During the poker boom in the mid-2000’s, Gus Hansen was known as one of the most popular players. First off, the suave Denmark native was one of the all-time live tournament winners with millions of dollars to his name. On top of that, Hansen was known as one of the better looking and more marketable players.
In fact, every time you turned the channel to a poker show Hansen’s face would be plastered on the screen along with other stars like Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. But as time went on and poker moved into the internet grinder age, Gus Hansen’s star faded.
No longer was the Great Dane winning tournaments or World Poker Tour titles (he currently holds three); instead he had become obsessed with cash games. Hansen saw how fellow pros such as Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson were raking in all kinds of cash during ring games and online sessions. Seeing as how Hansen was on par with players like these (at least in terms of fame), Hansen began sitting down to the big games too.
Whether it was Full Tilt Poker or The Big Game in Bobby’s Room, Hansen was always up for some action. However, Hansen would have been better off cashing out his winnings and going home like many of the famous players who got out before people got good like Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, and Barry Greenstein.
But not Gus….he continued playing instead of investing in legitimate business opportunities like the aforementioned players. And it has been much to his detriment since Hansen has lost $7.7 million in 2010 alone! This doesn’t even include the millions he lost prior to this year.
Before 2010, Hansen vowed to retire. It’s too bad he didn’t stick with his original plan.
