Who are the greatest players ever who were not big gamblers?

Positively Ralf

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I always see people talking about the gambling side of pool but who are the greatest players ever whose careers are mainly tournament winnings and titles? and out of curiousity, how would these players fare vs the players who were mainly gamblers in high stakes matches?
 
In a gambling match, most likely the gambler will win.
In a pro tournament, the athlete will win.
As mentioned, Mosconi was probably the greatest non gambler.
A lot of players claim that they don’t gamble, I doubt how true they are.
I wonder if Filer gambles, he has the pure athletic mentality but who knows… if he doesn’t gamble, then he is the best
 
skor said:
In a gambling match, most likely the gambler will win.
In a pro tournament, the athlete will win.
As mentioned, Mosconi was probably the greatest non gambler.
A lot of players claim that they don’t gamble, I doubt how true they are.
I wonder if Filer gambles, he has the pure athletic mentality but who knows… if he doesn’t gamble, then he is the best
Click to expand...
Once contracted with Brunswick he no longer gambled...that's what I've read on the matter.

And I'd guess it likely he disdained the gamblers as somewhat of a self defense mechanism.
 
skor said:
In a gambling match, most likely the gambler will win.
In a pro tournament, the athlete will win.
As mentioned, Mosconi was probably the greatest non gambler.
A lot of players claim that they don’t gamble, I doubt how true they are.
I wonder if Filer gambles, he has the pure athletic mentality but who knows… if he doesn’t gamble, then he is the best
Click to expand...
I have seen Filler gamble @ Derby
 
Why is this important? Some do some don't, FAR more do( did??) than don't. In my area Dick Lane was a great player that would gamble some but not real high. I watched him TRY to give Canadian great Gerry Watson the 8b for $300sets at the TulsaBilliardPalce around '88ish. Gerry LIT HIS ASS UP. Pure stealing. No one knew how good GW could dab it, well they found out. WAAAAY more pure tournament players now, back in the day you HAD to gamble. Even the 'lily white' B'wick backed staff players would gamble in after hours action.
 
mosconi gambled all the time till he was sponsored by brunswick which said he couldn't .

joe balsis, erving crane, onofro lauri , ,mike euphemia gambled small, mostly because he choked so badly he would always lose. even in tournaments he did overly poorly being about the best straight pool player in the world.

many old time tournament straight pool players did not gamble or little. as they had jobs or lived off tournaments and pool related things.

but almost all top players gambled at some point in time or they wouldn't have been able to achieve top spots.
you can only get so good just hitting them around with no pressure or results.
 
maha said:
mosconi gambled all the time till he was sponsored by brunswick which said he couldn't .

joe balsis, erving crane, onofro lauri , ,mike euphemia gambled small, mostly because he choked so badly he would always lose. even in tournaments he did overly poorly being about the best straight pool player in the world.

many old time tournament straight pool players did not gamble or little. as they had jobs or lived off tournaments and pool related things.

but almost all top players gambled at some point in time or they wouldn't have been able to achieve top spots.
you can only get so good just hitting them around with no pressure or results.
Click to expand...
If Mike bet over $50 playing straight Pool (his Best game), he couldn't beat Shirley Temple!
 
maha said:
you can only get so good just hitting them around with no pressure or results.
Click to expand...
I strongly disagree!
The pressure of gambling is nothing like the pressure of tournaments.
This is old school mentality and players used to get stronger back in the day. Still true to some places like the Philippines.
If a pro player today gambles, it from pure ego reasons, or the scratch to make some fast money
 
skor said:
I strongly disagree!
The pressure of gambling is nothing like the pressure of tournaments.
This is old school mentality and players used to get stronger back in the day. Still true to some places like the Philippines.
If a pro player today gambles, it from pure ego reasons, or the scratch to make some fast money
Click to expand...
Mostly because 98% of them get 100% staked!

Today, a high percentage of the Top players in Tournaments are also 100% staked!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top