Gus Hansen book - Every Hand Revealed

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mstram

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I just started reading Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed", where he writes about every hand he played in the 2007 Aussie Millions tournament.

He has a stats summary, and considering that he won the tournament, I found it very surprising that out of 850 hands dealt to him, he only got AA 3 times, KK never! , QQ 4 times, JJ 3 times, and AK 10 times.

He played 329 / 850 of the hands he was dealt (39% !!!!)

The hands he called "good hands" , he was dealt 52 times :

TT, 99,88,77,66, AQo, AJ, ATs, KQ, KJs, KTs, QJs, QTs JTs,55,44,33,22, ATo, KJo, QJo, JTo, AX, KXs, QXs, JXs, KTo, K9o, K8o, K7o, K6o

Medium Hands - 166

QTo, Q9o, Q8o, Q7o, JTo, J9o, J8o, T9o, T8o, 98o, T9s, T8s, T7s, T6s, 98s, 97s, 96s, 95s, 87s, 85s

Every thing else he calls "Don't try this at home" :D - 89 hands

== Uncontested Pots ==

He won 55 pots by raising and "meeting no resistance", as he writes.

He also won 15 pots pre-flop by re-raising the initial raiser. As he writes "Some of those with a firm belief that I was holding the best hand, but quite a few 'funk balls' snuck in there".

Span of re-raising hands :
AK,AK,AK,JJ,99,99,88,77,55,A8o, K7o, QTo, 76o, 54o

"I don't exactly have to have picture cards or better to put a lot of money in the pot. Sensing some hesitation or reluctance on your opponent's part is sometimes all you need"
 
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lektrikguy

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Read it-not a bad book.Kinda gives you insight to his madness.
 
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TheWall

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He's definitely a great player, I'll be sure to look into it eventually once I don't have all this god damned reading for school.
 
ukaliks

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It's a good book to read. Nice to learn how a LAG plays. But dont use his tatics at micro levels lol. They wont fold when facing a re-raise half of the time.
 
Velutha

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It was definitely an interesting read....Not a ton of strategy to take away from it but it was a fun book.

I was really pulling for Jimmy Fricke though when it got down to heads up in the Aussie Millions tournament that the book chronicles.

However, I'm endlessly fascinated by the idea that Gustav decided to record all of his hands for a tournament to write a book and ends up winning the tournament! Quite a different read if he loses out at the start of level 3...I suppose he would have waited for another tournament for his book.
 
flipflops_n_shades

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Gus is great and is a fierce proponent of defending your Big Blind. He does not get enough credit for making the "moves" he gets away with but usually the pot odds are in your favor.
 
Pbland

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I found it a great read. It was great to get a look in his head and why he plays the moves he makes. I like how he puts relentless pressure on players.
 
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He is a great player and am artist. I apreciate him for what he is doing and I hope I will read hes book. we must learn from our big brothers.:D:D
 
luckytvguy

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I bought that book.But still not read.And that will be after I having reading some other elementary books.
 
Stu_Ungar

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I think the eye-opener for beginners with a book like this is that Gus Hansen is know to be one of the loosest players in the game, yet he plays much tighter than many beginners!
 
chuG

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However, I'm endlessly fascinated by the idea that Gustav decided to record all of his hands for a tournament to write a book and ends up winning the tournament! Quite a different read if he loses out at the start of level 3...I suppose he would have waited for another tournament for his book.
Maybe it was retrospective.
 
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will have to check the book out sounds very interesting i have always been entranced by his playing style very aggressive . Thanks for an insight into it.
 
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Project2501

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I liked the book. Gus makes a living off of his maniac image, but it's his postflop decisions that set him apart from most. He plays a high pressure style and twists your arm til it snaps.
 
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mstram

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However, I'm endlessly fascinated by the idea that Gustav decided to record all of his hands for a tournament to write a book and ends up winning the tournament! Quite a different read if he loses out at the start of level 3...I suppose he would have waited for another tournament for his book.

He apparently records all his hands in every tournament.

From the book : (preface)

"The revealing is made possible because of the little tape recorder that I always bring to the tournament tables. After having played a hand, I take a couple of steps away from the table to record the action. In addition to describing the play of the hand, I also take note of my opponents and whether they have displayed any patterns, mannerisms, etc."
 
Velutha

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He apparently records all his hands in every tournament.

From the book : (preface)

"The revealing is made possible because of the little tape recorder that I always bring to the tournament tables. After having played a hand, I take a couple of steps away from the table to record the action. In addition to describing the play of the hand, I also take note of my opponents and whether they have displayed any patterns, mannerisms, etc."

Ah yes, it's been quite awhile since I read the book....I forgot that important little nugget
 
Poker Orifice

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I was excited to read this book after having read some reviews about it & after reading the intro/preface but to be honest, I was really hoping/expecting there to be far more in-depth levels of thinking. Perhaps he toned it down for the general poker public (hoping to hit a larger target market?).
The book left me wanting more.... more of what wasn't in the book & hopefully is in his thought processes.
Would I recommend it to others? 'maybe'.
 
serendipity

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This was the first poker book I've ever read.

And at $15.95 cover price, nearly half what other poker books cost. (My second, third and fourth poker books were Harrington on Hold 'em parts 1-2-3, which are cover priced at $29.95 each!)

Next purchase will be the Little Green Book and our own Mr. Leatherass's.
 
NicolasWSOP

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Can't wait to read this book! I've never read a poker book, but I play on reading Super/Systems 1+2 as well as Gus Hansen's book.

Should be good reads!
 
Kasanova King

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I was excited to read this book after having read some reviews about it & after reading the intro/preface but to be honest, I was really hoping/expecting there to be far more in-depth levels of thinking. Perhaps he toned it down for the general poker public (hoping to hit a larger target market?).
The book left me wanting more.... more of what wasn't in the book & hopefully is in his thought processes.
Would I recommend it to others? 'maybe'.

To tell you the truth, that was probably it - not all that much "in depth" thinking going on. Pretty basic LAG strategy based on feel and tells.

Nothing against Gus - he is a world class pro - but compared to the other top level pros, he's probably on the bottom of the totem poll. And it's not just me saying it - Mike Matisow thinks that Hansen is absolutely horrible, so does Hellmuth - the only two pros that aren't scared to speak their minds. I believe good 'ole Leatherass thinks so as well. And those are just a few.

Personally I think that Gus's style was very effective 3, 4+ years ago, before half the world decided to become maniacs. Now, he's just one of many. It's no wonder he's decided to slow down a bit and analyze his game.
 
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