Gus Hansen Wins 2010 WSOP Europe High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship and first WSOP Bracelet

Danish poker superstar and Full Tilt Poker sponsored pro, Gus Hansen won his first WSOP gold bracelet after conquering the 2010 WSOP Europe ₤10,000 buy-in High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship, earning ₤288,409 for first place ($451,880). With this victory, Hansen now has 1 win, 2 final table appearances and 7 cashes at the World Series of Poker. His career WSOP earnings now total $898,513.

The ₤10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament attracted 103 entries, including four past world champions (Phil Hellmuth (1989), Huck Seed (1996), Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2000), and Carlos Morstensen (2001)), as well as 23 former gold bracelet winners. The total prize pool amounted to ₤1,030,000 with the top 16 finishers collecting a share of the prize money.

The event's runner up was 21-year-old college student Jim Collopy, a.k.a. "Mr. Big Queso”, who took home a second place prize worth £178,211 (approximately $279,406 USD)

Before entering the final match vs. Jim Collopy, Hansen defeated several players in succession, including Max Steinburg, Mark Everett, Phil Ivey, British pro Neil Channing and Andrew Feldman. Hansen won the first heads up match (Match 1) on Thursday evening after 3 hours and 30 minutes of head up play. Hansen won the final hand of the match holding 9s-9h versus Qc-8c. The final board showed Jh-Tc-8h-7s-7h, giving Collopy a pair of eights, while Hansen had a pair of nines.

Match 2, also held on Thursday night, lasted more than five hours and was won by Collopy, who took the match after moving all in holding 9s -9h versus Hansen’s Qs- Qd. The final board showed 9d- 3s- 3c -4d -8c, giving Callopy three of a kind (9's).

For the first time in World Series of Poker history, the final table was interrupted and delayed two additional days after the initial stages of the heads-up match ran longer than expected. The third and last match was held on a Sunday night on the Main Stage at Casino at the Empire and lasted nearly four hours. Hansen took a decisive lead over his opponent on the last match after winning a huge pot with a full house (deuces full of jacks) against Collopy’s trip jacks. On the final hand, Collopy was dealt K-4 and moved all in and was called by Hansen holding 4-4 Unfortunately for Collopy the small pair held up, giving Hansen the title and his first WSOP gold bracelet.


2010 WSOP Europe Event #4 Official Report
No-Limit Hold’em High-Roller Heads-Up Championship
Buy-In: ₤10,000
Number of Entries: 103
Total Net Prize Pool: ₤1,030,000
Number of Places Paid: 16 world series of poker europe, event #4, Gus Hansen
First Place Prize: ₤288,409
September 21-23, 2010