Great Gus Hansen article @ CardPlayer

[turnipmonster]

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Even David S. has stated from conversations with Gus that he believes Gus to be a mathematically gifted player.


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that may or may not be true, but either way I don't think the hand is a good illustration of it. he clearly has a call if his read is even close to being right (i.e. no high pair for antonio).

--turnipmonster

[TransientR]

I agree Baron!

Also, Antonio looked nothing like a player who had a big pair. His demeanor was that of someone begging for a fold..IMO. Now whether that was a factor in Gus's decision or not (who knows how these things are edited for TV?), I thought it was worth mentioning.

Frank

[Sean_A]

Two of my fav. players, Gus and Dan Harrington, both blackgammon masters.

[felson]

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Two of my fav. players, Gus and Dan Harrington, both blackgammon masters.

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They might as well call it whitegammon!

Sorry.

[whiskeytown]

I can't remember the link...

but David S. has posted publically on the board that when he talked with Gus about poker and backgammon (a game that requires a lot of math to play at an expert level) that he thought Gus's rep. as a loose cannon wasn't nearly as deserved as it's been and that Gus used a lot more math/logical thinking in his game then is readily apparent.

so that's one hell of an endorsement.

RB

[Daliman]

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Gus is no doubt a great player, but saying he read Esfandiari for a smaller pair than 88 is just dumb.

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*
When Antonio raised, I didn’t put him on a very strong hand; possibly, he could have a pair of fives, sixes, or sevens.

- Gus Hansen
*

Even if he put him on overs, it was correct to call as he was putting in $300,000 at a shot at a pot with $520,000+ already in it, seeing as how 8-10s is about 40/60 vs. AKo and the like.

Even David S. has stated from conversations with Gus that he believes Gus to be a mathematically gifted player.

You don't get to be that good at backgammon, either, without it.

He might be, arguably, one of the most underrated professionals on this forum.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

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You sound like one of the many people who completely misunderstands pot odds. I'll be brief, as I'd probably be wasting my time anyways.

First hand of WSOP, you have T8d. You raise to 2000. A loose/aggressive pro goes all in on you. Is your thought process "well, I can call 8000 here for a shot at 12000, which is 1.5-1. I doubt he'd play a good pair that aggressively, so he either has a small pair or two overcards. Small pair is about 50/50, overs about 58/42, so i have approximately 11% positive equity in calling if I am right here"

Sound dumb? That's because it is. But there are reasons why someone would do this...

#1 They don't care about the $$$.
#1a They think it could enhance their image.
#2 There is a cash game they can play in and make more $$$.
#3 They have no monetary incentive in the tournament.

Ok, lets see which of these applied to Hansen in The Bad Boys episode.

Hmm, 1, 1a, 2, and 3 ALL apply!

Why did he play in the tourney then? Easy, he got an appearance fee, and publicity is good for his game.


P.S. I think Gus is one of the top professionals out there today. He has just had more than his fair share of luck on TV overall.

[illguitar]

Many poker players are former backgammon masters

[Lucy Alexis Liu]

What exactly made Gus think Antonio had a pair smaller than 88 in the first place?

[Daliman]

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What exactly made Gus think Antonio had a pair smaller than 88 in the first place?

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Like I said before; nothing. He's not gonna call off 95% of his chips just for a half-assed "read" that is a dog even IF he's exactly right unless it just doesn't matter.

Gus has made PLENTY of great plays. Look at those. This one was strictly for show.

[paulish]

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Voted one of the 50 sexiest men alive in Dec 2004 issue of People.


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...so was Donald Trump

<font color="blue"> paulish </font>