Gus Hansen’s MasterChef Guide to Cooking

The legendary Gus Hansen may have failed to create waves in Barcelona – “dreadful poker and bad results” according to the Great Dane himself – but he was definitely cooking up a storm in the kitchen to get over it, and it was a lot less complicated than poker!

“One simple rule – use chilli,” was Hansen’s advice to would-be fellow Masterchef’s as he sliced and diced his way to culinary heaven – although his fans on Instagram were quick to offer advice…

‘Don't cut vegetables while looking at the camera!’, and ‘Gus please use gloves!!!!!!!! .......oh man don’t touch your eyes!’ among them as the steaks sizzled away in the foreground.

Perhaps surprisingly it wasn’t Chinese food on the menu, as the Open-Faced Chinese variant of the game seems to be where Gus has been having most success recently in the poker world.

Food poker

Whether or not a ‘Cooking with Hansen’ show appears among the big man’s future plans away from the tables, he’s not the first to share a poker/food connection.

The BBC once ran a series called ‘Food Poker’, a cookery show which saw chefs each given a ‘starting hand’ of ingredients, along with ‘community ingredient’ cards – the expert culinary panel voting with poker chips on which dish was best each round.

Food casinos

Alternatively, the concept of a food casino has been tried several times, PokerStars joining up with Jones and Sons restaurant in London a couple of years back to offer a good-natured and well-balanced evening of poker and food to run alongside their UKIPT event, with players and diners able to gamble on their evening’s culinary delights.

Named the ‘All-in Kitchen’ for the evening, groups and individuals were able to bet their desserts – a win affording them a free 3-course meal, along with a cocktail – with names such as ‘The Bluff’, ‘The Raise’ and ‘The Call’.