Gus Hansen enjoyed an amazing year on the WPT where he was the only gambler to make it to the last table in 3 of the competitions. Gus Hansen has appeared on High Stakes Poker on GSN where he bought into the game for $400, 000. You might remember one of the largest pots in big stakes poker recorded history up against Daniel Negreanu. Hansen raked in a massive pot with quads against Daniel’s full house. Hansen has earned many tv poker appearances and is considered to be one of the strongest enthusiasts around the world. While competing in internet poker, a different side of Hansen has appeared. Gus often participates in the 200/400 NL max buy-in of $40, 000. Gus generally buys in for the minimum of $16, 000 and plays very weak. He waits patiently for a decent hand and then pushes all-in. I believe Hansen is an excellent poker player but certainly not even close to the everyday players at 200/400NL. Unless he is broke, he has no reason to sit at the table with the minimum buy in.

Playing for the minimum takes almost all of the expertise out of big stack poker. Gus is assumed to be one of the greatest players anywhere in the world but he cannot buy in for the total amount. I think television can skew our view of the real world every now and then. The best players anywhere in the world may be players you have never heard about. Gus can be seen playing internet poker on Full Tilt. He generally participates in high stakes omaha/8 and hold’em. Gus Hansen has proven himself as a competition player. Can he back up his talents in cash games?