Hansen satellites to Million Dollar WSOP Buyin

Monday July 2, 2012 : THE GREAT DANE TO PLAY IN BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP
 
Gus Hansen wins $25,000 buy-in satellite
 
In the wee small hours of Sunday morning local time Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen secured the last remaining seat in the $1 million dollar Big One for One Drop tournament scheduled to start just 12 hours later that day at the Rio in Las Vegas.
 
Hansen entered a $25,000 satellite to qualify for the big event, besting many of the game's top players in what he later described as one of the toughest fields he had ever encountered.
 
Here's a sampling of just a few of the 96 players who entered the event:
 
Jon Turner
Eugene Katchalov
Viktor Blom
Phil Ivey
Brian Rast
Matt Glantz
Yevgeniy Timoshenko,
David Benyamine
JP Kelly
Andy Frankenberger
Carlos Mortensen
Erick Lindgren
Brian Hastings
Chris Moorman
Daniel Alaei
Jason Mercier
Bertrand Grospellier
Sam Trickett
Jens Kyllönen
Will Failla
 
In the heads up, Hansen beat Shaun Deeb, who is entitled to an alternate seat or a million dollars as his runner up prize. Jason Somerville came in third and took home $400,000.
 
Early reports indicate that when Hansen and Deeb reached the heads up phase they held a discussion, triggering speculation that they may have agreed on who would win the second placing million dollars, and who would go forward and play in the tournament, where the first place will be worth some $18 million.