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  There is a song from the sixties that talks about how there is a time for everything. It talks about a time to live, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to give, a time to take, etc., you get the idea. Perhaps hippies from the sixties wouldn't be so reviled if they added "a time to shower" into their list, but that is a topic for another day. Despite the fact that this idea was brought forth by a group of people to whom soap was a strange, alien notion, the song is right: there is a time for everything. Believe us, the time for asking Gus Hansen about blowing one of the biggest chip leads in modern poker history was not ten minutes after his opponent was handed the championship bracelet and a big pile of money.



  While Gus was nothing but the vision of polite tolerance, he understandably declined comment at that point, and his manager got us a quote afterwards. This put into perspective the gulf between a high profile professional like Mr. Hansen and the rest of us who love the game, but are not quite up to his level.



  He came in second, and got 1.7 million dollars for his effort. Most of us would be bouncing off the walls happy with that "I just won the lotto" feeling. Gus on the other hand was somber. We am sure he will find something to do with the money, but he is a competitor: he didn't want second. To have first place ripped away when he was so close actually stung him. To be honest, this was refreshing to see: we live in a world where athletes are paid ungodly sums for mediocre performances. When the "little people" (normally referred to as fans) complain about this, we get some guys talking about how they can't feed their families on less than fifteen million a year. Maybe if they scored a few more points, nobody would be questioning whether their paychecks matched their efforts.



  Gus gave a classic performance and outlasted over 500 other people who were also chasing the World Poker Tour Season VI Championship. The money seemed secondary to the win at that moment in time. Not only was it nice to see a professional player bitter over a loss - even when he came out financially ahead - but anybody playing at the World Series of Poker now has to face a Gus Hansen bent on proving that losing to Dave Chiu was a fluke. He is normally a dangerous opponent, and at the WSOP this year, he will probably be downright deadly.