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Gus Hansen – Maybe It’s Time to Retire

Posted by : compncards | 5 Comments

01

Sep

Categories : Online poker,Pro players

Back in the day, Gus Hansen’s seemingly reckless style of play was winning him WPT titles and Hansen was considered one of the best poker players on the planet. I put that as a big was after some of the astonishing numbers that were recently published about him.

This kinda sums up Gus Hansen's Online Playing Career

This kinda sums up Gus Hansen's Online Playing Career

For the month of August, Hansen has lost $2.85 Million on Full Tilt Poker. $1.8 Million of that went to Phil Ivey. Granted, Phil Ivey is just THE MAN, but then Hansen has dropped another $1 Million on top of that.

Since January 2007, Gus Hansen has played 871,996 hands on Full Tilt. In that time span he has LOST over $9.23 Million. You read that correctly, he has lost over $9.23 Million.

First, where the hell does Hansen get the money from? Don’t say from endorsements. There is no way in hell Full Tilt will provide him with $9 Million to lose. He has won only $4 Million in live tournaments, so where did the money come from? Does anyone know for sure other than Hansen?

I do know this much. Assuming that all of his tourney buy-ins since 2007 was sponsored and not taking into account for travel expenses etc, Hansen is still down $5 Million dollars playing poker since 2007. Of course, we don’t know anything about any money he may have won in live cash games, etc during that point, but do you really see someone that is losing $9 Million in cash games online winning $5 Million in live games?

Hansen took a break at the end of last year to try and repair his game. It clearly did not work. I am not the type of poker player Hansen was, nor do I claim to ever be. However, I can see when someone appears to be near the end of his rope poker wise. I just cannot see how Hansen can continue to play at the level he is. Perhaps it is time for Gus to consider stepping away from poker for an extended period, or maybe even permanently.

If someone told me they were steadily losing money over the years playing poker, I would tell them to either move down in stakes, step away for an extended period, or leave poker altogether. Yes, Gus has accomplished more than any of us will ever accomplish in poker, but at the same time, he has lost more money than most any of us will ever see.

Perhaps it is time to put the “Great Dane” to sleep, at least when it comes to poker.

Comments (5)

  1. compncards   September 25, 2010 at 7:11 am

    Interestingly enough, Hansen has made it heads-up in the High Rollers Bracelet event at the WSOP-E. The final match is tied at 1-1 but the final match is delayed due to the WSOP-E Main Event. Should he win, there will be a lot of people in line again to back him as he will be a commodity again. We will see.

  2. joroco   September 25, 2010 at 3:59 am

    Swings and that dreaded word, variance, are a fact-of-life in poker … and at the level Mr. Hansen (& his contemporaries) play, huge dips are NOT as uncommon as many would think – How many top-notch-Pros are, in fact, broke? – Or, have been busted or in-the-hole before?

    Many … most … or all or them? Gus will continue as long as he has backers who are willing to support him. Will that last much longer? No, he is in desperate need of a great showing (unless, of course, he has “cash game” winnings that we, the general public, know nothing about). From what is “publicly known,” the reign of Gus Hansen as a “Premier Poker Player” may be coming to an end … and that is a shame.

  3. imba   September 3, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    I think he must stop playing online for some time…Hes one of the best players…He must concetrate at live games (tour or cash) and he will be just fine…

  4. compncards   September 2, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    He will have to do a hella lot of adjusting and winning to get out the hole he is in. I am not saying he can’t do it, but if he can’t figure out something soon, he needs to at worst case step down from high stakes.

  5. Stan js   September 2, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    The poker games are changing, I think Gus will just have to adapt a bit and he will do just fine. Poker online is his life, he won’t retire, he will just try harder.

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