Condron Defeats Hansen Heads-Up; Turns Down Tempting Offer
A couple of days ago, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen, who is known to play the highest stakes in the world both online and live, opted to give the FTP UKIPT Galway €35+5 Daily event a go.
That tournament attracted 67 runners and before long Hansen held the chip lead, which he used to make it all the way to the final table. It was there that he would reach heads-up play against John "Donk Magnet" Condron, a Co Kildare man who had to chop 50% of his winning with his friend MJ Boggan. By then Condron held a 310K-240K chip lead, which he used to beat the "Great Dane" for the €710 first-place prize.
Granted, it was a mediocre payday, but there was a ton of pride on the live.
"It was an unbelievable experience to play against such a legend," Condron told Gareth Chantler and Ken Powell of the Full Tilt Poker Blog after the win. "Gus is just pure class, some ambassador for Full Tilt Poker, certainly the best representative they could ever have. He played with a smile on his face throughout, helped the dealers wherever possible and even cracked one poor lad’s pocket kings when he called all-in pre with 7-4 offsuit.”
Condron so impressed Hansen that the high-stakes pro offered to stake him into the FTP UKIPT Galway Main Event. It was a tempting offer, but Condron had already committed to the event — as an official chip counter — so he had to decline.
“It was so sound of him to offer me the stake, but professional duties have to come first,” Condron added. “He actually told me he thought I was the best player in the field, including himself. So that was obviously a huge thrill. Maybe we’ll keep in touch and he might fancy putting me into the World Series next year!”