Gus Hansen Turns a Tournament Win Into a Poker Book

What's this? Gus Hansen wrote a poker book? One of the most notable sporting and entertainment figures of this decade has always been somewhat aloof to the poker market upswing while at the same time being the source of its epicenter. Gus Hansen and his laid back style has in some way kept him from marketing himself. He just loves to play, and challenge himself, and yes… gamble. If you know anything about Gus Hansen, it’s that he loves to gamble. But in this poker book, you learn a lot more about how the math of Gus Hansen actually explains away that gambling moniker and theorem.

This book is delightfully insightful and forthright. Gus has really opened up here and goes through every contentious hand he plays at the 2007 Aussie Millions, where he dominated the final table and kick-slapped an internet newcomer named Jimmy Fricke heads up to seal the deal. In showing how he strategizes right through that tournament he creates sincere value that we amateur players may have never before been exposed to because players like Gus are just so rare.

If you’ve ever seen some of the hands from this tournament on youtube, you will see that Gus was actually using a personal recording device and whispering into a mic throughout the Aussie Millions Poker Tournament. You have to wonder if it was a self check system for Gus, or if he had actually planned to use the information for this book ahead of time.

Gus was certianly well equipped, with recorder in hand to analyze the hands for this book as he could easily review the chips counts, stacks, position and all the other important tournament factors. You get his detailed insight into the thought processes of one of the best tourney players in the world, while also learning about the different strategies of playing a full table and playing short-handed, and how important aggression is part of Gus Hansen’s multi-table tournament strategy.

Gus Hansen’s book should be read after Harington’s because you have two very different styles, but one could argue that Hansen is more successful than Dan Harrington. Although that remains debatable, Gus Hansen's popularity lead is certainly no question. Although not pointing fingers, Gus decries that poker books in general are far too tight to be really helpful in large buy-in tournaments.

The practical style poker books seems to carry more value as they are just that much easier to read, think about, and then take to the table yourself, trying to recognize similar situations you may have just soaked in. Reality is all about winning, and this book really does deliver in that regard.

There were a lot of tournament structure and strategy notes that Gus explained in this book to as he made a habit of recapping the day’s events, setting up for the day ahead, analyzing blinds changes and payout structures, and really analyzing his opponents quite frequently as the tournament changed.