I was never a playboy but I was an out and about boy.

First thing about snooker, find a cue you're happy with. Then stick with it.

I used to be jack the lad, I was out a lot, I was mainly waking up with hangovers at tournaments rather than preparing.

To be honest, most of my troubles - bankruptcy, drinking, gambling - were self-inflicted.

Talent, it can become a trap.

I grew up in south London and spent most of my adolescence in the snooker halls of the area, turning professional at 17.

I've survived through my love for the game.

From having no money and coming from a very proud working class family, it was tough. But then all of a sudden we had loads and loads of cash. I realised that this was a great opportunity to do what I love for a living. I was going to tournaments up and down the country and I was able to win anything from five to seven thousand pounds.

Ronnie is a very clever winner. He will make sure that he does everything in his power to win the tournament. He is super-fit.

Most gamblers do it for ego. It's not about winning or losing, it's about challenging your ego and showing your mates you're fearless and will bet on anything.

I'm a supporter of Barry Hearn, I voted for him and will support him in whatever he wants to do.

I don't drink. Don't smoke.

In the past it sometimes took me two or three rounds to get the adrenaline rush.

If you've got to win ugly, do it.

I could be in Spain, spending my time playing bad golf; financially I don't need to play snooker. I play because I love it.

That's the hardest part of the game. You've got to stay focused. With golf, make a mistake and you get another shot straight away; but with snooker you could be five minutes before you get another chance.

Some people take the view that I'm too laid back. Yet it's how I feel.

Certain styles of play take a bit longer.

I have no regrets, I've had a fantastic life, travelled the world.

If I didn't think I could win the World Championship I would go and play golf badly in Spain.

I never abused anybody but myself.

I play poker face to face.

The people in China love their snooker. We get a fantastic reception when we go over there.

The best match I ever played in was the U.K. championship final against John Parrot in 1992. I won 16-14 and I felt like I could pot anything from anywhere.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, the greatest snooker player ever, will tell you that he doesn't practise. I'm not having that. I call him Roger, after Federer, because he's a genius. He doesn't like that nickname.

I like the hypnosis. Nothing too deep - just enough to keep me clearer and more focused.

I love Belfast, because of the way that people here love their snooker. And I won my first professional tournament here in 1981. It was at the King's Hall and I beat Doug Mountjoy in the final. That victory will always be pretty special for me.

One of my great heroes was my brother. You couldn't have dreamt of a better one.

Over the years I have been in a lot of trouble but I've always managed to switch off and play.

Not only did I have to face the great Steve Davis for 10 years, Stephen Hendry came along, who attacked the balls. He was such an incredible potter with self-belief.

My dad was a coalman and was always playing snooker with his mates.

That period in the late Eighties and early Nineties was when I was playing my best snooker. My trouble was that I had so many bad habits that my preparation was terrible: people like Steve Davis or Dennis Taylor were model pros.

The trouble started when I won the world amateur title in 1980, aged 18. People began talking about me as the next star of the game. But I also started to get recognised more and I wasn't prepared for it.

On my 50th birthday the Rolling Stones played at my party at Grosvenor House. That's not bad for a kid from Tooting.

I really enjoy working as a pundit.

I would have prepared differently before big matches but I wouldn't change my life.

I've been gambling since the age of 12. Horses, dogs, dice, roulette, you name it.

Do I have any regrets about my life? No.

Snooker's only popular in China now. Well China's OK to go to once or twice a year but to go and play six or seven tournaments there is too much.

I mean what's the point of them becoming professional snooker players? If there's not much money in the game, if there's no guarantee of future tournaments, if no one knows what's going on.

I'm lucky to be alive.

The thought of the weekends I used to have now makes me shake.

We go out and have a drink occasionally. We're quite happy to go for a nice meal and go the theatre or something.

In a way, sometimes I was quite pleased when I got beat, 'cos then I could do my antics.

I'm such an addictive personality that I can say yes or no.

Everything for me was to beat the system, the way I played was to beat the system.

Because I could do things on the snooker table that no other player could do, I just had this sort of self-destruct button in me.

I used to think of exhibitions as being practice but they are not.

I've played 8-ball in Hong Kong and I'm more knowledgeable with that than 9-ball.

Hendry's fine. I've got a lot of respect for him.