Gus Hansen wins Full Tilt Poker Million IX

LONDON - Danish poker professional Gus Hansen is celebrating winning the Full Tilt Poker Million IX last weekend and beating some top players in an eight handed tournament in front of a live TV audience on Sky Sports. The player known as the Great Dane took down a $1 million prize for finishing first.

Hansen bested a table which included such big names as Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Barny Boatman, James Bord and Brighton Football Club Chairman Tony Bloom.

Hansen has long been considered one of the best poker players in the world and after winning his first WSOP bracelet in London earlier this year along with his latest tournament win, he has cemented his place as one of the legends of world poker.

The eight players at the final table of this year's Poker Million included two online qualifiers, Seth Peniket and Seth Webber. They both played well on the biggest stage, but neither managed to go deep.

Finnish high stakes player Patrik Antonius was first out after a spectacular hand against WSOPE Main Event winner James Bord. After a raise from Tony Bloom with A-3, Antonius looked him up from the small blind with A-9 and Bord came along for the ride out of the big blind with 10-8. The flop was perfect for Bord, 9-7-6 rainbow, meaning that he had the nut straight. With his top pair, Antonius led out only to face a re-raise from Bord. Bloom quickly folded, then after a few minutes of thought, Antonius went all in. Bord delightfully called, tabling his winning hand and seizing a big chip lead early on.

The table played out for many hours until Tony Bloom and Gus Hansen got to heads-up. Bloom was behind Hansen by about 140,000 chips and it took just two hands for Hansen to claim victory. In the final hand, Hansen looked down to see A-8 and after Bloom moved his stack to the center, Hansen decided to look him up and was thrilled to see he was in a dominant position against Bloom’s A-6. An unnecessary eight on the flop sealed the deal for the Danish poker champion, propelling him to victory and the $1 million first place prize.