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Today in the 3-Bet we find Gus Hansen poking his head back into online poker, Esa Tikkanen steps into the Golden Cash Game and Steven Holloway captures the poker tournament experience perfectly.
1) Gus Hansen Rides Again (Kinda)
He's back! Sort of.
Gus Hansen returned to the online poker tables last night for the first time since his partnership with Full Tilt Poker disintegrated a couple of months ago.
It was brief, sure. Just 71 hands at two 2-7 Triple Draw tables.
Net loss: $50,001, keeping his total losses for 2014 still around $5.5m.
Net gain for the poker world: A lot, as it's an encouraging sign we've yet to see the last of Gus - especially online, where there could be no better story than Hansen making a big surge back up towards solvency by the end of the year.
Was Gus just getting his sea legs back for a big Christmas season push? Let's hope so.
Check the full write-up, so to speak (in Danish), here.
2) Blom, Brolin and Esa Tikkanen!
We won't beat you over the head with the Unibet Golden Cash Game anymore (today is the last day) but if you've yet to watch, please do.
Viktor Blom is back. Footballer Tomas Brolin is back. Jamie Sykes (who has burned 6.5k on the 7-2 game alone) is back. And this time they're joined by NHL legend Esa Tikkanen!
We've delighted in watching Tikkanen bury feathery passes from Wayne Gretzky over the years and we're pretty sure we'll delight in watching the Finn play poker. Stream below:
3) How to Lose $2.5k in Two Hours
We love this first-hand report by the New Zealand Herald's Steven Holloway of a go at the recent ANZPT Main Event in Auckland.
Why? It pretty much captures the magic and anguish of the poker tournament experience in its entirety.
The absurdity to non-poker players of paying $2,500 to play a poker tournament.
The thrill of getting to your seat and finding a little bit of swag waiting for you.
The embarassment of a live misclick. An excruciating bustout hand.
The relief of knowing you wouldn't play the hand differently.
And the unflagging desire to do it again the next chance you get.
By the sounds of it, playing in New Zealand also offers some pretty sweet value. We recommend looking into it.
Read the full piece from Holloway here.
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