25 Quotes by John Virgo

When the results weren't coming on the snooker table, I tried to supplement things by gambling on horses even more.

I went through a period when I was addicted to gambling. It was a compulsion that I struggled to get to grips with. By 1990, it was in danger of ruining my life.

Particularly now with social media, you only need to turn round and someone will have a camera in your face and occasionally someone will be talking to you at the bar, asking you to pose for a picture, and someone will say, 'They're videoing this.' They're videoing you at the bar!

I grew up on a street that's similar to the ones you used to see in Coronation Street on TV. We had an outside toilet at the bottom of the yard and I had to share a bedroom until my older sisters left home.

I never sat any exams at school. Our family situation meant that as soon as I was able to go out and get a job, I got one.

The worst time was in 1985 when house prices crashed and interest rates went up to 14 percent. I was not winning on the snooker table and I had this big image to keep up - and a lifestyle where I lived beyond my means.

I have never invested directly in stocks and shares. That's never been my type of speculation.

When I started playing all the players were trying to sell the game of snooker. Nowadays the prize money is so great, competing in tournaments is no laughing matter.

You can't be giggling and joking when you miss a shot in the modern game - not like the way when Ray Reardon used to do.