Gus Hansen Wins Aussie Million Main Event
Gus Hansen (Credit: Full Tilt Poker )
Gus Hansen isn't called “The Great Dane” for nothing. The superstar, whose resumé includes multiple wins on the World Poker Tour and a Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament championship, among other things, is one of the players most people fear sitting down next to at any poker table. Gus is aggressive, intelligent and fearless.
Although 2006 was not a profitable year for him, tournament-wise, he started 2007 with a bang.
Gus Hansen is the winner of the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event. The Full Tilt Poker pro wasn't the only member of that stellar endorsement team sitting at the final table, however. He was joined by Kristy “Mixed Games” Gazes and Andrew Black. Gazes is a fixture on the tournament circuit and always seems to make it deep into a tournament. For example, the talented lady recently cashed at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic and in a Pot Limit Omaha Event at the 2007 Aussie Millions. Andrew Black is an Irish-born Buddhist who has finished big at the EPT, WPT and the WSOP.
Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke, a 19 year old who plays a mean game online – you can often find him cashing in big-money weekly tournaments, qualified via PokerStars. He had the chip lead as things got underway. Hansen was close behind with 4,845,000 chips. Andrew Black was just over 2 million and Kristy Gazes had 1,050,000 in chips. Bringing up the rear were Julius Colman, Marc Karam and Hans Martin Vogl. Each dude had fewer than 1,000,000 chips to work with.
Play began at just after 1pm Australia time and Gus wasted no time in getting aggressive. The Danish wonder took quite a bit of chips from Gobboboy. Then, he attacked Kristy Gazes. Gazes went all-in with an A,Q. Hansen called her with pocket nines and took her million plus in chips as she skidded into the rails.
Gobboboy also lost some of his stack to Julius Colman, a Melbourne native. However, he would tussle with the new chip leader, Gus Hansen, again and again. After a hand in which the enigmatic Hansen played through the river with just a 3,2 against Gobboboy's A,J. Gobboboy, who spiked the winning ace on fifth street, raked in oodles of chips on that pot and retook the lead away from Hansen.
Marc Karam, the short stack at the table, decided to go all-in with his K,J. Hansen, who held an A,9, paired his bottom card on the turn and sent Karam home with $300,000. Hans Martin Vogl battled for his tournament life against Gobboboy and lost. He finished in fifth place. Following him shortly thereafter was Australia 's own Julius Colman. He moved all-in against Andrew Black. Colman had an A,6. Black had pocket queens. The flop was a monster for both players. It tripled up Colman and gave Black a full house. The turn and the river did nothing to change the situation so Colman had to content himself with a $500,000 payday.
Gobboboy had the chip lead as action was down to three and dominated play by raising and re-raising pots. His aggression was impressive, especially considering the two other blokes remaining were Andrew Black and Gus Hansen. Black went all-in a few times and survived. Unfortunately, he was on life support when the death knell sounded. Black held a K,Q and went for broke, which was exactly what he found. Gobboboy had the dominant hand of A,Q. The Irishman retained his composure as the board came down 7,7,3,9,10. Black was eliminated in third place with a hefty prize of $700,000.
When heads-up play started, Gobboboy held almost 12 mil in chips to Hansen's 3.7 mil. That's about a 4:1 advantage, y'all. However, Hansen got busy. He moved all-in with a pair of aces on his As,2s. Gobboboy called with a K,Q in the pocket and a pair of kings on the board. The double-up brought Hansen within a stones-throw of his less-experienced opponent. On the next hand, Hansen took back the chip lead.
Only a minute or so later, Hansen made a call he almost talked himself out of while holding Big Slick. This was after Gobboboy re-raised him all-in with just a K,Q and a board of Jd,10d, 10c. The turn brought another ten and the river gave Gobboboy the straight – and an impressive amount of chips.
However, he would not retain the chip lead for much longer. Hansen decided he'd had enough. He turned up the heat and put on the pressure, whittling down Gobboboy's resolve – and chip stack. The final hand held a flop of Qd,8d,6c. Gobboboy checked. Hansen bet 1,000,000. Gobboboy then check-raised all-in. Hansen couldn't wait to get his chips in the middle with the pocket rockets. Gobboboy flipped up his 9,7 and would need more help from the board to take the title away from Hansen. It didn't come. Gobboboy earned $1,000,000 for his impressive aggression, but it was the Great Dane who ruled the day…as well he should!
Here are the final table results:
1) Gus Hansen - $1,500,000 2) Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke - $1,000,000 3) Andrew Black - $700,000 4) Julius Colman - $500,000 5) Hans Martin Vogl - $400,000 6) Marc Karam - $300,000 7) Kristy Gazes - $220,000
Full Tilt Poker is running the third installment of its highly successful online poker series in February. Yes, the FTOPS III is heading to a computer screen near you soon. Join Gus Hansen and many more of Full Tilt's pros at this 10-day celebration of online poker.