Gus Hansen is one of the most recognizable poker players in the world today. People Magazine’s editors voted him as the “Sexiest Poker Player” in their December 2004 50 Sexiest Men Alive issue.

Gus Hansen broke into the mainstream poker world during the debut season of the World Poker Tour. During that first season alone, he made final tables at the Bellagio Casino and the Commerce Casino, and he won both events. He also won the Pokerstars Caribbean Poker Adventure and The Bad Boys of Poker WPT event in the second season.

Before turning to playing poker professionally in 1997, Gus Hansen was a world-class backgammon player and a youth tennis champion. He was known for being a sports enthusiast throughout his teens, competing in several indoor and outdoor sports as a successful junior athlete. In 2000, he moved to New York City, and tried to make a living playing professional backgammon, but found the field too small for his taste.

He considers himself a professional gambler and has been known make bets on various athletic challenges (such as running), other than poker and professional sports.

Gus attributes his success in No Limit Hold’em to his ability to mix it up and appear to be playing like a maniac. But there is a method to Gus Hansen’s madness. He puts pressure on the other players to decide if they wanted to risk a substantial amount to find out if he was bluffing. He has an aggressive style playing cards that others might discard. Cards that appear to be unplayable by most players, Gus Hansen knows how to play them with great success.

Gustav Hansen has been a competitor for many years. Before he played poker, he was a ranked backgammon player. He was also a champion youth tennis player. He actually tried to make a living off of being a professional backgammon player, but found there wasn’t enough money in it. He eventually turned to poker.

Gus Hansen is originally from Copenhagen, Denmark. He started playing poker while he was attending college at University of California at Santa Cruz. He has taken his game to a higher level and plays the biggest cash games and some of the larger buy-in tournaments. Although he does not play in as many tournaments as other players, he has succeeded in the ones that bring him recognition.

During the World Poker Tour, contestant Andy Bloch said Gus Hansen will play a lot of hands and play them exactly right. He is successful playing K7 and J5 and cards like that because he is so good. Gus Hansen is very humble about his ability. Gus Hansen almost defended his inaugural World Poker Tour title, finishing third at the Bellagio Casino second season event. In 2004, he was one of the first three inductees into the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame, with Doyle Brunson and James Garner.

Other notable finishes include winning the Aussie Millions and the first Poker After Dark tournament.

By Dennis B.
Dennis B. is a writer for Nostalgia Art. com where you can find accurate information about Gus Hansen and other related information.