It took me about 2 years of playing for fun and at lower stakes before I started to get a real grasp on the game and made money consistently.

In October 2004. Someone very close to me passed away at a young age, and as I had been making money regularly at high stakes games for 6 months, I decided that life was too short to be stuck in a dead end job, why not take a risk and play full-time.

The revelation was that I got sick of giving my money to players who were clearly better than me! I was never happy to be stuck at the lower levels, and I often played outside of my bankroll which eventually got me into debt. I decided I had to either give up or improve rapidly, as I didn’t enjoy being in debt that much! I had also started to watch a lot of WPT episodes on tv, which inspired me if nothing else.

In my opinion a willingness to improve and learn from mistakes is what gets you past just being “good”. I also think there is a fair amount of natural talent that some players have, but I honestly believe ANYONE can be a successful poker player. That is what probably makes it so attractive to so many people.

I think there needs to be a clearer way of finding who the best player in the world is. The WSOP has basically become a lottery these days, it is the biggest event of the year but unfortunately is not a good way of finding the best player. However, with the game being as it is and some players getting to play many more events than others, I think it would be hard to actually find a way of finding out who is the best for certain.

I have the utmost respect for Gus Hansen, he is a risk-taker and came along with a pioneering style of play that everyone else was either too scared or not smart enough to try. I also admire Doyle Brunson for what he has achieved over the last 50 years.

Phil Helmuth is vastly over-rated, if not by the poker community then by himself! I also don’t enjoy seeing the shameless self-promoting some players are capable of, namely Daniel Negreanu and Mr Helmuth himself. There is definitely a shift in power from the older pros to the younger players who have been brought up playing on the internet, I think a lot of the big name players both in this country and abroad are living off of past feats when the fields were smaller and the opposition easier.

My biggest win to date is £60,000 which I collected for coming 3rd in the Dublin EPT. I play cash games day in day out, my biggest loss on one day being around £11,000, which of course wasn’t nice!

My favourite hand is 64 suited, don’t ask me why, but I just love the way it looks when it is dealt to you!

It depends on your tolerance level to stress in all honesty. Obviously it’s very nice being your own boss, working when you want and also having the chance to win huge amounts of money. The other side of it is that going through a bad run is the immensely stressful, you have to have untold amounts of self-belief to keep playing well and have faith that things will turn. I’m only 22 but feel like I’ve had enough stress in 2 years to last me a life-time!

I know some great players who have never read a poker book in their life, but personally I think they are a great help. Aswell as learning new things, they help to refresh your game if you are stuck in a rut. Super System by Doyle Brunson was probably the most helpful book I have read.

Well anyone can learn the maths and be able to work out pot odds eventually, so it has to be balls of steel, something you can’t teach!

When I first started playing as a teenager I used to get a twitch in my left eyebrow whenever I had a big hand. Thankfully it’s no longer with me (otherwise I definitely wouldn’t share it here!). I find reading strength and weakness as one of the strongest parts of my game. The most enjoyable was on the bubble in the Dublin EPT, Donnacha O’Dea was always in position to steal my blind but for some reason I found it very easy to pick up tells from him. Needless to say his steal attempts weren’t too successful!

Very interesting theory… something I’d probably disagree with! I’d actually struggle to name more than 5 top women poker players, but in all fairness the ones I have come up against have been no better or worse than most of the men.

Once again, 64 suited, it just looks so attractive!

Phil Helmuth and Mike Matusow would have to be on it, just so I could try and get the better of them in terms of table talk. Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey would have to be there as I have a lot of respect for them and haven’t had the opportunity to play against them yet. That would probably leave just myself and Angeline Jolie, we could get to know each other while the others worried about poker.

I have a tendency to bet on really bad horse tips, something which I am trying to give up! I also used to bet on football for a part-time income, but I will only have a bet now for fun as poker takes up so much time.

I hope not, but I honestly haven’t got a clue. The future looks promising, new players are still getting into the game all the time. With commercial sponsorships and tournaments improving at the rate they are, it seems it will be here for the foreseeable future at least.

I normally limit my viewing, I do have to earn a living as well!

I was given a Chinese lucky charm by a limo driver in Vegas which actually brought me a lot of luck. Unfortunately I gave it to a friend of mine when he was going through a bad run and I still haven’t got it back!

I often wear big Aviator sunglasses when playing live, some people have commented that they must be for comedy purposes but I actually like them!

I’m extremely ambitious, I won’t be happy unless I’m at the very top of my profession within the next few years. I would like to win an EPT, and also make the final table of a WPT and WSOP event before the end of this year. Other than that the plan is to just maintain a living from cash games and hopefully keep improving.