Who here has "hustled" or made a living on the road?

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mrpool06

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'd like to hear stories from people who have made (or attempted) to make a living from playing pool. The typical fantasy, at least of mine, is to go on the road, travelling from pool hall to pool hall, bar to bar, making a living as a hustler. ("Color of Money")

I've never done it......thought about it seriously at one time......decided instead to settle down & have a family. Although, I thought if I had, it would have raised my game up to an unimaginable level. I just didn't know if I had the talent........I'm also too much of a sure-stepper in life.....so I never tried. I had a few pool-friends who also advised me not to. :(

Stories?
 
Eydie Romano

Eydie Romano

Finally Retired!
Silver Member
My husband Bob and another frequent poster on this board played on the road for many years. Maybe he'll step up and tell a few of their stories...:D
 
TATE

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
There is someone right in Billings who could fill a 20 volume encyclopedia for you. Cole Dixon. Find Cole and ask him. He was one of the most notorious road players in the 1970's. It's not exactly glamerous.

Chris
 
Gregg

Gregg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
TATE said:
There is someone right in Billings who could fill a 20 volume encyclopedia for you. Cole Dixon. Find Cole and ask him. He was one of the most notorious road players in the 1970's. It's not exactly glamorous.

Chris
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David "Blackjack" Sapolis who frequents here and the EasyPoolTutor.com would be happy to tell you some stories as well. He had some great articles on his website that's down right now. He is a gold mine of knowledge. I know it's hard for him to get onto post here, due to some health issues.

He also paints a bleak picture of the lifestyle as well.
 
S

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I made a good living GAMBLING pool, for most of the 70's. You don't have to be "the best", nor search out the champion players, to make a living gambling. Nor do you have pretend you can't play, to get a game (then or now). That's where ego comes into the equation. I never hustled anyone, however...I had more moral character than that. As has been mentioned, it is not a profitable, nor comfortable lifestyle for MOST people who have tried it. You'll find that most players (including Cole Dixon) have been broke most of their lives, and have often struggled with alcohol and/or drug abuse, on top of it. As a popular instructor and exhibition player, I no longer follow that path, and am happy to say that I make 10x more $$$ now, than I ever did "on the road". Actually, to be fair, I still spend 150 days on the road now...just doing things differently, for a heck of a better income, and a lot more satisfying career! LOL Now, instead of trying to beat people, I teach people to beat people! :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
M

mrpool06

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Scott Lee said:
I made a good living GAMBLING pool, for most of the 70's. You don't have to be "the best", nor search out the champion players, to make a living gambling. Nor do you have pretend you can't play, to get a game (then or now). That's where ego comes into the equation. I never hustled anyone, however...I had more moral character than that. As has been mentioned, it is not a profitable, nor comfortable lifestyle for MOST people who have tried it. You'll find that most players (including Cole Dixon) have been broke most of their lives, and have often struggled with alcohol and/or drug abuse, on top of it. As a popular instructor and exhibition player, I no longer follow that path, and am happy to say that I make 10x more $$$ now, than I ever did "on the road". Actually, to be fair, I still spend 150 days on the road now...just doing things differently, for a heck of a better income, and a lot more satisfying career! LOL Now, instead of trying to beat people, I teach people to beat people! :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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I thought I'd mention, Scott.....I was tempted to hustle a certain BCA instructor at Breakers here in Billings a few weeks back.....decided to play it cool & go along with the lesson.

(Ha ha, just kidding around Scott. Hey.....I am applying your stroke suggestions in my pool league.......I went 4-0 last week against a good team! Take care, & will be keeping in touch!)
 
jnav447

jnav447

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The summer after I got out of high school, I went travelling around Texas and Oklahoma with this poker player (one of the original 60's rounders); he played gin and poker and I played pool and arm-wrestled. We did really good until we went to Ardmore, OK for a big poker game with Brunson, Crandall Addington, etc. I fell asleep, my road partner got broke, stole my money out of the motel room, came back, lost that and took off. So I'm stuck in Ardmore without a dime. Next road experience was in 1970/71; went around the south with a real good pool player, and we made some good scores, blew money like crazy, got rolled, got stiffed, he got sick and no money for a doc, car blew up, arrrrgggghhh...just your basic nightmare. Again, come home broke. Third time was early 70's, bopping around Cali, playing good but every town had a champion, just non-stop tough action, but made one big score ($6000) so it turned out OK financially. All in all, the road stuff was not for me; you have to have a certain type of personality and mental toughness to hang in there. It's not all about how good you play, it boils down to your ability to just survive and keep your gambling bankroll intact until you hit a good score, and it's not easy. Thing is, if you are, or become, a top player, you have ONE SHOT to make real money on the road, then your cover's blown and no one will touch you without crazy weight. I'm sure there are quite a few, but I only know of one road dog that consistently makes the rent and that's a guy in Florida. He's a pastmaster hustler and it's hard work even for him. Moral: DO NOT go on the road unless the desire to do it just overwhelms you. It ain't glamorous, it ain't really fun (for the most part), and it ain't profitable for most players. Having said that, I may be going on the road soon around Florida with my buddy and an unknown champion, so what do I know?
 
