You have it or you don't... I think I have it.

You have it or you don't... I think I have it.

Although I have to say, it's become a lot harder for me since I won the world series because everyone wants to beat me. For example, bluffing is really tough now, because there's always someone who calls me on the off-chance that they'll then be able to say they read a world champion's bluff.

But I want people to understand that poker's not all glamorous, it's not all being on TV and making tons of money. It's a hard life. It's a lot of travel. It's a lot of weird hours.

For the most part, I get to do what I want to do. If I want to play poker, I can. If I don't want to play poker, I don't have to.

I actually do quite well in Omaha. It's one of my better games. I love pot-limit Omaha and Omaha high-low. I do quite well in them. If I play in a casino, I usually play some kind of mixed game with Omaha and hold 'em.

I always pretend like I'm nervous no matter what. I try to fall asleep.

I don't like the way I ever appear on TV.

I don't play a lot of tournaments, but if I don't win a tournament in a year, people are like, 'What in the world is going on?' People don't realize how hard it is to win tournaments. You're not going to go out and play 10 tournaments and win one of them. Your odds aren't that good.

I used to sports gamble a lot and I was getting killed on that but then I found poker and really enjoyed it. But it was a hobby more than anything else. I played it every day but only on pretty small stakes.

I'm comfortable with the hold 'em, Omaha and stud high-low. But the other two games aren't my strongest games. I'm not comfortable at all with razz or stud.

I'm the first person in my family to play poker.

I've talked a lot with Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem. Being on Team PokerStars with them has helped me out quite a bit. I've traveled around Europe playing with them. I've also talked with Robert Williamson here and there and Jim Worth. So I've had some good people to talk to and bounce ideas off of.

If you want to make money and have action, you need to work from like, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Those are the hours. That just doesn't fit with a lot of people's schedules. And that's just the start of it. You've got to realize what you are getting into.

If you're a poker player and you show up at a casino at 8 a.m., you're going to be by yourself or with some people that are rocks and just don't give you any action.

My biggest fear was public speaking, and then having everyone know who I was, it was definitely weird at first. When I first won, it was definitely a culture shock, it was something I wasn't quite ready for.

My favourite movie right now is probably 'Hitch', a Will Smith thing.

Never in a million years did I think the sport of poker would blow up the way it did.

Not having the online game has made it more difficult. There are a lot of young and upcoming players in poker. But you don't get to see them because TV has sort of been taken away.

Poker has such an element of competitivness that other games don't have.

Poker is meant to be enjoyed.

The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.

The competition has improved tremendously. In 2003, I could teach a guy how to play poker in an hour and he could win some money. Today, it would take days. The game has gotten so much tougher. So I will spend my time with my family and play when I can.

The pros really like all the new people playing poker because they love the dead money; but when the money wins they don't like that very much at all.

When I had a full-time job, I really wasn't that busy, but now I'm really busy. I guess that's a good thing.

When I was broke, no one ever offered to buy me a beer. Now that I have quite a bit of money, everybody tries to buy me beers. Where were all these people back when I was in college and broke?

World Class players can lay down the toughest hands and play any two cards at any time without fear. Their reads are impeccable.

The pursuit of beauty is much more dangerous nonsense than the pursuit of truth or goodness, because it affords a stronger temptation to the ego.

I used to paint a lot of oil and now I paint more mixed-media stuff.

I see good personal financial management as setting - and keeping - a budget.

'Urban Renewal' was sweet because I've been - unfairly, I would say - plonked in the middle of the road because of a handful of songs. It came at a good time for me, because you do take a bit of a browbeating and, as you get older, you become better at accepting it and realizing why it happens.

You know, true love really matters, friends really matter, family really matters. Being responsible and disciplined and healthy really matters.

When a dragonfly flutters by, you may not realize, but it's the greatest flier in nature. It can hover, fly backwards, even upside down.

And the nice thing about writing a novel is you take your time, you sit with the character sometimes nine years, you look very deeply at a situation, unlike in real life when we just kind of snap something out.

Backpacks are obtrusive. They're great for school kids and mountaineers, but a woman is supposed to look enticing and glamorous at night. They obscure one of a woman's most erogenous zones, the nape of her neck. I suppose they're good if you want to keep men away.

I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score.

Airline travel is hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror.

I think it is the responsibility of a citizen of any country to say what he thinks.

I can imagine Iceland becoming a good place to run a controversial Web site. But... Iceland may find itself forced to defend controversial speech.

Don't waste your time away thinkin' 'bout yesterday's blues.

Filmmaking is always about keeping the right distance and its always a struggle. You struggle for more access. Its a little bit of a seduction process trying to get more access.

I don't know, the older I get, the more complicated I think I get, which is a hindrance.

They say men and women can't be friends, but that's not true.

I started out as an actor, where you seek to understand yourself using the words of great writers and collaborating with other creative people. Then I slid into show business, where you seek only an audience's approval whether you deserve it or not.

Once you make a decision the universe conspires to make it happen.

There are lots of times when I'm a very good boyfriend, but there are times when I'm useless. I mean, I'm a mess around the house. I talk nonstop. I become obsessed with things.

The Rolling Stones are so versatile, they're like the band version of that Infinite Dress they sell on QVC.

I don't take accusations of selling out lightly.

I believe as a born-again Christian that once you've had a chance to drink from the well, it becomes your responsibility to replenish the well.