Gus Hansen is Retooling His Game For 2018

His loose and aggressive style of play became legendary during the 2000s, resulting in Gus Hansen winning three WPT titles, a WSOP gold bracelet, and over $10 million on the live tournament circuit.

That success was marred by online poker losses of more than $20 million, mostly during the 2010s, prompting Hansen to step away from poker action for awhile. But The Great Dane is back, and according to a recent interview with WPT.com, he is making some adjustments and plans to become more active at the poker tables in 2018.

“I really have left the poker tournament scene during the last five years,” Hansen stated. “I have to re-discover and re-invent things. I’m getting into a rhythm. I’m probably going to play more poker next year."

That's great news for fans of the 43-year-old, who miss the old days when Hansen was a dominant force on the felt. Such as 2007, when he won the Aussie Millions Main Event over 747 entries for $1,192,919.

Too Much Information

But that victory had its downside. The following year, Gus released "Every Hand Revealed," a book that thoroughly analyzed his play during the Aussie Millions, perhaps disclosing a bit too much about Hansen's strategy and thought processes.

“After my book came out, it seemed like people just never believed I had a hand,” Hansen said. “I don’t think I did a good job of adjusting because as we all know, I like to play a lot of hands. I made a lot of mistakes along the way."

With his opponents playing against him more and putting the pressure on, the style that had previously worked for Hansen was no longer successful. Coupled with an overall improvement of players in general, it was a recipe for a downswing of epic proportions.

Adjustments are a necessary part of remaining successful at poker and perhaps Gus can stake a claim as one of the game's top players again. A recent appearance at the  WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio saw him having fun, despite failing to earn a payday.

“I’m enjoying the poker tournaments again,” Hansen said. "I’m a games player, and obviously, poker is one of them."

Will 2018 be the year of the comeback for Gus Hansen? He hasn't cashed in a live tournament since 2014.