Poker super-star Gus Hansen did something remarkable in terms of online play recently. He was able to win over $1.5 Million in a single marathon session at FTP (Full Tilt Poker). The session took 19 hours to complete and lasted through the night. One remarkable aspect to this achievement is he was able to pull this off playing FLO8, which is another way of saying Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. While regular Pot Limit Omaha is gaining a lot speed at online poker establishments, nothing like this has happened in any Hi-Lo game.
Even though winning such a large amount of cash must have brought a smile to Hansen’s face, it is good to keep in mind that for the year, Gus Hansen is down more than $3 Million at FTP. Needless to say, this big win will go a long way in helping the Great Dane and his balance sheet. Gus is now down $1,498,844 for 2013, but he is not the top loser. That title belongs to Phil Ivey, who has lost some $2,297,409 in 2013 and has not been able to cash in the really big money this year as he has done in the past. But, no one is counting Ivey out just yet.
This impressive win for Gus Hansen started when he took $61,000 away from Kyle Ray at the Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo table. Hansen then went on to add to his stack by pulling in $182,000 from Viktor Blom and Alexander Kostritsyn (a 2-7 triple draw). In no time at all, comparatively speaking, Gus was ahead to the tune of $500,000. At times, the Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo table also included Phil Galfond, Kyle Hendon, and two other players. No one left the table with a profit except Hansen and Hendon who managed to win $200,000 in 2 hours of play that took 243 hands.
At the 19 hour mark, Hansen was left facing Ray at the FLO8 heads-up tables. It didn’t long before Ray was standing up for the last time. He had lost a $722,000.
The big losers at the Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo table were Blom who handed over a whooping $627,533 that took some 2,138 hands and Alexander Kostritsyn who lost a tidy $578,778.
While it is true that the amount of cash Gus won is noteworthy, so is the sheer number of hands that were played during this 19 hour game. Imagine, at one point nearly 250 hands of poker were played in a mere 2 hours! This fast pace may have added to some of the players not playing at their finest level, or it may not have contributed. Those who have studied Hansen in the past know that he often likes to play fast, making his decisions in a fraction of time that his opponents take to make theirs. Who knows, this quick pace of play, especially at a Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo table, may have benefited Gus a great deal, especially since it seems to have be been long-lasting over several hours.