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Jack Madden

Jack Madden

John Madden Cues
Silver Member
mrpool06 said:
I'd like to hear stories from people who have made (or attempted) to make a living from playing pool. The typical fantasy, at least of mine, is to go on the road, travelling from pool hall to pool hall, bar to bar, making a living as a hustler. ("Color of Money")

I've never done it......thought about it seriously at one time......decided instead to settle down & have a family. Although, I thought if I had, it would have raised my game up to an unimaginable level. I just didn't know if I had the talent........I'm also too much of a sure-stepper in life.....so I never tried. I had a few pool-friends who also advised me not to. :(

Stories?
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I played Cole in Phoenix lots of years ago. If you don't reach him in Billings, give me a call --- I am north of Missoula. Your friends gave you some good advice, but you don't have to go "on the road" to play well. Hell if you play pool in Montana, you are "on the road" just to get to the tournaments around the state. Just went to a small memorial tournament in Kalispel - players from Oregon, WA, Canada, Alaska, and eastern MT (Jeff Boucher).
Jack
www.johnmaddencues.com
 
T

trainer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Unkown??

jnav447 said:
The summer after I got out of high school, I went travelling around Texas and Oklahoma with this poker player (one of the original 60's rounders); he played gin and poker and I played pool and arm-wrestled. We did really good until we went to Ardmore, OK for a big poker game with Brunson, Crandall Addington, etc. I fell asleep, my road partner got broke, stole my money out of the motel room, came back, lost that and took off. So I'm stuck in Ardmore without a dime. Next road experience was in 1970/71; went around the south with a real good pool player, and we made some good scores, blew money like crazy, got rolled, got stiffed, he got sick and no money for a doc, car blew up, arrrrgggghhh...just your basic nightmare. Again, come home broke. Third time was early 70's, bopping around Cali, playing good but every town had a champion, just non-stop tough action, but made one big score ($6000) so it turned out OK financially. All in all, the road stuff was not for me; you have to have a certain type of personality and mental toughness to hang in there. It's not all about how good you play, it boils down to your ability to just survive and keep your gambling bankroll intact until you hit a good score, and it's not easy. Thing is, if you are, or become, a top player, you have ONE SHOT to make real money on the road, then your cover's blown and no one will touch you without crazy weight. I'm sure there are quite a few, but I only know of one road dog that consistently makes the rent and that's a guy named Dave Favor in Florida. He's a pastmaster hustler and it's hard work even for him. Moral: DO NOT go on the road unless the desire to do it just overwhelms you. It ain't glamorous, it ain't really fun (for the most part), and it ain't profitable for most players. Having said that, I may be going on the road soon around Florida with my buddy and an unknown champion, so what do I know?
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Tell J.P. that i said hi..Terry Osborne:D
 
OldHasBeen

OldHasBeen

Tom Ferry
Hustling Pool (the right way) is OVER for ever.

I don't have the time, energy or inclination to go over my life of pool in the late '60's,'70's & '80's. I've been there & done that - Here.
But I will tell you it came down to the Hustle much more than the playing.

Playing pool is a talent - but Hustling pool (& making over $100K per year) is an art.

TY & GL, OHB
 
bruin70

bruin70

don't wannabe M0DERATOR
Silver Member
ok,,,how many road hustlers have ever paid taxes? ,,,,other than sales tax, that is :):):)
 
M

mrpool06

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've actually thought about taking a week-long vacation sometime, just travelling around & playing pool at various locations....8 hour days. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado area. Would probably do it in the winter time, too many other things I'd rather be doing in the summer!

Maybe I'll even take some $$$ off of some of you bangers! :p
 
S

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
mrpool06 said:
I thought I'd mention, Scott.....I was tempted to hustle a certain BCA instructor at Breakers here in Billings a few weeks back.....decided to play it cool & go along with the lesson.
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Gary...Gosh, maybe you SHOULD have! LOL After all, I can't play a lick! However, I fake it pretty good. Maybe next time we'll go double or nothing for the lesson? C'mon...pretty please???:D :D :D

Glad it helped you. Good luck in league, and I'll see ya next time!

Scott Lee
www.poolkowledge.com
 
CrownCityCorey

CrownCityCorey

Sock it to 'em!
Silver Member
mrpool06 said:
I've actually thought about taking a week-long vacation sometime, just travelling around & playing pool at various locations....8 hour days. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado area. Would probably do it in the winter time, too many other things I'd rather be doing in the summer!

Maybe I'll even take some $$$ off of some of you bangers! :p
Click to expand...


A week is not near enough time to make a difference.

Although I never hustled (hid speed), I did earn a living for about a 1 1/2 half years as a money & local/regional tournament player.

The lifestyle is not all that. Especially for a married guy.

I know many players that go "on and off" the road as needed to avoid getting a job. Their quality of life is not too strong.

That life is for the young without a care in the world.
 
Josh Palmer

Josh Palmer

I'll take the 6 :)
Silver Member
Yeah... not to mention all that Social Security that you don't build up. What a retirement plan! Woo hoo. I never envy anyone's ability to play pool for a living(ok, maybe the one's making 6 digits), and especially not a road player. What a life :rolleyes:
 
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