Best Hustling Lines / Moves When You Enter a Poolroom

Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You can win a game early on the eight,
..by the time you’re shooting the fourth last ball there is usually very little difference
between needing one more or three more.

I think I have some misunderstandings as to what the last 3 really means. Can you tell I don't play much 9 ball? I thought that anything you can do on the 9 to win you could also do with the "last 3" or 3 highest numbered balls on the table.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
I think I have some misunderstandings as to what the last 3 really means. Can you tell I don't play much 9 ball? I thought that anything you can do on the 9 to win you could also do with the "last 3" or 3 highest numbered balls on the table.

No, it only comes into play where are four balls left on the table, including the nine. The other three balls can be any balls. You may end up with the 5, 6, 8 and 9 remaining. Kapeche?
To add to this, when it gets down to the last three balls and the nine, if you make any of them, even on a lucky shot, you win the game! At that point they are all wild.
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I think I have some misunderstandings as to what the last 3 really means. Can you tell I don't play much 9 ball? I thought that anything you can do on the 9 to win you could also do with the "last 3" or 3 highest numbered balls on the table.

That game would be getting the 7-8....
...now you got three balls you can win early with.
 

9Ballr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Don't understand all this secrecy.

I just say "wanna do a race to ten games for 10 bucks a game?"

Very plain very simple and no one ever gets mad since they know what's going on.
Matter of fact I actually have my cue case, gloves, play cue, break cue and jump cue all there too.

But I guess that doesn't qualify as hustling...lol
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Don't understand all this secrecy.

I just say "wanna do a race to ten games for 10 bucks a game?"

Very plain very simple and no one ever gets mad since they know what's going on.
Matter of fact I actually have my cue case, gloves, play cue, break cue and jump cue all there too.

But I guess that doesn't qualify as hustling...lol

That's an interesting line, kind of vague what the actual bet is. I like it as an opening line.
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Don't understand all this secrecy.

I just say "wanna do a race to ten games for 10 bucks a game?"

Very plain very simple and no one ever gets mad since they know what's going on.
Matter of fact I actually have my cue case, gloves, play cue, break cue and jump cue all there too.

But I guess that doesn't qualify as hustling...lol

So if I lose 10-9 to you, how much do I owe you?
 

Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
@jay and pt: Got it, thanks. With the 8 he has two balls he can luck in. The last 3 doesn't help as much if I'm a run out player.

Hmm, maybe acting like an idiot who doesn't know what the last 3 is would be a good hustle. ;)

PS - love your road stories, Jay!
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That game would be getting the 7-8....
...now you got three balls you can win early with.
"Last three" simply means the last three left on table would all be game balls. Doesn't have to be 7-8. If the 4,6,9 were left all three would be game balls for player getting the spot.
 

tim913

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've stated before..not much of a roadie, except the occasional 2 or 3 night stay going to class somewhere for business, mostly local so I had to fit into a place for awhile winning and losing so I would be up a few hundred by the end of the week, but no one noticed, had to pay the utility bills. I would usually win and lose to the SL4's or 5's as you would call them today and then the SL8's and 9's would give me lessons some nights if I bought them a beer or two. On a rare occasional I'd find a good game on the outskirts of town from someone passing through. One night I was playing 10 ahead for 5 biggies, and just as I was putting the money and cue away I looked up and at the end of the bar was one of the 8's or 9's that had been giving me lessons at the bar 45 miles away. He looked at me on the way out and just gave me the finger...had to fit in somewhere else for awhile
 
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chefjeff

If not now...
Silver Member
Best line I've ever heard:

"You don't really wanna play alone, do ya?"

All the best,
WW

Yeah, those questions that can be answered with either 'yes' or 'no' are just confusing enough to allow any answer, thus one notch closer to landing the fish.


Try doing it while slightly nodding your head up and down in a "yes" fashion. That is a subliminal move sales people sometimes use. It can bring agreement quickly.


Jeff Livingston
 
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sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
I recall all of the following:

1) asking a would be opponent to recommend one of the house cues to you
2) asking an opponent which side of the table breaks better when the conditions are dry.
3) commenting on a shot where the CUE BALL is on one of the spots: "I hate spot shots."
4) asking the house man or would-be opponent whether they carry red chalk, noting "it's the only chalk I can play my best with."
5) wearing a really "loud" and, preferably, wide tie while you shoot
6) claiming you've been playing pool since you were two years old
7) wearing sandals and no socks on a cold winter day

All of these will make you look or sound like a retard.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recall all of the following:

1) asking a would be opponent to recommend one of the house cues to you
2) asking an opponent which side of the table breaks better when the conditions are dry.
3) commenting on a shot where the CUE BALL is on one of the spots: "I hate spot shots."
4) asking the house man or would-be opponent whether they carry red chalk, noting "it's the only chalk I can play my best with."
5) wearing a really "loud" and, preferably, wide tie while you shoot
6) claiming you've been playing pool since you were two years old
7) wearing sandals and no socks on a cold winter day

All of these will make you look or sound like a retard.
LOL!! No doubt you'd be the nerd of the 'hall.
 

Chip Roberson

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think that I learned this game from Johnny. We got along good. He wasn't the best player but he was a double smart hustler.

Yep, Johnny was as road smart as there was back in his days. Sorry to have heard of his passing last year. Had great stories and a wealth of knowledge.
 

Runner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Like this one?
picture.php

Oh no, that's too serious ! Gotta rock the vintage '80's Bud cue in the old cheapie flip case !:cool: Bonus hustle points if it has the screw-on weights...
 

