"That's a good sign at least, he's got a working credit card." John says as he strips an online rookie of his money. It's Friday night and he's at home playing online poker. He's "fishing" as he terms it - waiting to hook bad players returning home drunk from a night out to come online and then "rip them to shreds". Easy money. "The money could mean nothing to him, or everything... But, when you lose you lose. You've got to pay up." John's experiencing a high, he's all in and he's winning. Just 5 minutes earlier things weren't going his way. $10,000 down with a click of the mouse, one more click left him at a $15,000 loss. "If you don't spot the sucker at the table in the first few minutes, you're a sucker", he explained matter-of-factly. Now at the end of the same game is about to see thousands enter his bank account. John admits he'll probably play another game before bed.

But for the former accountant-turned-pro-gambler, it doesn't always work out so neatly. Screams of joy and disappointment are indistinguishable as John and his friends watch a football game he's got €100,000 riding on. A header gets a goal and the room goes wild. They think they've won big. But it doesn't end there. In the final minute the opposing team score; the match result is a draw but for John it's most certainly a loss. This is the oscillating nature of gambling, where the dizzying highs are almost interchangeable with terrifying lows. "I like the big losses", his mother says over dinner after; "I think maybe they'd make him see the light".

The World Series Poker in Las Vegas is a far cry from the Irish Poker Open and competition is high. Having come to Vegas with $400,000, he's already lost it all. With only $10,000 left, it's his last chance. "In 6 years, I haven't gone broke yet, so fingers crossed", John says, unnervingly flippant for such astounding sums of money at risk. Despite winning much of it back the following day,his luck has run out.

His trip to Las Vegas ends with most of his money gone, from the $400,000, he has just the $52,000 he gets for his efforts in the tournament. But having made and lost millions he sees this crushing defeat as just part of the course: "They say the difference between the good players and the average players is they deal better with the bad times a lot better... I've been here before and turned it around... So that's the plan again".

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