Steve Martin on Poker Insomnia

Pink Panther star Steve Martin revealed his love for online poker and related a story about winning big in his sleep, during an appearance Monday on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Martin told Letterman he stopped taking the sleeping pill Ambien after a bizarre experience in which he won $1,000 at an online poker room while on the medication.

"It was late at night and I was playing poker, and I said, 'okay it's time to go to bed'," Martin said. "I was traveling and doing show business and so I took an Ambien to go to sleep, so I thought well I'll play a little Internet poker, and I had $500 in my account and then I quit and I went to bed.

"I woke up the next morning and said, 'oh I'll play a little Internet poker', and I open it up and I have $1,500 in my account, and I said 'oh they made a mistake and I've got an extra thousand dollars'."

Martin said he then "called the guy in Pakistan...India or somewhere", who confirmed the IP address and told him that he had in fact won $1,000 while playing poker online between 4am and 5am.

"I had won a thousand dollars, and I was playing better out of my mind," Martin joked.

Ambien, used to treat insomnia, is known to cause side-effects such as sleepwalking, sleep talking, driving and performing daily tasks, although until Martin's revelation online poker success was not a known effect.