Al Alvarez

I could think of worse ways of going than at the poker table.

Yes, I think poker really isn't gambling.

I think one of the interesting things about poker is that once you let your ego in, you're done for.

I'm good at reading people.

When you make a bet, you're saying something.

I mean to say, this is the book and I really loathe it and I can't imagine what a nice Jewish boy like me ever, how I ever got into this dreadful trade.

Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.

I mean being a writer is like being a psychoanalyst, but you don't get any patients.

But in a tournament, you can be said in for all your money at any point so you can't make any mistakes so you have to, it's all about where you're sitting at the table.

I absolutely don't believe in anything. Full stop. Including luck.

The fact that we write about it doesn't mean we play better than ordinary players at all.

The poker chip is like a conjuror's sleight of hand that turns an egg into a billiard ball, a necessity of life into a plaything, reality into illusion.

I hate writing.