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

maha said:
yea svb gambles as does most, not all, of the best in the world.
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Yeah but while he sometimes bets his own, most of his high stakes matches were staked by his backer Mars. Same with Fedor Gorst, most times it’s the Sword brothers money. I never quite understood using stakehores versus betting your own cash.

Like Grady once said, there’s no better feeling in the world than to walk out of a pool hall in the bright morning sun after a night in action, with your pockets loaded with C notes and not having to whack it up with anyone.
 
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Well "Gambling " is a term often miss applied to heads up play. 🤷‍♂️
Heads up playing is a contest of skill with luck factors.
Some people don't enjoy playing for money or stakes. Some have religious reasons. I respect that. A close friend that I would spar with after work didn't play for money. One after work visit to the tavern had me hearing a grumble as I passed a couple on the way to the restroom. The guys statement to his girl companion was, "this guy shoots so good but he won't gamble." His tone was derogatory, so on my return I cordially offered the opportunity to "gamble" on the adjacent and open table. Explaining that I like to gamble. 🤷‍♂️ He probably had a Grumble for the companion as they exited the bar. He didn't win a game. A real shame. 😉 🤷‍♂️ He thought he could play. 🤷‍♂️
 
Frosty said:
Yeah but while he sometimes bets his own, most of his high stakes matches were staked by his backer Mars. Same with Fedor Gorst, most times it’s the Sword brothers money. I never quite understood using stakehores versus betting your own cash.

Like Grady once said, there’s no better feeling in the world than to walk out of a pool hall in the bright morning sun after a night in action, with your pockets loaded with C notes and not having to whack it up with anyone.
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seems fairly easy to understand. less loss, less stress
 
bad deal if you are a winning gambler as you are basically taking a cut in pay.

good deal for the shooter if its split up after each match.

but no smart stake horse would ever do that. its a running total over a certain period of time. so the stake horse always makes money as he also makes sure the bets all have a positive expectation.
 
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Frosty said:
Do you gamble? Because if you don’t then you’re not in a position to speak of what you call the pressure of gambling vs the pressure of tournaments
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When gambling, if you lose, you can keep on playing until you lose all the money in your pocket or start to win.
In tournaments, you lose twice and your out, can’t continue to play.
If it’s a small local tournament than maybe the pressure of gambling is higher, depends on the effect on your life if you lose.
If you travel to the other side of the world risking a lot of money covering expenses and you lose twice and go home, that’s a total different pressure that no gambling can match. Unless you are an amateur with no expectations and just travel for the fun of it.
If you gamble more than you can afford to lose, than this is something completely different, then you’re an idiot and I don’t know if idiots feel pressure
 
garczar said:
are you delusional? if you lose in a tournament you're out(maybe if your staked) the entry fee. Gambling you might(again, are you staked?) well be betting everything you have at the time. Both have their own form of pressure but don't even try to say that gambling is easier.
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Well I wont insult you or lack of comprehension, but you must not have spent much time around the Pool world. I was at the One Pocket tournament at Buffalo's and there was no way to get off cheap, so your belief that theres only a entry fee is mis-guided. There was $320,000
in the Calcutta and I spoke with a number of players that brought part of themselves, not cheap. It also cost to get to these tournaments and if your not sponsored or staked the travel is costly and if you want to keep your sponsors or backers you better being winning or placing.

Gambling depends, if I've got $800 in my pocket and I'm betting $30 a game Nine Ball, $100 a game One Pocket theres a long why to go before I feel pressure. Now that can change depending on the bet, but no matter what if I've got more Money then you, if I aint betting the rent Money then I'll be right in front of you until I decide to quit, not two and out.
 
skor said:
When gambling, if you lose, you can keep on playing until you lose all the money in your pocket or start to win.
In tournaments, you lose twice and your out, can’t continue to play.
If it’s a small local tournament than maybe the pressure of gambling is higher, depends on the effect on your life if you lose.
If you travel to the other side of the world risking a lot of money covering expenses and you lose twice and go home, that’s a total different pressure that no gambling can match. Unless you are an amateur with no expectations and just travel for the fun of it.
If you gamble more than you can afford to lose, than this is something completely different, then you’re an idiot and I don’t know if idiots feel pressure
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What a long way for you to say, “no I don’t gamble”.
 
Frosty said:
What a long way for you to say, “no I don’t gamble”.
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I don’t like gambling period.
I think it’s the worst thing for pool.
I gambled a few times, just to teach some idiots some life lessons, never took the money at the end of it…
Thankfully, I have other ways to make money.
I got to be the best that I could be, without gambling.
 
you dont start out trying to become a top pro. only after you get a high rating and decide pool is your future.

and few if any just get good hitting balls for days hours on end trying to get better playing for fun or by themselves.

the pool rooms i go to, all the better players are gambling when they play. those that aren't are all mediocre at best.
 
Sealegs50 said:
I’m just guessing, but a possible name that hasn’t been mentioned is Jack Colavita. Like Irving Crane, he held down a 5-day a week job to support his family. I played against him twice. Money was never mentioned. He just wanted to play.
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Colavita, Crane, and Babe Cranfield. They had jobs. They didn't generally gamble.
 
skor said:
I don’t like gambling period.
I think it’s the worst thing for pool.
I gambled a few times, just to teach some idiots some life lessons, never took the money at the end of it…
Thankfully, I have other ways to make money.
I got to be the best that I could be, without gambling.
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Cool story bro 🙄
 
colivita mostly played straight pool. but bet 20 to 50 a game regularly. few wanted to bet with him as he was too good.
 
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