an honest review of the hustlers

[hang-the-9]

I re-watched it on demand and did some going back and stopping the picture. I am not so sure some of the shooting has not been altered. I see at least once where the balls move to a different position as the conversation continues. It would seem it had been edited for effect and the conversation may even have been done as a voice over.

Not sure if you mean that as a joke or not, but the pool playing has been edited pretty badly without a doubt. Many shots end up in different positions after a shot away from the table and they are not even shooting the balls in the right order in some games.

 

[philly]

If a guy like that walked into my regular pool room, the only thing he'd get moving is his butt out of there. The room is usually filled with kids, woman, casual players, retired folks, charity events, none of them will fit in there acting the way they do on the show.

I understand where you're coming from. I grew up in the Philly poolrooms and guys like Finnegan were not total rarities by a long shot. I'd like Chicago RJ to weigh in this. I'll bet it was the same in Chicago. Even today if you walk into a poolroom at midnight, when all of the kids are in bed and the charity benefits are long over you'll see this type of behavior you'll see your share of colorful characters.

 

[Willi Makaball]

Watched and wondered, What makes Finnegan the "God Father of Pool"? Why does he have to talk to Emily the way he does, Is that the way you would want to be talked to or expect that when you go to play pool.
Some of the hail Mary shots made were interesting, but not what most good players would play.
I liked the hall they were in, wish they would show more of it, it looks big.
Ok, now Ross, is he really that good? But that Gf of his is a mouth, and takes away from the show, Shes banking on her "Race Horse", I guess if Ross can live with it, hes a better man than me.
I must agree with previous posts that say some league exposure would be good, let the potential players know there is a great venue for them to get involved, but all the smack talk may scare some away.
And how many would expect a Mike Decahine to walk in and look for a money game, Sure it happens, but the average player not going to put up 500 to play him.
And tell me this, your looking to make some money, do you walk up to the best player, and win. Well good-bye action.
Overall I am glad to see pool get some national exposure, hope this series settles down and hopefully gets more people out to play.

 

[hang-the-9]

I understand where you're coming from. I grew up in the Philly poolrooms and guys like Finnegan were not total rarities by a long shot. I'd like Chicago RJ to weigh in this. I'll bet it was the same in Chicago. Even today if you walk into a poolroom at midnight, when all of the kids are in bed and the charity benefits are long over you'll see this type of behavior you'll see your share of colorful characters.

I am usually embarrassed for those guys, as Fast Eddie said to Vincent "that's not pool, you dropped your pants" to put on a show. There are a few guys at Snookers outside of Mike that can be on that show, and be filmed as they are without scripting for a fun show LOL.

 

[philly]

Many top pros walk in to Steinway Billiards looking for games. Earl is the house pro there and I believe Finnigan is the tour director at Steinway. He runs some big tournaments there and I'm sure he has to handicap the players in handicapped tournaments so it's his job to know the skill levels of as many players as he can. Top pros are known to walk in many poolrooms. Usually they let you know they are coming and rely on the houseman to supply opponents and help in matching them up. Karen Corr and Stuart Appleby live not far from me and are known to go to local rooms to match up. Steinway Billiards is in NYC so I'm sure pros stop in all the time.

 

[hang-the-9]

Watched and wondered, What makes Finnegan the "God Father of Pool"? Why does he have to talk to Emily the way he does, Is that the way you would want to be talked to or expect that when you go to play pool.
Some of the hail Mary shots made were interesting, but not what most good players would play.
I liked the hall they were in, wish they would show more of it, it looks big.
Ok, now Ross, is he really that good? But that Gf of his is a mouth, and takes away from the show, Shes banking on her "Race Horse", I guess if Ross can live with it, hes a better man than me.
I must agree with previous posts that say some league exposure would be good, let the potential players know there is a great venue for them to get involved, but all the smack talk may scare some away.
And how many would expect a Mike Decahine to walk in and look for a money game, Sure it happens, but the average player not going to put up 500 to play him.
And tell me this, your looking to make some money, do you walk up to the best player, and win. Well good-bye action.
Overall I am glad to see pool get some national exposure, hope this series settles down and hopefully gets more people out to play.

They talk that way because they were told to by the people that do the show.

I've seen Mike play a regular (with money) player for $2,000 so $500 with a spot is not that unbelievable.

Winning with a 2 game spot and the 6 is not too bad for making a game again, although I would not think that Mike playing partners with another good player would lose even with that spot unless it was alternate breaks.

 

[macguy]

Not sure if you mean that as a joke or not, but the pool playing has been edited pretty badly without a doubt. Many shots end up in different positions after a shot away from the table and they are not even shooting the balls in the right order in some games.

