TYPICAL HANSEN

i was reading about the LA poker classic in california, and here is an example of gustav hansen's play - this guy is my idol!!!

Quote: Hansen set the tone of play early. Bloch, with an A,8 off-suit raised the blinds to $18,000. Hansen, with just a 4,2 off-suit, called. After the flop and turn gave a 9,8,5,10 Hansen bet another 18 thousand, and Bloch called. The river was a J, a 4-card straight showing, and Hansen, with absolutely nothing, bet $36,000. Bloch folded his hand. Thus the bluff-fest began.

call with 42o??? brilliant. sheer genius

another one, same game:

Quote: Next was the other amateur at the table, Steve Shkolnik, a film industry production manager. Steve couldn’t afford to wait for a better hand and went all in with a Q,8 of hearts. He was called first by Rentzer, with a pair of 7’s, and then by Hansen with a 5,3 off suit! WPT host Mike Sexton decided Hansen’s nickname should be “Flop” because of the player’s propensity to play through the flop. Once again it proved wise as the flop came 10,3,3. Hansen’s set held up as he added Shkolnik’s chips to his own.

I find it funny, that when a pro calls a big bet with 4 2 off, people think it's a brilliant play. When someone in a game your playing in does it, he becomes the idiot of the table.

isnt that the truth....I guess when you win 4 WPT events you can play what you want and just laugh all the way to the bank......Gus uses his experience as a backgammon player to help him play poker.....He uses some concept called expected returns or expected something or other which dictates how he plays. I think he plays hands like that because most players that are calling and raising have high cards so if the flop is rags he has probably hit it and has the best hand and can continue to get callers......I know that it a raw analysis but I cant really remember how he described it. Does anyone have any clue what I am talking about. I love Gus Hansen and would have absolutely no idea how to play against him. No idea whatsoever, other than to avoid playing pots with him.

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Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

Gus is one of the best players in the world - he knows what he is doing when he does that - idiots call coz they dont know any better. As the Great Dane himself says: 'If your opponent folds his hand, it doesn't matter what you have at all'. That is his strategy and is why he is so good - he is unpredictable and very difficult to play against.

who is the great dane?

great dane= gus hansen's nickname. Also, I think a lot of the difference in gus hansen playing a below average hand vs some fish playing it is that hansen plays it with the understand that it is below average but that he can bluff at the pot and win a lot of hands that way, a fish plays it because they don't understand that its a crappy hand, or because they just play every hand because "any hand can win" and "its a good hand because I won" afterwards.

I agree with you on Gus. But....it is still funny how we revere the move from a pro, and NEVER consider it a great bluff from a amateur. Life is funny.......ha ha ha

its not even so much that he called preflop - he bet 18 000 after seeing the flop, which had absolutely nothing for him, with all three overcards, and still having the confidence and experience to bluff. i got a lot of respect for brunson too - reading supersystem (although his strategy is a little more aggressive that i tend to play, but who am i to question him???)

Yes, quite a player. The site given below lets you make the decision of holding them or folding them in difficult situations against the pro's, (including the classic Hansen confrontation). After making your decision you can watch a video clip of the real outcome which, quite often proves suprising!
Have fun!
http://travel.discovery.com/fansites...hallenges.html
Gogs