Gus Hansen (The Great Dane)

Also known as "The Great Dane", Gustav Hansen aka "Gus" is a Danish poker player. Love him or hate him, he leaves no one indifferent. He is known for his unpredictable aggression and creativity at the tables. He was part of the team of pros at Full Tilt Poker, a famous online gambling platform, between 2004 and 2012. At the time, Full Tilt was, along with PokerStars and PartyPoker, one of the largest online gambling platforms. Alongside Gus, other pros included Viktor Blom (known as "Isildur1") and Tom "durrrr" Dwan.

The highs and lows of the Great Dane!

Gus Hansen's successes have been mixed. On the one hand, he has long been regarded as one of the best tournament players in Texas Hold'em, but on the other, he has had some difficulties on the Full Tilt Poker tables, where he reportedly lost US$20 million. While that 10 million in tournament winnings is impressive, he remains a losing player at the Full Tilt Poker tables where he was regularly seen during the heyday of Full Tilt.

His famous pot against Negreanu

Another notable fact about Gus Hansen is his famous pot played on the TV show High Stakes Poker in which he won the hand with a 5-of-9-6-5-5-8 straight draw against Daniel Negreanu's 66 (full house). The total pot was "$575,700."

Considering Gus's very aggressive style, for Daniel Negreanu, this was a solid "cooler."

What is he doing today?

Hansen took a short retirement from poker in 2014 after losing $5 million in his year, only to make a comeback in 2017. The latest news about him is from 2020 and he is reportedly still playing poker, but at much smaller limits than in the past. He is said to still be a tournament-winning player.