Breakdown of Gus Hansen's Style of Play

[georgesimpson]

When watching Gus Hansen I tried to compare him to some style of play that I was familiar with.

From the looks of it, it was a very loose pre flop strategy where he would go fishing with nominal hands. However, after the flop he seemed to have great reading skills so he would completely minimize losses he if missed, sniff out whether or not he had the best hand with say a middle pair and then win a medium pot, or trap someone with the nuts (as it was pretty hard to imagine what he could have on some of the boards).

Therefore I guess it would be okay to call him a loose pre-flop, tight aggressive post flop player? or is there more to this story?

On another note I've played with this style as an experiment in my local cash game. My first night I doubled up my buy in, second night I also doubled up my buy in, but then last night I hit no flops and broke even.

I was playing against tight passives--there was a calling station that would pay me off when I hit big though (how i made the most money).

Has anyone else played a style similar to Gus Hansen and what have the results been against different kinds of players?

I feel like in some games where you're going to get paid off regardless of whether or not you project a loose table image, that it might be good to just play a tight game because fishing costs money and you'll get paid off anyway.

Please post any other insights or comments too.

Thanks!

George

[Paluka]

I think being Gus Hansen is a big part of why his strategy works. After he won his first tourney and got a reputation, people starting playing like monkeys against him. His strategy works amazingly well against people who were mentally defeated by him the moment he sat down at the table. He just destroys them postflop.

[Nagoo81]

If anyone has been paying attention to the Poker Superstars Invitational, he's been crushing those games as well (along with Howard Lederer).
Can one say that Gus has a psychological advantage against all those guys?

Even Doyle Brunson said Gus' play favors him in the PSI type of format. And Doyle has been right thus far.

[splashthepot]

George,

I think one major aspect you missed was Gus's table position relative to the cards he is willing to play. It seem as if he is willing to play nearly any hand in late position if he feels he can buy the button with a small raise or limp in to see the flop.

[koko2315]

[ QUOTE ]
George,

I think one major aspect you missed was Gus's table position relative to the cards he is willing to play. It seem as if he is willing to play nearly any hand in late position if he feels he can buy the button with a small raise or limp in to see the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Precisely, those "junk hands" that he's noted for are almost always pots that he opens.

He won't play them if there is someone in the pot already.

Lederer's philosophy, it seems, against him is to almost always play back at him, coming over the top pre-flop.

Many times it works and Gus gets away from his hand, and sometimes Lederer runs into a dominating hand when he thinks Gus has garbage.

[fearme]

i rarely fold pre, because i feel i can outplay everyone in my home game which is the case(plus the stakes are small 20-30$ buyin,maybe 50 somedays), however i have wicked swings, but have done fine

[fearme]

he likes to protect his blinds w/ garbage, 24 v andy bloch, all kind of suited gapped cards

[SuitedSixes]

I wonder what is play is like in the early stages of a tournament. Early on the WSOP he seemed much more tight. I wonder if the opinions we have of his play are just formed by the final table situations when he is pushing small edges.

[georgesimpson]

fearme can you give me a nutshell summary of your home game strategy then.

Limp in with "garbage"...gapped suited...connectors (unsuited)--where position warrants if cost doesn't seem to be really high?

protect blinds reasonably given any cards?

raise with what and in what circumstances?

what are obvious pre flop folds for you?



then i just assume you use good post flop judgement depending on situations.

I'm just looking for an overview of what is working.

Thanks.

George

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder what is play is like in the early stages of a tournament. Early on the WSOP he seemed much more tight. I wonder if the opinions we have of his play are just formed by the final table situations when he is pushing small edges.

[/ QUOTE ]

More likely it's due to severely edited television footage, where you see less than one percent of the hands Gus is dealt, hence you do not see the times he picks up KK, raises, and everyone folds. Or the times he picks up 73o UTG and folds right away. Or the times he limps with JTs, the button makes a big raise, and he folds. Or...

Story editing in television production is geared towards character development. Gus is a "play anything" character, so they often just show interesting Gus hands where he plays unorthodox cards. It may be true that he's looser than any other WPT champion, but it's also true that he's not completely reckless or he wouldn't have the success rate that he does.