Is poker killing gambling in pool?

Ask Nick Schulman, 21 y.o. from NYC, a open/pro level player who just won $2.1mm in a WPT tournament at Foxwoods. I would guess his pool playing days are over.

Sam

Concentrate less on pool and more on school. Your grammar is absolutely horrible. Its kind of funny though. Keep posting!

JDog_1 said:

Ask Nick Schulman, 21 y.o. from NYC, a open/pro level player who just won $2.1mm in a WPT tournament at Foxwoods. I would guess his pool playing days are over.

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1 in a million, devoting yourself to pool or poker is like a ghetto kid devoting himself to basketball, baseball, or football figuring he is going to make it to the big time. Better a person should get an education and a real job.

True,to an extent

catscradle said:

1 in a million, devoting yourself to pool or poker is like a ghetto kid devoting himself to basketball, baseball, or football figuring he is going to make it to the big time. Better a person should get an education and a real job.

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I'll agree with that to an extent. Yes, don't get in the mindset that you're devoting yourself to pool to make money. I think that those few in basketball football or baseball who succeed and strove for excellence because of the money, did a disservice to themselves and the sport. That's why you have people like T.O. who are so hung up on themselves that no one wants to work with them.

If you LOVE pool though and you truly learn to appreciate the game, and you start to get the knowledge and the skill to compete at a high level, there's no reason why the money to make a decent living shouldn't be there and those people who do want to devote their lives to the sport should have to hustle in order to make it in life. It should be a LEGITIMATE sport for the professional level players and play good money to those who excell at it.

catscradle said:

1 in a million, devoting yourself to pool or poker is like a ghetto kid devoting himself to basketball, baseball, or football figuring he is going to make it to the big time. Better a person should get an education and a real job.

Click to expand...

Catscradle is exactly right. There's only a handful of people who will make a decent living playing poker or pool. All the others are pretenders.

Cats is right ...

I would prefer they have a good job, makes lots of
money, and SPEND it on Pool, especially in my Pool room ... lol

Being on disability sucks, and being the age I am at,
where noone wants to hire you anymore, sucks even
more. So, in a way, I have been thrown into a situation
paralleling my younger days in late teens, early 20's,
before my first college degree, of having to make money
at Pool just to survive in a half way decent manner.
(yes, I had some offers previously 3-4 years ago on
the East Coast, and Phoenix, but did not care to move
from Wichita to there in my 50's when all my family is
here, and be in a big city all alone again. We are a
close family, and I need to watch out for my Mom).

Unbelievable

YES i think poker is killing pool action. But not the live games, i think that INTERNET poker is what's doing the job.

I just got done what had to be the PUREST most unadulterated carnage that i have ever been witness to, aside from standing on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Otherwise known as the daily $2 NO LIMIT HOLD EM unlimited RE-BUYS, and 1 ADD ON SPEED TOURNAMENT (blinds increase every 3 minutes) at Party Poker.
TOTAL INSANITY, but i had a smile on my face the whole time.

I go into the local pool room, and i might get some action. But it's usually a bunch of hot air that gets exchanged, and ends up being a waste of time.

But i sat down today, and although i got tortured pretty hard these 2 hands to bust out, my $2 purchase with no rebuys, gave me a shot to win

1st $4297.48
2nd $2189.22
3rd $1636.80
4th $1227.60
5th $1023
etc
etc
etc
141st-180th $16.36

and that was with

Entries/1584
Re-Buys/8321
Add-Ons/292

Now if i want a pool game, i have to go camp out, and sit there for hours and wait, which usually ends up being a big waste of time.

So why would i subject myself to that, if for the same amount of money i might spend on table time, i can be in action ALL DAY!
And like most other gamblers, i would think that for pool players that do gamble, the action IS the juice! It doesn't matter WHAT they might gamble on.

I'm not saying that people should quit pool, and look towards poker to make a living, cause that's just as tough of a grind
BUT..... i can totally understand someone not wanting to venture out to the pool hall, when they can be couch potatoed with a laptop, tv on, and drink in hand.
You can NEVER get odds on the money like the tournament i just played in, in a pool hall.
Maybe on a lottery ticket, but not on the pool table, and certainly not EVERY DAY!

I can totally understand why pool might be fading, if poker happens to be the culprit

You don't have to go anywhere to play, which makes it that much easier to just stay at home.

