Gus Hansen has had a rollercoaster of a year, but it seems like he’s ending 2010 with a huge bang as he just won the Full Tilt Poker Million IX. His efforts got him a pretty sizable $1 million dollars and the honor of beating some of the biggest pros along the way.

The Final Table

Full Tilt Poker’s Million IX Challenge is actually an invitational shoot-out tournament wherein 48 players competed for the title over several different heats. The winners of each heat were sent to London where they would battle it out with each other until a winner is crowned. Since the only way to get into the tournament was by invitation, all of the players were truly talented. The field, though it was only a scant 42, was definitely tough. This Full Tilt Bonus Tournament features some of the big names who made it into the final heat were Barny Boatman, James Bord, Seth Webber, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, and of course, Gus Hansen. Also playing was Gary Peniket, the online qualifier. When the games started, it was Antonius who was first to hit the rail, courtesy of Bord.

Next to go was Howard Lederer, sent packing by Hansen himself. Hansen actually achieved two things during the hand that eliminated Lederer, one was to eliminate an opponent, and the other was to cripple Bord by making him fold. Then, Hansen proceeded to eliminate Webber, who was already short-stacked to start with. Peniket, the online qualifier, was the next one to go, followed closely by Boatman. Bord, whose stack was considerably weakened, finished at third place, eliminated by Bloom.

Heads Up

Thus, it was Bloom and Hansen who faced each other off at the heads up portion of the tournament. Their battle didn’t last very long though, as the final hand occurred just a few hands into the heads up part when Bloom pushed all in with A-6, and Hansen made the call with A-8. The flop came out in favor of Hansen, and Bloom was sent packing, although he did receive a pretty hefty prize. Gus Hansen received a nifty million though, as well as a brand new title. 2010 has been great for Hansen, who won a bracelet at the WSOPE earlier this year. It’s the best way to end the year for Hansen – and really, this win was just like the cherry on top of a particularly wonderful cake.

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