At one point a ball hung in the pocket. When they came back to the table he was shooting a different ball on the other side of the table. Mean time, the sound track did not break at all, it was one continues conversation.

 

[jhanso18]

Watched and wondered, What makes Finnegan the "God Father of Pool"? Why does he have to talk to Emily the way he does, Is that the way you would want to be talked to or expect that when you go to play pool.
Some of the hail Mary shots made were interesting, but not what most good players would play.
I liked the hall they were in, wish they would show more of it, it looks big.
Ok, now Ross, is he really that good? But that Gf of his is a mouth, and takes away from the show, Shes banking on her "Race Horse", I guess if Ross can live with it, hes a better man than me.
I must agree with previous posts that say some league exposure would be good, let the potential players know there is a great venue for them to get involved, but all the smack talk may scare some away.
And how many would expect a Mike Decahine to walk in and look for a money game, Sure it happens, but the average player not going to put up 500 to play him.
And tell me this, your looking to make some money, do you walk up to the best player, and win. Well good-bye action.
Overall I am glad to see pool get some national exposure, hope this series settles down and hopefully gets more people out to play.

I think he's suppose to be Vince...

 

[Cory in DC]

Not sure if you mean that as a joke or not, but the pool playing has been edited pretty badly without a doubt. Many shots end up in different positions after a shot away from the table and they are not even shooting the balls in the right order in some games.

1. I enjoyed it overall. It's not about the pool for pool players, but it features pool in a fun way. "The list" is clearly not a real list, but it's a nice plot device. It should probably not be called the best players, but rather "the best amateurs", "the best Steinway regulars", or just "Finnegan's List". In fairness, they did at one point make clear that Dechaine was in another class from the players on the list, admitting something of the pro vs. list distinction.

2. Clearly, the editing could use some work. But only 1% of the audience, maybe less, will notice the discrepancies. Maybe that's not where they should spend their money vs. writing and marketing.

3. I do like that they throw in a little bit of spinach with the junk food. Sometimes, they'll do a 10-second voiceover by the player explaining the situation and the options, with an accompanying graphic. The graphic actually looks very nice and is a good way to help new players understand 9-ball.

4. Will they try to feature some one pocket? Stay tuned.

Cory

P.S. That Mikey's a cool dude.

 

[Cuemaster98]

I run the pro shop at Steinway Billiard and do most of the repairs for all the players that come through the room. If you're a Pro Player or any players for that matter that want to get some actions...then you'll need to come to Steinway.

Finnigan stayed very true to his character and played mostly himself. There are some fictional plots like the list but that just part of the show. I really liked the first two episodes and I'm looking forward to watch all of them.

As for the slight variance in the game, it probably due to the fact that some of the shots were re shot so that they can add special effect to them. I think they did a very good job with editing the footage to make the show enjoyable to the masses. If I didn't play pool, this would still be a very fun show to watch.

I would agree that there were some bad aspect to the show, not sure if that was part of the plot to make the show more interesting..but for sure they could have done without some of the aggression and foul languages but then again this show was intended for mature audiences (18+) lol. Believe or not, some of the aggression you'll see in the upcoming episodes are real....they are playing for real money and the winner does go home with real cash at the end of the day!!
The plot may be scripted...but the bets are real!! Can't wait to see the match up between Gary and Jennifer!!

Many top pros walk in to Steinway Billiards looking for games. Earl is the house pro there and I believe Finnigan is the tour director at Steinway. He runs some big tournaments there and I'm sure he has to handicap the players in handicapped tournaments so it's his job to know the skill levels of as many players as he can. Top pros are known to walk in many poolrooms. Usually they let you know they are coming and rely on the houseman to supply opponents and help in matching them up. Karen Corr and Stuart Appleby live not far from me and are known to go to local rooms to match up. Steinway Billiards is in NYC so I'm sure pros stop in all the time.

 

[macguy]

Watched and wondered, What makes Finnegan the "God Father of Pool"? Why does he have to talk to Emily the way he does, Is that the way you would want to be talked to or expect that when you go to play pool.
Some of the hail Mary shots made were interesting, but not what most good players would play.
I liked the hall they were in, wish they would show more of it, it looks big.
Ok, now Ross, is he really that good? But that Gf of his is a mouth, and takes away from the show, Shes banking on her "Race Horse", I guess if Ross can live with it, hes a better man than me.
I must agree with previous posts that say some league exposure would be good, let the potential players know there is a great venue for them to get involved, but all the smack talk may scare some away.
And how many would expect a Mike Decahine to walk in and look for a money game, Sure it happens, but the average player not going to put up 500 to play him.
And tell me this, your looking to make some money, do you walk up to the best player, and win. Well good-bye action.
Overall I am glad to see pool get some national exposure, hope this series settles down and hopefully gets more people out to play.

