Gus Hansen is my favorite no limit tournament player. I reviewed the hands where he played Ace-King from his bookEvery Hand Revealed.
Gus Hansen and A-K
Gus is not as aggressive as I expected with this hand. Of the eight times he has played A-K, I have only seen him in three more hands. As a player, I tend to expect more of aggression from him. It was clear that he will call to the river with A-K against anyone.
While he doesn’t check raise often with A-K, he does move all-in with A-K against anyone. As a player, I believe that he will allow himself to be somewhat passive if the pot’s small. A call is a call. If he puts you to a decision and you are wrong, he will still be in the hand.
If you have A-high, Gus will lead out with a continuation bet. If you have A-low, he will check to you with the worst hand.
If you raise pre-flop, expect him to put you on a small pair. If you check, expect him to bet heavily.
If you re-raise pre-flop, expect him to put you on a big pair. If you check, expect a check-raise.
Ace-King is not his favorite hand. It’s not even the favorite for small blind. It’s definitely not his favorite hand in an full-ring game. In fact, it’s not even his favorite hand in a short-handed game. It’s quite possible that any hand with Ace-King will be his favorite hand. You will often see Gus raise pre-flop with Ace-King.
When he’s in the blind, he takes pretty good care of it. There are a couple of hands in Short-Handed (6-max) Hold-em that he will let escape if it’s just him and you. Those hands are pocket 7’s and 6’s. The short-handed table is much more aggressive, and those hands do surprise him, especially when he misses the flop.
When he’s in the big blind, he is a little more aggressive. It’s a tricky dynamic. Sometimes he will want to protect, but sometimes he will want to protect Ace-King. Especially if that flop includes a club, you will see a lot of action coming his way.
Overall, I would say that Gus Hansen is somewhere on the curve in terms of aggression. He seems to be legitimately aggressive, but he also seems to know that he needs to be a little more careful and try to control some of the action to keep his opponents in the hand. I think that that that being a difficult thing to do for other players, because they will be trying to read his tells at all times. Maybe that is why he is sometimes unable to control his own emotions and aggressive play. That being said, he is one of the most targeted players I have played against. The hands that I did win against him certainly had at least a little bit to do with my position, position around the button, and the cards that came that were in my stack.
Sometimes, it is hard to put Gus Hansen down as a player. His aggression comes out in the way that he plays his hands, his raises, and his comments. As good as he is, he is still a human being and the human interaction that he brings to the table will undoubtedly influence his play at a given time. That said, I think that Gus Hansen is going to be a force to be reckoned with not only because of his undeniable skill, but because he is also one of the few players in both standard and turbo bola88 who I think can lay down a hand if it looks bad enough.
So, that’s it. I don’t know. I’m still having fun with Gus Hansen every once in a while, and I’ll probably end up losing my weekly betting record in the bargain. However, I do know that my record this week is still my best winning week ever. That’s a homerun I’m sure you will agree with me on. Have a great week and I hope you do just fine!