The big live tournaments that make the poker headlines each week come and go, but the ring game tables never sleep. Action is always plentiful in the virtual poker world. Perhaps nobody knows this better than Gus Hansen, who is famous for his significant bankroll swings in online poker. In what was likely one of his worst days ever, HighStakesDB.com has reported that Hansen lost over $1 million dollars Sunday… to just two opponents.
Cole South and eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Ivey took Hansen for more than $1.1 million on the final weekend day of August, accounting for almost half of the “Great Dane’s” net losses on the year. HighStakesDB – which tracks the action at high-stakes online poker tables – reported that Hansen’s losses Sunday came primarily in $2,000/$4,000 Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. He lost $358,000 to Ivey in that game along with $99,000 to South, and to make matters worse, he even lost $335,000 in Omaha Eight or Better when it was part of a Seven Game rotation.
All told during 2010, Hansen is down $2.3 million according to the records kept by HighStakesDB. He started off the year strong, peaking at $2.3 million in the black in January. His current deficit is his low point of the year so far. Despite his poor run in the Omaha Hi-Lo portion of HORSE on Sunday, it looks like Hansen should stick to HORSE, as he is up over $1.7 million in the Fixed Limit format of the mixed game in 2010.
Ivey and South, on the other hand, have had good 2010’s so far, and of course, HighStakesDB only counts online games, so they could be doing even better in live games. Ivey is up an astounding $3.5 million in internet competition this year and is on the rise, as that mark is his high point. He hit his valley back in March, when he was down $117,000. Ivey’s best game has been Fixed Limit HORSE, in which he was won $1.5 million. He is at least break-even in each game type for which HighStakesDB has records.
South has not won nearly as much as Ivey, but it is safe to say that the average person would love to have made $78,825 through the first eight months of the year. It’s a far cry from his high water point in February, when he was up $3.5 million. Just last month, though, South was down $260,000, so being above break-even means that he has had a nice few weeks recently. Fixed Limit Omaha Hi-Lo has been South’s best game, netting him almost a half million dollars.