Read any poker advice from the best in the game and it will include proper bankroll management, healthy living, hard work away from the tables and any number of things useful to an aspiring pro…but what happens when they don’t listen to their own advice and become poker degenerates?
Gus Hansen
The Great Dane as won and lost more millions than most people will see in a lifetime – and it hasn’t al been at the poker tables! Coupled with a hedonistic approach to life, Hansen is a true degenerate, even if a loveable one…
View this post on InstagramWhen you get knocked out of the Main Event it’s very important to keep your mind occupied
Winning $10million+ in live tournament poker, losing over $20million online and playing the biggest live games at Bobby’s Room, Gus Hansen is a living legend, but in his own words…
“I’m a sick fuck when it comes to poker” he told ‘Chicago’ Joey Ingram last year. “I am simply a degenerate, just like many other players. Some of them have to gamble every day. I can stay away from the table for two weeks, but then when I finally sit to play no one can drag me away from cards.”
Tales of $1milion backgammon wins and losses aren’t unusual for Gus, former international footballer Jean-Philippe Rohr revealing back in 2014: “… last year in Monaco, Gus Hansen was the High Roller chip leader after Day 1 and did not even come on Day 2 because he plays backgammon in his room, and he earns 2 million and a half dollars in a weekend.”
So, what would ‘Life advice from a degenerate gambler’ sound like coming from Gus? A bit like this…
Stu Ungar
Stu Ungar is considered by many to have been the ultimate poker player, a card genius extraordinaire – but there was a dark and deadly side to the 3-time WSOP Main Event champion..
Remarkably, poker may not even have been Ungar’s best game, legendary stories of $multi-million gin rummy winnings and blackjack counting – although he found himself barred from many places due to his uncanny abilities.
Here is Mike Sexton with an amazing story of just such an Ungar moment…
Unfortunately for Ungar and the world of card players, cocaine would prove to be the downfall of ‘the Kid’ as he was affectionately known. The terrible cost the drug took on Ungar was clear for all to see when he made a comeback in 1997, his skills still unrivalled but his body emaciated and nose all but destroyed from the drug abuse.
An amazing victory, but it would be his last – the money spewed on cocaine and sportsbetting. Ungar would die the following winter – his body eventually unable to cope with the abuse – and the tragic tale of the most amazing cardplayer in history was over.
Chun Lei Zhou
Of course, poker degenerates don’t have to leave the table to show off their horrendous gambling habits. Poker itself can see players punt $millions without drugs or the roulette wheel being involved, and Chun Lei Zhou, aka ‘Sam Rostan’ is one of the most notorious of all.
“I played for a long time, and lost some money.” This is how Zhou described his online poker career when he was revealed as the man behind some massive losing accounts on Full Tilt and PokerStars.
Understatement of the century, perhaps, as those losses neared $15million!
Why would someone play when they are losing so much? “I love to play poker” was the simple answer from the man behind the ‘patpatman’ (-$2million), patpatpanda’ (-$2.6million) and ‘samrostan’ (-$10million!) online losses.
As if it made things any less drastic-sounding, Zhou explained: “Before I only played no-limit hold’em games. Sometimes no one played me, so I learned other ring games and I lose a lot of money.”
Of course that money has to come from somewhere, and apparently in Zhou’s case it’s from beasting the big live games in Macau. As with Gus Hansen though, it seems that not everyone is cut out for internet poker – an expensive Achilles Heel.
He stated: “I like to play online because it’s fast and you can play more tables…live game is boring.”
And for poker degenerates, it’s that word ‘boring’ that causes all the problems!
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