He is not exactly someone who should be looking down on people considering he is a janitor.

 

[leto1776]

The Irish character backed out of a handshake deal on the game with Mike D. That was just wrong, he agreed to the game and then decided he didn't like it. Not a very good gabmler or player.:boring2:

Honestly, that was the only thing that made me mad. Dude let Fin take over for him, then when Mike stood his ground on an already agreed upon match, they called Mike bad action?!?!? Seriously?

 

[dnschmidt]

I tried but I simply couldn't watch it. These are the top five players in New York City. Doesn't Mika, Earl and Jason live there? Just made for TV BS. No way in hell Dechaine loses to those guys. He'd tie them up in safeties and just get ball in hand every rack.

Also, is the best way to promote pool to glorify gambling. There is more gambling in golf than any other sport in the world but it's not front and center. What's wrong with promoting the game and not gambling.

 

[croscoe]

Set to record the series. Two record never got through the first .....deleted all canceled the recordings.

To bad would really like to support by watching some pool too.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Playing One Pocket today one of the guys said he had watched the show this weekend, and his view was that it sucked.
So that's one 'sucked' from the great State of Missouri. :smile:

 

[Bambu]

I tried by I simply couldn't watch it. These are the top five players in New York City. Doesn't Mika, Earl and Jason live there? Just made for TV BS. No way in hell Dechaine loses to those guys. He'd tie them up in safeties and just get ball in hand every rack.

Also, is the best way to promote pool to glorify gambling. There is more gambling in golf than any other sport in the world but it's not front and center. What's wrong with promoting the game and not gambling.

I heard some players were passed up because they wanted too much money, others because they simply do not bode well on TV. Makes sense to me.

As for Mike dropping money, they did mention it was to get better action in the future. I agree he would crush them, but its reality TV so there are no rules. The gambling only enhances the pecking order, the woofing, the drama. If there were a golf reality TV show, I "bet" it would also invlove gambling.

 

[peteypooldude]

I don't know if this has been posted as I didn't read the thread but the Top 5 is simply the order of the cast..... As they rate against each other

 

[mikeyfrost]

1. I enjoyed it overall. It's not about the pool for pool players, but it features pool in a fun way. "The list" is clearly not a real list, but it's a nice plot device. It should probably not be called the best players, but rather "the best amateurs", "the best Steinway regulars", or just "Finnegan's List". In fairness, they did at one point make clear that Dechaine was in another class from the players on the list, admitting something of the pro vs. list distinction.

2. Clearly, the editing could use some work. But only 1% of the audience, maybe less, will notice the discrepancies. Maybe that's not where they should spend their money vs. writing and marketing.

3. I do like that they throw in a little bit of spinach with the junk food. Sometimes, they'll do a 10-second voiceover by the player explaining the situation and the options, with an accompanying graphic. The graphic actually looks very nice and is a good way to help new players understand 9-ball.

4. Will they try to feature some one pocket? Stay tuned.

Cory

P.S. That Mikey's a cool dude.

I played a one hole game but no idea

 

[hang-the-9]

Watched the second episode, was much better than the first except for the crazy Irish guy randomly going off on Dechaine which was clearly someone telling him to act like a crazy Irish guy.

And I REALLY REALLY wish that they would show a game like it actually plays out and not edited versions where they move the balls around. One shot shows the 8 and 9 tied up, next shot the 8 is on the other side of the table. If the players can't run out the, they can't run out, don't show a fake game. I don't want to see a staged game when whoever wins is in the script in a "reality" show about pool.

Plus what's with the fake "top 5 pool players in New York" list? There is no way that's the right list. Maybe top players that are regulars in the room but I doubt that is not the correct list either.

 

[Spimp13]

Plus what's with the fake "top 5 pool players in New York" list? There is no way that's the right list. Maybe top players that are regulars in the room but even that is not true.

It's not meant to be a real top 5 list. I don't know why people keep saying the list is wrong. This is a TV reality show top 5 list.

People should just enjoy the show for what it is vs trying to nit pick so much (not saying you hangthe9 in particular but just a lot of the critics on here).

My wife and I watched the first two episodes. I liked it when they broke down the potential shot using the diagram a couple of times. I would tell her what I would do in that situation and see if it matched what the player did. Mike's one liners were pretty funny too.