Money matters.
Skill is walking out with the other guy's money.
Not even close. The higher skilled player often doesn't walk out with the money. The person walking out with the money is often the most skilled sharker or most skilled negotiator, maybe the most skilled under pressure, they are not necssarily the most skilled at playing pocket billiards.
It's funny this goes back millenium. If you haven't and you get the chance, read the book of the five rings. It's about combat and sword dueling. In it Miyamoto Musashi speaks to showing up late to the duel to get into your opponents head.
You can see this today with Magnus Carlsen doing the same thing even sacrificing time advantage to do so. That isn't what makes him more skilled at chess, but it allows him a mental advantage that often ends up with him walking away the winner ( and it helps that he's often the more skilled at chess).
Skill at playing pool is exactly that, getting the balls to do what you are trying to get them to do is the only thing that is skill at pool. The rest and walking away with the money is skill at walking away with the money, not playing pool.
