Also known as the “Great Dane” Gus Hansen has been known for his enormous swings at the Full Tilt Poker’s nosebleed cash tables. He’s also known for his looser than loose and more aggressive than aggressive style, which of course makes for excellent TV, so no wonder he’s appeared in more televised events and series than your average multi millionaire, world-famous poker professional.
Born in 1974, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Gus Hansen displayed a competitive streak early on. He played tennis as a child, but backgammon was his real career choice. He moved to New York where the backgammon scene was supposed to be hotter than in Europe, but eventually got hooked on poker. He had actually played poker before, back in 1993 when he was an exchange student in Santa Cruz, California. Nowadays he resides in Monaco, like so many of the other high stakes pros.
Gus Hansen considers himself a gambler, and he’s been known to post huge sums on various prop bets. When it came to poker, he proved to be successful away from the table too. In 2003, he launched an online poker site (pokerchamps.com) together with a partner, which they later sold to Betfair for $15 million. Gus Hansen has had 5 money finishes in various WSOP events, and his highest ever WSOP Main Event finish was a 61st place, obtained in 2007. He’s also cashed in 9 WPT events and 2 EPT ones. He has 4 WPT titles.