Heads Up With Gus Hansen

Gus Hansen is a high-stakes cash-game and tournament player who has won more than $7.7 million in tournaments. He most recently won the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe heads-up championship. Card Player TV recently asked Hansen to discuss the importance of position when playing heads up.

Gus Hansen: Well, obviously, if we go back to “the bible,” Doyle Brunson’s Super/System, I believe that he says, “Position, position, position!” It is just very key to see what your opponent is doing; it is very advantageous to have position because it enables you to direct the play of the hand better and control the size of the pot. It is normal, if you have the advantage, to want to put more money in the pot. That is the standard play. There is another school of thought that says that when you are in position, you want to keep the pot smaller so that you can size it better and not be blown out of it by an all-in bet, which could happen if you raise. So, there are different schools of thought, but the standard is to raise, and if you happen to get called, you still have the advantage of position to fall back on. ♠