Hansen vs Negreanu
High Stakes Poker, Season 2, 2006. A big pot at the Palms.
A televised pot between two legends
Why it is famous
Gus Hansen flopped a set of fives against Daniel Negreanu’s set of sixes, and the case five on the turn gave him four of a kind. The pot was a record for the show. Negreanu said afterwards he would never put that much in with aces or kings on that betting.
What to take from it
Both players played the hand well. A cooler is a hand where nobody does anything wrong.
The hand
Esfandiari A♦Q♣
Hansen 5♦5♣
Negreanu 6♠6♥
Before the flop
Blinds 300 and 600. Another player has the button.
Another player folds.
Hansen raises to 2.1K.
Another player folds.
Negreanu raises to 5K.
Three other players fold.
Esfandiari folds.
Hansen calls.
The flop
Board 9♣6♦5♥
Hansen checks.
Negreanu bets 8K.
Hansen raises to 26K.
Negreanu calls.
The turn
Board 9♣6♦5♥5♠
Hansen bets 24K.
Negreanu calls.
The river
Board 9♣6♦5♥5♠8♠
Hansen checks.
Negreanu bets 65K.
Hansen raises to 232K and is all in.
Negreanu calls.
Hansen wins at the showdown with Four of a kind, Fives.
The decisions
- Hansen. A set on a board full of straight draws wants to build the pot now, while overpairs and draws will still pay.
- Negreanu. He is ahead of almost everything. Calling keeps the pot manageable on a board where seven-eight or four-seven makes a straight, and keeps Hansen’s bluffs and draws in.
- Hansen. A small bet into a big pot looks like a draw or a nervous hand, which invites Negreanu’s full house to raise or keep calling.
- Negreanu. Only three hands beat sixes full here: four fives, nines full, and after the river eights full. With a full house this big, folding is almost never right. That is why it is a cooler: both played well. Negreanu called and lost to one of the very few hands that beat him. The pot was the biggest the show had seen.
What the sources do not say. The button and small blind seats are not documented. The table has eight players, worked out from the size of the pot, and only the players named in the sources are drawn. Negreanu’s exact stack is not documented. Hansen’s is worked out from his all in. PokerNews prints Hansen’s all in as $232,700, but only $232,000 makes the pot add up. The air date is not certain.
Sources
- PokerNews, memorable High Stakes Poker hands
- CardPlayer, Negreanu and Hansen break it down
- Wikipedia, High Stakes Poker
Practise it in 5 minutes Play this hand, one decision at a time.
Quads is for adults, 18 and over. It teaches with play chips only: there is no real money, ever.