A professional poker player, of Danish origin, Gus Hansen, a member of the FullTiltPoker, the only one who owns four World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, participated in month December 2010 in a poker event organized in Budapest. The meeting, entitled Face The Pro, which was held at Hotel Le Meridien in the Hungarian capital, was an opportunity for certain poker enthusiasts – three, to be more precise – to play directly with the great champion. At the press conference that took place on December 15th participated, next to Gus, two more components of the FullTilt- Poker team – Denes Kalo and Valdemar Kwaysser, both from Hungary.
In this context, Gus Hansen spoke about the path he followed from being a back-gammon player to being a professional poker champion. Among others he stated that he came to America to play back-gammon and went on to becoming a great card playing champion. Furthermore, Gus also said that the first poker player he became friends with in America was Huck Seed and that the Americans are the ones who named him Gus, his real name being Gustav. At the end of the conference, Gus Hansen gave an exclusive interview to our magazine.
HI GUS, WE COME FROM ROMANIA. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN OUR COUNTRY?
Yes. I was in Romania in 2001. What I can remember about Bucharest is that I did at the time a lot of jogging in a park in downtown city. At one point I found myself surrounded by a horde of wild dogs! I can also remember about Romania that girls are extremely beautiful over there. And the most remarkable thing happened just the day I left Bucharest for Denmark. After landing, one of the friends I was with and who was talking over the phone looked at me and said: “In New York someone has just crashed a plane into the World Trade Center.” In other words, we were up in the air, somewhere between Bucharest and Denmark, right as the 9/11 terrorist attacks were happening…
DO YOU KNOW ANY ROMANIAN POKER PLAYER?
Beside the great player Negreanu, who has Romanian origins, I can also think of the name Mihai Manole, as he joined the FullTiltPoker team in 2010.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT “FACE THE PRO”, ORGANIZED BY FULL TILT POKER?
It’s a fantastic initiative, as it allows any poker fan to play, face to face with one of the greatest professional players, of course, with a chance to win a consistent money prize. In comparison, there are few such chances in other sports. An amateur basketball player stands little chance of ever playing, oneon- one with Michael Jordan; or a golf player who would want to play against Tiger Woodssza…
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE POKER IN A FEW WORDS? SCIENCE? GOOD LUCK?
Poker game is truly a sport of the mind, but it is very important to also have knowledge of mathematics and psychology. It’s extremely important that at all times the poker player remains focused and he must remain calm. However, I must say that even if you are the best player there is, without some glimpse of luck, you can’t win.
WHO DO YOU THINK WAS THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN 2010? CAN HE BE NOMINATED DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH HE WON? DEPENDING ON HIS GAME?
It’s a very difficult question, one which I can’t answer with accuracy. Indeed, he could be appointed player of the year who won most during that year, but this is something relative – he may have won online, but lost in tours.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WOMEN PLAYING POKER?
The number of women participating in tours is smaller than that of men, but they stand equal chances with men to win a hand, a table or a tour. And then they also have an advantage in front of men due to their physical looks.
DO YOU ALSO PLAY POKER AT HOME?
At home I prefer to spend time with my family, not play poker. In my spare time I sometimes play with my close friends but only for the fun of it, not with real money. And I am usually the dealer, the one dealing the cards.
DO YOU PREFER ONLINE GAMING OR LIVE TOURS?
For me, it’s more convenient for a player to stay in front of a screen, because he can bet in peace, he can play any type of poker, and the opponent finds it more difficult to say whether he is bluffing or not.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW POSSIBILITY TO PLAY POKER – THE “RUSH POKER”?
As far as I know, FullTiltPoker is the only website which gives the possibility to choose rush poker. It’s a faster way of playing and moving rapidly to another playing table, with other players, other cards and, by all means, other chances of winning.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRANSMIT TO ROMANIAN PLAYERS?
Good health, good luck and never give up.
ARTE VIZUALE/MEDIA
