I think I should win every tournament I enter.

I was mad-keen on poker as a kid. It was like the snooker, pulling me into that same smokey atmosphere I loved.

I love playing in Ireland and I've had great support here, like I get everywhere.

People appreciate anyone who takes chances - they like a bit of flair.

Snooker still fascinates me and I still get a buzz from it.

We play Snooker Legends exhibitions and there is never a spare ticket.

I love playing O'Sullivan. It is a bit of a role reversal from when I used to play Alex Higgins.

The worst problem I've probably had was the gambling - you can do your money in the bookies a lot quicker than you can do it in the pub.

I was introduced to the game by my father, Tommy, when I was 11.

I think boxing is a fantastic sport.

I was a big fan of Naseem Hamed, and followed him. Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and I know him well.

I play golf but very badly.

Listen, I could have won the World Championship. Obviously if I had the chance to do it all again I would do things differently. But then would I have still wanted to play?

I learnt the game as a kid hustling car dealers for cash.

Golf and snooker are similar. They are ball games that you don't have to be super fit for. It's not like boxing or football when, at 35, you are on your way home.

I was a beat-the-system sort of player, but you can't beat the system, you have to prepare properly.

I have always loved playing snooker.

It is like any sport. You practise thousands of times and you miss the simplest ball and you don't understand why. But that's why snooker is so special, because all of sudden you can lose everything.

We earned any fans with the way we play.

I know sometimes I played to the crowd, and it did cost me.

Ronnie is the greatest player to have ever picked up a snooker cue. People have said that about me. But although I won 50 or so tournaments I never picked up the world championship. That was a little bit of a disappointment.

Ding has a fantastic all-round game. His temperament is also at a very high level.

If Ding keeps performing the way he has been doing then it is inevitable the World Championship will go to his country.

Believe me, I feel the same way now about snooker as I did when I was 13.

I've had my dark days, but I wasn't really a hell-raiser as such.

I got to 16st when it became painful for me to walk.

Snooker lifted me out of depression.

If I ever leave home without my insoles, I send someone for them because after a day the pain starts to return.

Within a day of wearing the insoles, my feet felt more comfortable, and a week later I was able to go for walks, play golf, and play football with my son, which I hadn't for years. The insole is sculpted to the foot and manipulates it into the correct position, preventing damage to the plantar fascia tissue.

The Queen is a true professional and calmly pinned my MBE on.

I have only prepared properly for the World Championship three or four times in my life. If I had gone about it professionally I would have won the title 10 times.

Snooker is not like boxing or football - you can go on longer.

My eyes are fine.

I love life.

Testicular cancer occurs in young men, just the people who don't bother much about their health.

In the past I'd lose and not talk for a few days. I'd become strange. Difficult to live with.

Ronnie Wood's my good mate, I'm godfather to his twins.

Everyone wants to be with someone.

I have been tamed. My party days are well and truly behind me.

I had such fun, even though I can't remember much.

If you're playing the best of 19, and it's 7-7 and there's only five frames left, you tend to take a few more chances.

I did abuse the game a bit because I didn't give it the respect sometimes.

I've always been one of the best players with the rest but I'd rather be able to reach the shot without it.

It sounds strange to be world champion at the Crucible.

I like visiting new places where the game is opening up.

Northern Ireland as a whole is a great snooker country because of Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor and now of course there is Mark Allen. It's a hotbed of snooker and a place where our sport is always well supported.

It meant so much to me lifting the Alex Higgins Trophy at Goffs.

Alex Higgins was my hero, so to play in Belfast, at the superb Waterfront Hall, is very special to me.