Gus Hansen

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Gus Hansen, born Gustav Hansen on February 13, 1974, is a Danish professional poker player from Copenhagen who has lived in Monaco since 2003. Known as “The Great Dane,” he plays with an ultra-loose aggressive style and has built a career that spans live tournaments and televised poker.

Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, earned one World Series of Poker bracelet (the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe High Roller Heads-Up event), and captured the 2007 Aussie Millions main event. He was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament and was the first player to win three WPT open events. He also won the inaugural WPT Bad Boys of Poker invitational. His World Series of Poker finishes include several money earnings, with his best WSOP Main Event result being 61st in 2007.

Before turning to poker professionally in 1997, Hansen was a world-class backgammon player and a youth tennis champion. He began playing poker at the Ocean View Card Room in Santa Cruz, California, while an exchange student at UC Santa Cruz. His first major cash came in 2002 with a win at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, followed by significant wins in 2003 at the WPT LA Poker Classic and 2004 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He was inducted into the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame in 2004 and had a notable run in the 2008 WPT Championship, finishing second.

Hansen has been a prominent figure in televised poker, appearing on High Stakes Poker and NBC’s Poker After Dark—the latter making him the first winner on the show, earning $120,000. He has also been involved in big live games in Las Vegas, including the famous “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room, and has openly discussed his losses in live cash games, including substantial money at Full Tilt Poker.

Off the table, Hansen has engaged in various business ventures. He co-founded PokerChamps.com, which Betfair bought in 2005, launched ThePlayr.com, and later started GusHansenTV. He has remained a recognizable figure in poker culture and, as of 2023, his live tournament winnings exceed $10 million.