Gus Hansen Opts Out of Much-Awaited Poker Clash with Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom

Last month we had informed our readers about the exciting – The Heads Up Showdown, featuring two famed online pro`s Gus Hansen (cover image) and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom who were to battle it out in a one-to-one contest on Sept. 14.

Gus Hansen did not appear for the previously scheduled and highly publicized best-of-three heads-up matches against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom at Full Tilt Poker last Sunday. Hansen fans were particularly upset about his non-appearance at the match that featured $50,000 in prize money to the winner.

A representative of the room stated that Hansen could not make himself available to play because of unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately PokerStars Team Pro Jake Cody made an admirable gesture by accepting the challenge in lieu of Hansen.

Hansen has already lost over $20 million participating in the nosebleed stakes at Full Tilt Poker as stated by HighStakesDB. It is speculated as a possible reason for his absence however equally likely is a genuine emergency that prompted Hansen to give this match a miss.

A statement made by a PokersStars representative regretted Hansen’s inability to play and apologized to his fans. When Full Tilt Poker was queried about the possibility of the heads-up match being rescheduled, they were uncertain about the same.

This was a great opportunity for Cody fans to cheer on their idol in the best-of-three heads-up matches comprising of Stud hi-lo, Triple Draw and No-Limit Hold`em poker format`s.

Eventually Blom prevailed in the contest beating Cody during the No-Limit Hold`em match to bag the $50,000 much to the delight of Blom’s fans.

Cody tweeted to an estimated 30,000 Twitter followers opining that a victory would have been a pretty much epic event. The loser of this match was obliged to either produce a video of themselves singing the opponent`s national anthem or play 1,000 hands of micro-stakes razz. Cody being a last minute substitute was spared from performing either task.

The event was well covered by video caster and PLO grinder Joey Ingram. Incidentally high stake poker professional Brian Hastings pitched in by making a guest appearance.

The Showdown did create a stir on course to the event being a popular topic of discussion in major online poker communities and gossip across social media.

For more details on the showdown, check out the complete video here: