Hansen rides the H.O.R.S.E

Day 2 of the showpiece $50K H.O.R.S.E event sees charismatic Dane Gus Hansen top the leader board with a 686,000 stack. Gus has been conspicuous in his absence from the WSOP, preferring to fulfil business commitments in Europe than participate in the smaller events. Condemned by PLO expert Ziigmund and a whole host of railbirds for his aggressive verging on reckless play on Full Tilt, he’s in prime position to prove his doubters wrong and claim one of poker’s most coveted titles.

There’s been less of a buzz around the event this year, with the field failing to surpass the 100 mark. Daniel Negreanu, in his FullContactPoker blog attributes this to the lack of television coverage – no major network has purchased the tournament rights. With no brand advertising, poker rooms have little incentive to sponsor their players and fork out for the hefty buy-in. Although it may be detrimental towards the integrity of the event (H.O.R.S.E. is supposed to be a test of ALL disciplines), Negreanu suggests making the final table purely NL Hold’em, so the casual viewer becomes gripped and TV networks such as ESPN pick up the coverage.

Nevertheless, a lot of big names still remain in the tournament. The likes of Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan (who had a promising day one) and Jennifer Harman have all hit the rail, although Phil Ivey, Scotty Nyugen and Tony G still remain. Nyugen was in jovial spirits, as he tried to induce $1 bets with 100-1 odds of him throwing Kleenex tissues into a bin. It will be a remarkable achievement if he can scoop the bracelet for the second year running, however last years triumph was marred slightly by his drunken antics at the final table. The winner also receives the Chip Reese trophy, in memory of the late poker legend.

Going into day 3, the top three are:

1^st Gus Hansen 686,000

2^nd Ray Dehkharghani 643,000

3^rd Erik Sagstrom 560,000

Credit: Sam M