I am fighting back

SUPERSTAR said:

YES i think poker is killing pool action. But not the live games, i think that INTERNET poker is what's doing the job.

I just got done what had to be the PUREST most unadulterated carnage that i have ever been witness to, aside from standing on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Otherwise known as the daily $2 NO LIMIT HOLD EM unlimited RE-BUYS, and 1 ADD ON SPEED TOURNAMENT (blinds increase every 3 minutes) at Party Poker.
TOTAL INSANITY, but i had a smile on my face the whole time.

I go into the local pool room, and i might get some action. But it's usually a bunch of hot air that gets exchanged, and ends up being a waste of time.

But i sat down today, and although i got tortured pretty hard these 2 hands to bust out, my $2 purchase with no rebuys, gave me a shot to win

1st $4297.48
2nd $2189.22
3rd $1636.80
4th $1227.60
5th $1023
etc
etc
etc
141st-180th $16.36

and that was with

Entries/1584
Re-Buys/8321
Add-Ons/292

Now if i want a pool game, i have to go camp out, and sit there for hours and wait, which usually ends up being a big waste of time.

So why would i subject myself to that, if for the same amount of money i might spend on table time, i can be in action ALL DAY!
And like most other gamblers, i would think that for for pool players that do gamble, the action IS the juice! It doesn't matter WHAT they might gamble on.

I'm not saying that people should quit pool, and look towards poker to make a living, cause that's just as tough of a grind
BUT..... i can totally understand someone not wanting to venture out to the pool hall, when they can be couch potatoed with a laptop, tv on, and drink in hand.
You can NEVER get odds on the money like the tournament i just played in, in a pool hall.
Maybe on a lottery ticket, but not on the pool table.

I can totally understand why pool might be fading, if poker happens to be the culprit

You don't have to go anywhere to play, which makes it that much easier to just stay at home.

Click to expand...

You add free internet access in your room like I did so you can hang out and wait for your game their. Poker is killing pool.

SUPERSTAR said:

Now if i want a pool game, i have to go camp out, and sit there for hours and wait, which usually ends up being a big waste of time.

So why would i subject myself to that, if for the same amount of money i might spend on table time, i can be in action ALL DAY!
And like most other gamblers, i would think that for for pool players that do gamble, the action IS the juice! It doesn't matter WHAT they might gamble on.

I'm not saying that people should quit pool, and look towards poker to make a living, cause that's just as tough of a grind
BUT..... i can totally understand someone not wanting to venture out to the pool hall, when they can be couch potatoed with a laptop, tv on, and drink in hand.
You can NEVER get odds on the money like the tournament i just played in, in a pool hall.
Maybe on a lottery ticket, but not on the pool table.

I can totally understand why pool might be fading, if poker happens to be the culprit

You don't have to go anywhere to play, which makes it that much easier to just stay at home.

Click to expand...

Excellent post Superstar, it's definitely no secret that poker is hurting the action in pool. You pointed out most of the reasons, the money is way better and you can get into a game 24/7. Not only that, to play poker you don't have to go out and spend $500 plus on equipment like you do pool (Cues, case, etc.) Another big reason is that if you go up against a superior player in poker you have a much better chance at winning because of the large luck factor, if I go up against a superior player in pool like say an Archer or somebody I'm going to get my butt whipped everytime! It's not very hard to see how alot of pool players have been dragged over to poker.

Well, i remember back in the day, when top level pool players all left Philly when poker came to Atlantic City. FLAKES, aka "Johnny World" was just one of the many.

But that never really affected things THAT much.

You still had to drive there, to play, and that meant ingoring whatever life you might have had. Which everyone didn't have the stomach for.

But this internet stuff

It's not just the Top level Players that have left, it's the small fry who used to make up the weekly paycheck that have left as well. Not that they don't come in anymore, but they definitely leave much earlier to go to a card game or jump online, during their free time.

And they WOULD rather spend their money on poker, where they feel they have a better chance.

For me to ask some of the fish to play, i have to give out the planet, but i know i could go to one of the home games anytime, and be seen as an equal, if not a sucker, anyday!

You can't kill something thats already dead!

bigsamho said:

Right before I broke my femur, I would go into some local pool rooms and everyone would be playing poker! Poker tournaments in pool halls have killed a lot of action in my mind. I would woof at some players and they would be like no I'm playing poker. Plus a lot of players I know have declined on playing pool because of them trying to give poker a try. You really cant argue with it though. Poker has way more money in it than pool does.