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Dan Harriman

One of the best in 14.1
Silver Member
Asking the house man for a 9-ball rack,
Racking the balls at the wrong end of the table,
Racking the balls from the side of the table and not from the foot end,
Emptying the ball tray on a table that is NOT lit up to start playing,
Rolling the house cues on the table to see if they are level,
Asking the house man for talc/baby powder,
Walking around the tables looking for the coin slot,
The putt-putt rule - moving the CB off the rail by a cue butt's width

Any other classic requests / moves come to mind that you hear / see when a non-regular walks in a poolroom, other than the obvious, that are a dead giveaway they are either not a player, or they're a hustler?

Asking - r you a student of the game?
 

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jerry franklin once made me a cue in the same legue with these

it was very cheap looking and pink

played like a south west cue

i never got to play with it
someone else fell in love with it

i wish i had it back

dean


i also used to have a red and green cue
painted
never put it in action,sold it too

i usually ask what do you want to play for
then i usually lose and have to ask for weight

next i had to change to one pocket because it doesn't require so much skill

then i usually pay off and lick my wounds
 

brainbyte

Registered
Gamesmanship

Some of these attempts at deception seem foolish and amateurish with likely poor results. People who are willing to gamble for significant sums of money will not be fooled so easily. If you succeed it will likely be a cheap score and pretty much done for the sake of entertainment of your friends at the expense of some poor fool. Do it to the wrong person and you may find yourself being the fool, which I have seen happen more than a few times.

Here is a true story:
There was a guy we called Mitchell Brown from Out of Town....I don't know if it was his real name. He would show up a few times back in the sixties and play for stupid serious money with a couple of good money players in the area. He was supposedly a rich guy traveling on business all the time and liked to gamble real big. Some said he was a stockbroker, he traveled alone so no one really know.
Here's the thing, Mitch was severely handicap with one short leg and two deformed arms...His head was cocked over like he was looking sideways all the time.....not to be offensive but a pretty sad sight watching him limp around a table hanging on to the rails. It was like seeing Steven Hawking hobbling around a pool table if he could walk.
Mitch was always neat and very well dressed in shirt, tie and suits and in spite of his physical disability, he was an very intelligent guy who spoke very well and negotiated some clever games that were extraordinary to say the least.
When word got around that Mitchell Brown from Out of Town was at the pool room, every degenerate gambler and wise guy showed up for a piece of the action. It was a circus because everyone who could hold a stick wanted to play him desperately and all the rail birds and backers were working it for the side action.....kind of like an auction to see who can get the most money together for the game. I tell you, I never saw such a sick frenzy of betting and gaming action. There were guys who hated each other parleying their money together to get in the action.
Some of the games played goes like this....Mitch wins if he can make any ball on the table before his opponent gets through a rack in rotation or he's getting spotted 97 in 100 points in straight pool. Sometimes he would get the ball in hand for all shots. He lost a game of straight pool, 100 to minus 11 for $2000, all he had to make was 3 points. How about one spot shot from the head spot, 50 tries for $1000. It was always some incredible proposition.
Mitch held the cue with his head and neck, holding down the cue with the right wrist hooking his deformed hand over the stick. He gripped the left with palm up stabbing grip. The stroke (more like a poke) was made by shoving his body forward while trying to keep his balance and he would trip along the carpet dragging his feet and holding the rail...saw him fall only once.
It was a sight to see late into the night, he was all mussed up, shirt half out, chalk all over on his clothes, hands and streaks of blue on his face, but there was no quit in him. It usually started out 2, 3, $400 a game and god knows what, on the side action. The betting would double up every few hours as the games get renegotiated. That was a lot of wood back then. I remember $500 bills being passed around after a game and the smell of cash was everywhere.
Don’t think his opponents were stupid. These guys played for money regularly….just not this high all the time. The trick was to get Mitch to scratch enough times to keep the game going. Back scratching and putting the ball in an unreachable spot was the order of the day. Mitch played better with the bridge….I don’t know why he didn’t use it more often…he’d slide the bridge and stick together on the table, poking at the cue ball. Miss cue was his middle name. A ball hanging in a pocket was not a sure thing for him.
Funny thing...it was always a somewhat fair and close game as wacky as the proposition was. He didn't win or lose all the time and he held his own in some sessions which went on all night....truly a die hard gambler. Those suspenders held up a big set of balls. I give him all the credit in the world but he had a way about him and late into the game he had these shifty eyes staring at the table like no one else was there. Back then, handicap people were not usually seen about in pool rooms or anywhere else for that matter, odd that he fitted right in.
Mitch was well liked even to the folks who lost money. Stories of the games and money were abound, for weeks after Mitch’s visits. Each time it was one day and he was gone....saw him about three times in two years and it was always big money flying.
Now the rumor was that Mitchell Brown from Out of Town may have been a travelling con and had arranged all his appearances with some wise guys beforehand to take down the side action.....I don't know. I sure fooled me if it was a con. There was quite a few disgruntle losers the last time I saw him play. I kind of think it scared him away because he never came back after that. Some said he was from Chicago and others said California.
Well, I like to think Mitch was just an old hustler stuck in a battered body. He liked the stage and attention and can afford it. Kind of like overcoming his handicap with shrew gamesmanship, taking advantage of his physical disability to make a game he could win once in awhile. Yeah....he was a hustler but a gambler first. Winning or losing was just part of the game just like real life.
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
10 bucks.
But at some point during the race you may possibly have had 90 of my dollars.

Well, that’s weird....if I ever make a game with you, I’m bring the proper forms to fill out...
....and maybe a lawyer....:eek:

Reminds me of a pool hall that a friend owned...his counter guy, when asked what the
table rates were, would say “$7.50 an hour, play as long as you like.”....
...so when the customer would play for a few hours, they didn’t understand why the bill
was $21.50....they had $7.50 stuck in their mind.
 

Pushout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had an old friend tell me years and years ago: "Make it fun for 'em!" Kinda like the Puckett stories.:grin:
 
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