With lifetime winnings of over $5 million, Gus Hansen is one of themost feared players on the planet. InsidePoker gets a lesson in how tobe a tournament destroyer – from the master himself

Gus Hansen is wielding a sledgehammer and swearing like a trooper. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ask him how he managed to lose the chip lead going into the final table of the WPT Barcelona in October. ‘There were five guys and they basically all stuck it right up my.......’ He stops pre-expletive, clunks the sledgehammer to the floor and the grimace switches into his trademark grin.

Despite the disappointment of just missing out on what would have been his fifth WPT title, the 33-year old Dane is well within his rights to feel in playful mood.