As a teen I watched Colivita gamble with a player named Ernie Lager in the '60's.
Ernie wasn't quite on Colavita's level, but he had money and loved the limelight of playing in front of a crowd.
Who are the greatest players ever who were not big gamblers?
- Thread starter Positively Ralf
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Ernie wasn't quite on Colavita's level, but he had money and loved the limelight of playing in front of a crowd.
middleofnowhere
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What is the actual goal of gambling?
win money?
its in every normal persons blood to take risks of some kind. gambling is one of the most harmless ones and ones you have complete control over.
as in all risk taking you get a high when things go good and a low or bad when they don't.
and at least in gambling if you are good at it you make money. and that aint so bad.
as in all risk taking you get a high when things go good and a low or bad when they don't.
and at least in gambling if you are good at it you make money. and that aint so bad.
middleofnowhere
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middleofnowhere
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What you're describing are the highs and lows people get when betting on things like the racetrack or sports. Pool is different, it's personal. When you lose, you haven't just lost money you've been beaten personally. In many cases the person will feel they've lost face and dignity. The money is almost irrelevant.
That's the primary thing that would keep somebody saying they don't gamble when it comes to pool. Has nothing to do with the fear of losing money.
that does not answer your question
middleofnowhere
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Actually it does. The question would be why would a person who already has money make a bet? One of the main reasons is, in life not a whole lot is unpredictable. Most people get up in the morning they go to their job or they go to their business, the end of the month they know how much their bills are going to be in many cases at the end of the year you can calculate exactly how much money you'll make.
Gambling however has the uncertainty to it. You might wake up in the morning and go to the track with $50 in your pocket and come home with 5,000. There's something about for a change that that uncertainty is appealing.
It's difficult in a pool room for a guy who has a little money to gamble with guys who have no money. It just becomes them being a mark a sucker. So it's easier to just pass and not gamble with him at all.
I used to see guys come in my pool room all the time, good players. And announce, nobody in this place wants to gamble. Well that's not exactly true, everybody in the place is willing to gamble just make a fair game. In other words they're the ones who don't want to gamble.
That reminds me of a local. Someone came in asking if anyone wanted to gamble. Local says I will take 10-6. The other guy says that isnt gambling! Local says for you, it is.
nothing wrong with asking a stranger challenging basically the whole room for 10 to 6.
if he got it likely he would lose.
when someone came into the room and said no one here wants to gamble, most times i tell him one of two things. i will play you one game of 6 ball for all you have in your pockets. or ill flip a coin for all you have .
thats gambling.
not one ever took me up on it which i would have followed through.
if he got it likely he would lose.
when someone came into the room and said no one here wants to gamble, most times i tell him one of two things. i will play you one game of 6 ball for all you have in your pockets. or ill flip a coin for all you have .
thats gambling.
not one ever took me up on it which i would have followed through.
Ko Pin Yi. In fact, Ping-Chung also never gambles and both of them play American pool at the highest level.
sounds incredible. but when i think about it i haven't heard of him gambling.
i guess i have some prejudices
How do you know that? Hear on the interweb?? Do you live there? Do you follow them daily? Just curious as to how anyone could make this statement about a player.
Sounds like one of our locals. They called him Dalmatian Dave. You know, The Spotted Dog.
Well different rooms got different entry's.
A favorite memory for me was meeting Fly Boy. His entry to The White Spot big yearly 9 ball event was Stealth. I was paying my entry by working as referee. Basically dead money and a way for the house to add money to the pot.
Well he was not entered in the event he was at the crowded bar on Sunday and just looking around like a tourist. I was getting my 1 beer ration when he asked me, "what's going on here?" I assumed he was tourist so started to explain 9 ball. He shortly interrupted to state, "they call me Flyboy. "
My favorite entry to a Biker Bar was, "anybody in here play worth a F***?"
Now entry to the 211 in Seattle started with tipping the guy at the desk.
CajunPopeye
Member
I grew up poor. A lot of us didn't. I am working middle class (and middle aged) now.
first time i ever saw flyer was at the red roof pub in tacoma. bar table with lines of quarters up and games from 5 to 20
usually. no one except me ever asked to raise the bet. new player usually said what he would bet.
it was at the military base near by so lots of service men there.
one guy i never saw, his turn came up and said whats the bet or something like that, and i said 20? i think he said 50 dont remember but i probably turned him down as no one ever does that except great players.
early in the game he was hooked and jumped the heavy big cue ball over and made his shot. and ran out.
first time i ever saw someone jump. my jaw dropped.
it was stupid to do anyway as you would instantly lose all action. but that was the end of me betting with him.
later i found out who he was. jim speers.
middleofnowhere
Registered
I'm not going to say you cuz I think you're probably okay. But I've had people work for me who didn't make very much money and they would send their money down to the track almost every night. They kept their bills paid but beyond that they just gambled with the money.
It's the opposite of the first thing that would come to mind. Why would somebody gamble with money when they don't have very much. That's exactly why cuz they don't have very much. In their mind and it actually makes sense, they might as well take a shot.
People who already have money and really don't want for anything have to have something else that would make them gamble. It's going to be most likely the excitement and the uncertainty of the outcome.
I've owned a number of businesses over the years. I was just a teenager into my twenties I owned a lawn service company and employed a number of people. While it made pretty good money, it wasn't very interesting. I could tell you to the dollar how much I was probably going to make at the end of any given month.
when I was in the bar business and had the pool rooms. Without really realizing it I think what I enjoyed most about those businesses was I never knew what was going to happen. I might have a $5,000 weekend I might have a $1,000 weekend it was actually a little bit of an excitement to it.
Now that I'm thinking about it, might be a little bit of a creativity to gambling. The mental input to try and to out guess something not knowing if it's going to work or not. I used to watch the guys sit around the pool room all day trying to figure out the dog track then off they would go about 7:00. Any normal person would say if they put that much time and effort into a job they probably be successful. But they were doing what they like to do and you can't fault him for that.
When it comes to pool though most players really will not Gamble. They might pretend they do but if they end up actually gambling cuz they made a mistake.
Oh wow, that brings so many memories.
First off, I never knew his name other than Flyboy. Well obviously he wasn't hustler and just wanted action.
The punkin ball jump shot reminds me of Debbie Hess (well Hess at that time). She could jump a full ball at 12 inches with the big cueball and using her shooter as jump cues hadn't arrived. The gals wanted jump shots banned in the ladies events.
Her and husband had a tavern on South Tacoma Way near the bases. I played her in the finals of a Spokane tournament. I can't remember the letter but it might have been called a C tournament. 9 ball on 9 footers, and was the largest purse I ever won in a tournament. Must have filled the field at 64 . $700 was first with another $190 from a $10 side pot. Ah those were the days.