Poker in Denmark

History of Poker in Denmark

Denmark was one of the first spots in Scandinavia where poker really caught on, thanks mainly to the unbelievable success of Dane Gus Hansen in the early 2000’s. Hansen’s absolute domination of the poker tournament scene beginning in 2002, ushered in a whole new era of tournament poker. When the poker books are written Gus Hansen will likely have the majority of credit for the loose/aggressive style that has taken hold in the poker world.

Even before Hansen’s success, Denmark was already developing a very strong contingent of poker minds, despite the game being a pretty much underground activity. As Hansen and his generation start to grow old –in poker years anyway– the Dane’s are still producing a slew of top young poker talent including the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate.

So while Sweden and Finland get the majority of the publicity when it comes to Scandinavian poker, it’s actually Denmark which has produced the biggest stars in the poker world.

Famous Danish Poker Players

It’s almost impossible to list all of the Danish players who have made an impact on the poker world over the past decade; in addition to the Gus Hansens, Theo Jorgensens, Peter Eastgates, and Lars Bondings, there are also players like Philip Hilm, Allen Baekke, Jesper Houggaard, Mads Andersen, and Jan Sorensen just to name a handful.

Danes have been really successful in major tournaments around the world –thanks in large part to Gus Hansen—and currently hold seven WSOP bracelets –tying them with Russia for 7th place on the all-time country list. Houggaard and Sorenson both hold two bracelets each, while Hansen, Eastgate, and Jorgensen each have a single WSOP victory on their resumes. Denmark has an impressive eight WPT titles –trailing only Canada and the US– as well as four EPT titles.

Here is a look at some of the most well known poker players from Denmark and their career accomplishments:

Gus Hansen Gus Hansen

  • Four time WPT winner (including three open tournaments)
  • WSOP bracelet winner at 2010 WSOP Europe
  • One of the most successful high-stakes players in  poker history
  • Notorious for spewing money betting sports and in ultra-high stakes cash-games

 

Peter Eastgate Peter Eastgate

  • 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion
  • Auctioned off WSOP bracelet after brief retirement
  • Team PokerStars Pro
  • Youngest Main Event Champion –a record later broken by Joe Cada

 

Lars Bonding Lars Bonding

  • 22nd in 2011 WSOP Main Event
  • Over $1.8 million in career tournament earnings
  • 15 career WSOP cashes
  • Moved back to Denmark from Las Vegas due to Black Friday

 

Theo Jorgensen Theo Jorgensen

  • Top online PLO player
  • Beat Gus Hansen in prop-bet charity match
  • Closing in on $3 million in career tournament earnings
  • 2008 WSOP bracelet winner
  • 2010 WPT Grand Prix de Paris winner

 

Mads Andersen Mads Andersen

  • $1.2 million in career tournament earnings
  • Also a professional backgammon player
  • World Backgammon Champion in 2002
  • 2006 EPT Scandinavian Champion

 

Online Poker in Denmark

Denmark is still considering either banning or legalizing online poker, so at the current time online poker is residing in a gray area. While this allows for Danish players to play on virtually any online poker site in the world, the hope is that in the future the country will make the determination to legalize the game in the same manner as other European countries.

For the most part, Danish players tend to stick with the most reputable and largest online poker rooms; where they can find the game and stakes they are looking for, and not have to worry about the safety and security of their money.

Here is a look at the Top 3 online poker sites in Denmark:

pokerstars PokerStars

  • By far the largest online poker room in the world
  • Team PokerStars Denmark includes Theo Jorgensen
  • Home of the SCOop and WCOOP Tournaments

party poker Party Poker

  • Over 10,000 players online at any given time
  • Long-standing poker room with an excellent reputation
  • Over 50 different payment methods offered!

everestpoker Everest Poker

  • Peak cash-game traffic 1,800
  • Offer a number of deposit and withdrawal options for Danish residents
  • Excellent first-time deposit bonus for Danish players

 

Where to play poker in Denmark

There are a total of four registered casinos/card-rooms in Denmark: two in both Aarhus and in Copenhagen. Even though these casinos have poker rooms don’t expect anything like you’ll see in Las Vegas! Basically you’ll get a few live cash game tables and tournaments pretty much every day of the week.

As with other European casinos, make sure you have proper identification and are dressed appropriately.

Poker laws in Denmark

Denmark is another Scandinavian country that has very convoluted laws regarding every aspect of poker, whether it’s in regards to online poker, or live poker.

Private games in Denmark are for the most part legal –as with many countries around the globe these points are debatable, but for the most part players have very little to fear in terms of prosecution. However, just like other locales you should avoid all games where a house rake is taken or the house is profiting in some way –especially if the game is for higher stakes and the house cut could be substantial.



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