At the end of 2013 PokerPlayer.co.uk reported that Gus Hansen was the year’s biggest loser in online cash games, dropping an estimated $8.5m, more than twice the amount of any other player. If the Great Dane hoped that things would pick up in 2014 so far he will have been left hugely disappointed. With almost half of 2014 in the bag, Gus is once again the year’s biggest loser and is over $3.5m in the hole.
According to online poker database High Stakes DB, Gus Hansen has now lost an estimated $18m total in the past eight years since high stakes online cash games have been tracked by the site. It’s in stark contrast to Hansen’s excellent live poker record where he has won over $11.2m in tournaments. PokerPlayer.co.uk spoke to Hansen recently about his poor record online. Here is what he had to say:
PokerPlayer: How’s it going online? Have you been winning?
Gus Hansen: No, I had a big downtick recently. I’ve been playing all night and that was pretty ugly [Hansen lost $1m the night before this interview.]
You’re well known for these swings. What’s your emotional state like?
It’s a little fu**ed up as we speak. The downward spiral has been going for a little too long with way too few upticks, so right now I’m contemplating the whole situation, definitely taking a serious break, slowing down, maybe playing smaller stakes. That’s definitely within the realm of possibility.
Do you have any close relationships or friends who can give you good advice?
Yes. Unfortunately, I am somewhat stubborn in certain situations and I haven’t been a good listener. Maybe I should start now. It’s important and it’s very [to have someone you trust] but obviously if you don’t listen it’s not going to be much help. Like I said, I have to turn things round and right now you caught me on the wrong foot.
This interview was conducted in early May and, despite Hansen’s claim that he was going to take a serious break from the game, that was in fact not the case. Instead, Hansen ploughed through 27,000 hands and lost $900k+. Is it time that Hansen took a step away from online poker for his own good? Let us know what YOU think on Twitter @PokerPlayerUK and we’ll retweet the best responses.
Judging by May’s online poker results it is not just the once-formidable Hansen who is on a big losing streak. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom, formerly the golden boy of online poker when he battled with the likes of Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey, is also in the midst of a terrible $3m downswing, and is losing $1m for the year so far. With players like Phil Galfond also having a losing year thus far it goes to show how competitive and difficult the nosebleed cash games really are in 2014.
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