Gus Hansen wins Event four at the World Series of Poker Europe
Event number four at the World Series of Poker Europe, the No Limit Hold'em High Roller Heads Up Championship, was the type of prestigious tournament that attracts the very best in the poker world. After
four days of play, Gus Hansen, one of the most respected and feared poker players in the world, took home the title.
The heads up event started with 103 players each buying into the event for 10,000 euros. The total prize pool for the event was 1.03 million euros. The final 16 players took home some of that prize money,
with the remaining 87 left the event floor with their bankrolls a little lighter after they were eliminated.
The money bubble burst on day two of the event and lost along the way were some notable players including Mike Matusow, John Juanda, Chris Ferguson, Phil Helmuth, Carlos Mortenson, Jeffrey Lisandro, Erik
Seidel, and Andy Bloch.
Hansen’s road to the final
In the final 16, Hansen took on Phil Ivey. Ivey was the first to fall out of all 16, when his 6s 6d was dominated pre-flop by Hansen’s Js Jc. The flop was no help to Ivey as 7d Jh 9h came. Ivey also came
up empty on the turn and river and the all time leader in tournament poker money winnings made his way from the tournament floor.
Hansen then went on to take out Neil Channing in the next round to send him into the semi-finals against Andrew Feldman.
The final hand began with Feldman opening with 33,000 chip bet; Hansen came over the top for 88,000 and Feldman then moved all in for his final 269,000. Hansen went into the tank for a few minutes, but
finally made the call. Feldman tabled 10c 10h while Hansen held Ks Jd. The odds were with Feldman until the dealer put the flop down 9c Kd 8h. The turn card was a 2s and Feldman needed a 10 to hit on the river to stay alive. The dealer placed the 3s on the
table and Hansen advanced to the heads up round, against Jim Collopy.
The final
Collopy and Hansen would face off in the best two out of three match for the WSOP gold bracelet.
Hansen was victorious after more than four hours of play in round one. Collopy seemed reluctant to give Hansen his first WSOP bracelet when he won round two after three in the morning.
The final heads up match was delayed a few days so Hansen and Collopy could compete in the main event. Both players started bracelet deciding match with 1.92 million chips.
It did not take long for the first big hand to take place. Four hands in to the match Collopy took down a huge pot when he showed Ac As, Hansen mucked while Collopy scooped almost half of Hansens’s chips.
After the hand Collopy was up to 2.8 million chips.
The next big hand saw Hansen call Collopy’s raise on the big blind. The flop came down 8s Jh Jd and Collopy bet 78,000. Hansen made the call and the turn came 5d. Collopy decided to slow it down and checked.
Hansen put forth a bet of 128,000 and Collopy made the call. The river card was the 2d and Collopy checked. Hansen went into the tank for a long while before he announced that he was all in. Collopy called and saw the bad news, his trip jacks (Qh Jc) were
clearly beat by Hansen’s rivered full house (2c 2h). In one hand Hansen had taken a two to one chip lead.
Eventually Collopy fought back to even, but that was as far as close to victory that he would get. On the final hand Hansen opened with a bet of 91,000 and Collopy raised all in for 1.2 million. Hansen
thought it over for a while, but finally made the call. The cards hit the felt with Collopy showing Ks 4s and Hansen holding 4h 4d. In the end, the board showed Js 5c 6d 10s 3d and Gus Hansen claimed his first WSOP gold bracelet.
The victory moves Hansen’s all time tournament winnings to $7,245,975 and removes his name from the “best players to have never won a WSOP bracelet” list.
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