Can Gus Hansen Still Get By Playing His Trademark Style at the WSOP?

All through the late 2000s, Gus Hansen pioneered a loose-aggressive taking part in fashion that set him aside from his opponents and influenced a brand new era of maniacal, bluff-happy poker gamers. The Nice Dane is again in true kind on the 2025 World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) and made Day 3 of the $10,000 Sellers Selection 6-Handed Championship with 14 gamers remaining.

Hansen spent a lot of the previous decade out of the poker highlight earlier than taking part in in a low-stakes meet-up recreation on the 2023 WPT World Championship and later signing as a Winamax professional and making a deep run within the $10,000 Eight Sport Combined Championship on the 2024 WSOP.

The Danish poker legend informed PokerNews he shall be taking part in a full slate of 15-20 WSOP occasions this summer time, primarily restrict combined recreation occasions on the $10,000 buy-in stage.

It was in such an occasion that PokerNews witnessed Hansen play his signature aggressive fashion and stress his opponents on the cash bubble earlier than chip chief Ryan Hoenig obtained moved to his speedy left.

“It feels excellent,” Hansen stated in an interview on break on Day 2. “It could have been higher when you had (executed) the interview about 3-4 fingers in the past as a result of I believe I misplaced the final three or 4 to the large chip chief. However nonetheless, I’ve a superb stack, I ought to survive the bubble, so it feels good to be right here.”

Hansen made the cash and ended up bagging the shortest stack of the 14 remaining gamers, heading into at this time’s Day 3 with at the very least $24,630 locked up.

“I Suppose There is a Lot of Aggressive Gamers Out There”

Hansen, a bracelet winner and creator of 2008’s Each Hand Revealed, is not the one old-school professional to emerge this summer time. Poker Corridor of Famer Huck Seed popped up in an occasion after almost a decade away from the WSOP, and he shared a healthful embrace along with his previous pal Hansen.

“Within the early to mid 90s, I used to remain at his place each time I got here to Vegas,” Hansen stated. “So he is a superb pal of mine, a longtime pal. So it was good to see him once more. We’re all getting older, however he is nonetheless match as might be … He was trying good.”

Because the pioneer of a loose-aggressive fashion that made him a poker legend — and led to comparably legendary on-line poker losses — Hansen is now seeing the fruits of his labor in at this time’s recreation because the chickens come residence to check-raise.

“I believe actually lots of people did,” Hansen stated when requested if youthful poker gamers have adopted his taking part in fashion. “I used to be aggressive again then, then you definately had some Scandis that have been tremendous, tremendous, tremendous aggressive, after which it slowed down just a little bit. However I believe everyone is getting higher at poker. You’ve extra instruments these days. You’ve coaching websites, and so on.”

“I believe there’s quite a lot of aggressive gamers on the market.”

Learn Extra About Gus Hansen!

Combined Sport Summer time

Whereas modern-day maniacs like Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek apply stress in no-limit Maintain’em fields, Hansen is taking his aggressive poker skills to the combined recreation tables this summer time.

“In no-limit maintain’em, you’ve gotten the excellent specialists that solely play that recreation, and that is robust to compete (towards) once I play like 10, 12, 15 completely different video games. So I just like the combined occasions. I actually do.”

Any maintain’em wizards hoping to offer new variants a attempt, be warned: You’ll have to content material with The Nice Dane.

“(Combined video games are) undoubtedly my favourite,” he stated. “I have been taking part in combined money video games since … again within the days earlier than poker was on TV. So I like all of the video games.”

Connor Richards is an Editor & Reside Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outdoors Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for 2 International Poker Awards for his writing.