of lower and middle ranks before attempting a go at the crown. James Bond-like, Gus gate-crashed into the halls of fame with a first rank win in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em event of WPT on 31st May 2002. The scene was the Five Diamond WPC played at Las Vegas. His prize money: $556,460. His sheer bravado dazzled his competition, who had never seen a player like him before.

2003 was like an action replay – the same game, the same winner. Only, this time it was Los Angeles Poker Classic that conducted the game, the venue was L.A., and the prize money was a few dollars less: $532,490.

December 2003 saw him graciously concede the 1st position to Paul Phillips and the 2nd position to Dewey Tomko, at the Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, played at Las Vegas. Five weeks later, Gus showed no further mercy, and took the crown in the PokerStars.Com Caribbean Adventure, playing the $7,500 No Limit Hold’em game. His winning streak continues, as does his aggressive style. In the short span that he has been on the scene, Gustavo Hansen has amassed $2,177,186 in prize money already.

Gus is now placed 43rd in the All Time List (as of writing this piece – August 2005). Whenever he sits down to play these days, all eyes invariably focus on him. Fame has kissed his feet. His WPT wins have made him one of the first three inductees into the WPT Hall of Fame. The USA has become his home, now. And Gus has discovered the calling of his life at a very young age.