Are you a poker junkie?

Sometimes! We're not full-time players but when we're in it, it gets really intense. We really look forward to playing, every trip. When the trip is coming up, you can feel the adrenaline.

So you take breaks away from poker?

Yes, we play about once every one or two months. Locally, in Atlantic City or Foxwoods. All the poker we play all year is really warm-up and preparation for the World Series of Poker. That's kind of how we look at it. So we're not playing every day, not even close. We're pretty busy.

What's the most you've won in one session?

The WSOP Main Event 2002, obviously. Two million dollars.

I don't play a lot of cash games. The most I've lost in a cash game is probably twenty or thirty thousand dollars. The most I've ever lost is $10,000. I guess I've lost that much once or twice.

What's the longest session you've ever played?

I've played for about 25 hours. Once in college, playing a dealer's choice game, and at one occasion at the Bellagio. That was a satellite to another satellite. That's a lot to me.

How does that make you feel?

Sick! Sick to my stomach, because I bubbled out of the satellite to the Bellagio $25,000 tournament. I won't play for 25 hours anymore.

Have you ever chosen poker over a partner?

No, my partner encourages me to play more poker. She pushes me to play more and says that I don't play enough, so…

Would you cancel a dinner party if the game is good

Oh. If it's really good I would cancel it, easily. I think people would understand.

How many of you friends are not poker players?

Oh, most of them. Ninety percent of them. But everybody starts to play a little poker now, little home games. Our parents play, even my brother is playing.

But we also have some friends who haven't even watched any poker on TV. I respect that.

Do you use a lot of poker language when not talking poker?

Every day, every day. My whole life. In bed. Bad beats and so on. We'll be going over a hand, good beats, bad beats. How to play a hand, other ways to play a hand, other strategies. We're probably one of the few couples in the world having this kind of pillow talk.

We learn a lot, it helps.

Do you ever dream of poker?

Oh yeah. Mostly good dreams, mostly winning dreams. Mostly about the next World Series of Poker.

What's the most expensive thing you've destroyed after a bad beat?

Ha ha, I don't know. I'm not a destructive person. Probably my brain, watching too much TV. I usually recover within 24 hours (next morning according to Olga). If I feel that I played well, I feel okay about it and look forward to next year.

Are you into side bets?

Just with my wife. No matter who wins, it stays in the family. That's usually last longer bets.

Who is the biggest poker junkie in the world?

I don't know, maybe Andy Goetsch. My horse. He's a contender to win, watch for him. He's a good friend of mine. We've played a lot together.

How has the 2008 WSOP been for you?

Well, our horse is doing good, Andy's doing good. Wt we're out, but we had fun. Olga cashed in the Ladies Event, she came 57. It was very close, she busted with a pair of queens. Just like in the Main Event, and last year's Main Event. And the lady who busted her happens to also be a Russian woman, also from New York, and she went on to win it: Anna Wroblewski. And Olga was a favorite, QQ against AJ. It happens.