I know the new IPT tour suppose to get some money in pool tournaments, but it still wont be able to compete with the type of money in poker. I just hope the IPT tour becomes successful and some pool players will begin to come back to the game because there is some money in it. Then not only the tournament seen will be juicy but action will also be great!

What do yall think about poker and pool?

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(JMHO) Real, Everyday Pool Gambling was Killed long ago. First by the leagues and then by the Casinos. Casinos have also killed many family owned bars, restaurants and other small to medium entertainment venues.
And unlike you beating me out of $20 today and I beat you out of $20 tomorrow, and the house makes a piece of bread - NOW IT'S GONE FOR GOOD.

TY & GL

catscradle said:

1 in a million, devoting yourself to pool or poker is like a ghetto kid devoting himself to basketball, baseball, or football figuring he is going to make it to the big time. Better a person should get an education and a real job.

Click to expand...

No kidding. Too many folks think they have the game, but haven't a clue what it means to play at a pro level...long enough to survive.

Why not try to be great at both getting an educating and pool?

A lot of top players have good educations. Like the general public, not all do, but a good amount.

I just read that Burt Kinister, who is very well respected in the billiard World as a player and instructor, also taught Political Economics at Chicago University for 13 years.

I have to agree, in the local tournaments everybody is glued to poker being shown on TV....they don't even care to play when there called for a match...
________

The problem is that the poker has been taken out of the back room of pool rooms.

When the day comes that internet poker is available and legal in pool rooms, more players will be back. It gets very boring playing internet poker at home.

I would much rather go to the pool room and play on line poker until a pool game becomes available.

EDIT: Wireless connection is getting very cheap. A mini computer the size of a PSP that had wireless capabilites would not take much at this day and age...I would venture that if a pool room were able to provide the wireless connection...(which they can already) you could have a device that would fit in your pool case that you could use to link up and play on line poker..

I wonder if something like this is right around the corner???

Poker and Pool go together like Milk and Cookies...They should be kept together (IMO)

For me it's Gin NOT Poker.

BRKNRUN said:

Wireless connection is getting very cheap. A mini computer the size of a PSP that had wireless capabilites would not take much at this day and age...I would venture that if a pool room were able to provide the wireless connection...(which they can already) you could have a device that would fit in your pool case that you could use to link up and play on line poker..

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I would love it if the PoolRoom I hang in (The Break) had wi-fi. I would be there 14 hours a day. I can forward my (800) # to my cell phone to speak with my reps. I run my business (on-line), run credit cards (on-line), play $50 & $100 Gin Games (on-line) and visit billiard forums (on-line). I have spoken to the powers that be - but I don't think they really understand all the advantages to doing it. Oh well, maybe some day!

TY & GL

The Bamboozler said:

Catscradle is exactly right. There's only a handful of people who will make a decent living playing poker or pool. All the others are pretenders.

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So what? Without the "pretenders" there would be a handful of people making a shitty living at poker.

What I find terribly ironic is the fact that every pool magazine and tournament seems to be willing to accept advertising for another activity that takes players away from pool. I wonder what my local room owner would think if I walked in to the local tournament and said, "hey all you players and spectators, let's get out of here and go play poker."

In fact, the BCA loves to invite other sports and activities to pool shows. I guess the idea is that the more poker tables and table tennis tables are sold that it will encourage more people to play pool and buy pool stuff.

So, I don't know if poker is killing gambling in pool. I do find it funny that pool seems to be assisting in it's own suicide by encouraging it's players and fans to do something other thn play pool.

John

OldHasBeen said:

I would love it if the PoolRoom I hang in (The Break) had wi-fi. I would be there 14 hours a day. I can forward my (800) # to my cell phone to speak with my reps. I run my business (on-line), run credit cards (on-line), play $50 & $100 Gin Games (on-line) and visit billiard forums (on-line). I have spoken to the powers that be - but I don't think they really understand all the advantages to doing it. Oh well, maybe some day!

TY & GL

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Why don't you pay for it? It'll cost you all of $50 a month. Show them by example and reap the reward. The $50 is minscule compared to what you could earn by being in the place to you need to be.

Better upgrade your cell phone to unlimited minutes before you forward the 800 number though. I did it and the bill essential doubles as you are paying for the 800 # calls and the minutes on your phone.

John