Pool Hustlers, Tell us the Truth

Gotta be ready to go at any minute, really.

I think I've probably won more money during the day, but that could also be due to unspeakable factors

Black-Balled said:

Gotta be ready to go at any minute, really.

I think I've probably won more money during the day, but that could also be due to unspeakable factors

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……….just a Gigooloooooo

"Pool Hustlers" are the reason this game is dying. Recreational players don't want to walk in a pool hall and be bothered to gamble by some drug addicted ball of puss trying to hustle them out of their money. There are no successful "pool hustlers" anymore. You can spot them a mile away. Most of the time they are just trying to win some fast cash to get their next fix. The world doesn't need pool huslters. The world needs more guys like Charlie Bryant that actually want to promote the game and make it better. Guys that want to create fair tournaments and stop the cheating and sideways BS that has been going on for far too long. The pool world doesn't need hustlers, stop glorifying them.

FuManchu said:

"Pool Hustlers" are the reason this game is dying. Recreational players don't want to walk in a pool hall and be bothered to gamble by some drug addicted ball of puss trying to hustle them out of their money. There are no successful "pool hustlers" anymore. You can spot them a mile away. Most of the time they are just trying to win some fast cash to get their next fix. The world doesn't need pool huslters. The world needs more guys like Charlie Bryant that actually want to promote the game and make it better. Guys that want to create fair tournaments and stop the cheating and sideways BS that has been going on for far too long. The pool world doesn't need hustlers, stop glorifying them.

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I did not see the OP as "glorifying" them. Them guys are part of the game...like it or not.

most pool hustlers are bums

some call themselves pro players
seldom do they make enough to support themself
or a family

seldom do they make money gambling
my guess is that if you took the stake horse out
of the equation the average pool player would nor survive long

i refer to the main source of income is from dumping games
not all,i do not want to imply that this is the source of income of all without exception
my guess it would be closer to only 50%,their other big source is borrowing with no
intention of paying back



over the years i have always enjoyed playing players with stakehorses
because they match up easier and lose more money

another favorite is betting against the player being staked

r
there used to be a coloful band of merry men
traveling the country,playing pool and other games for fun and profit

they loved the game and often traveled to find action and compete with others
testing their abilities

some made money,most were fo quit as they couldn't make a living

these types are still around ,struggling for the most part,usually
not far from the bill collector

another bunch is composed of working men who enjoy the cowboy dream
they played and loved the game and enjoy stakes playing


guys like Alex compose another breed,he makes money somewhere
and plays stakes games,formal tournaments could never support him

i wouldn't call him a hustler,but i would think he is a typical pro player

and my guess is he is the best player alive now

i hope that i haven't ruined your image of the hustler,i hate
to be the first to call him a bum

still there is a lot of fun playing these guys who
are so smart in their own eyes

Prairie dog said:

I love the game of pool and admire those that have it totally knocked, just like I did the guys that can shoot 65 on a golf course. it's a total skill level that they spend years on and they are the best. BUT, how do they get along with life? Where is the wife, house, medical insurance, retirement, and the other things most of us find valuable in life?

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They don't exist because a pool hustler cant provide for himself more less a family and bills.

This isn’t 1940, almost everyone is knowledgeable now or can be about a hustle. All hustlers do is annoy people and ruin pool. When I was in college and working at a pool hall, I might get a “hustler” or road player in once in awhile. I’m not good at pool, slightly below average but I love to play. I’ll dump $60-100 to anyone, but if you try and “hustle” me it’s insulting and I’d give the ultimate hustle back. I would run a blackjack game after hours and if I got hustled I’d let them play..... needless to say just hustlers can’t hold on to their money.

I’ve yet to ever meet one that was successful and they aren’t good for pool. Most decent places kick them out pretty quick.

Prairie dog said:

I love the game of pool and admire those that have it totally knocked, just like I did the guys that can shoot 65 on a golf course. it's a total skill level that they spend years on and they are the best. BUT, how do they get along with life? Where is the wife, house, medical insurance, retirement, and the other things most of us find valuable in life?

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Makes me think of ol Lee Trevino, " Pressure is playing for $10 - when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.”

Snooker Theory said:

Makes me think of ol Lee Trevino, " Pressure is playing for $10 - when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.”

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Been there, done that! How well you play is all about how you handle the pressure. LOL!

You cannot be a world class pool player unless you have a goofyass nickname. It is mandatory!

Once you have a goofyass nickname everybody knows you and you cannot hustle.

You need to define "hustle".

Are you talking the type of player who "hides his speed" and plays lesser players, or are you including people who play at a higher level than MOST people and don't hide their speed who make money "gambling"?

A couple of decades ago, you didn't have to play pool full-time to make lots of money. You could have a job and make as much, or more, as you could working just by staying in action during your non-working hours.

I have played for and made money thousands of times, but I've never went into a place and acted like I didn't know how to play in order to trap a sucker.

When I played outside my normal pool hall, I would walk into bars and pool halls in other towns and states and just challenge whatever table had a money game going on. Back in the day, there almost always was some sort of ring game going on and all you had to do was add your name to the list or put a quarter on the table if it was in a bar.

I never tried to "sneak up" on somebody and take advantage of them. I would say I took "advantage" over most of the people I beat out of money, but it wasn't because I was making them think they could win. If they asked me how well I played, I'd always say "pretty good", or something to that effect. I would ask them, "you think I'd be offering to get in this game with all you sharks if I didn't know how to play?" My advantage was that I started working in a pool hall as a young teen and had spent thousands and thousands of hours practicing and actually playing the town's best players for money. Another advantage I had as a "kid", was that I was a "kid". Everybody thinks they can beat a "kid" and will refuse to quit if they have a lot of their friends watching and betting on the side. It is a "manhood" thing...can't let anybody see a "kid" beating you.

More people have tried hustling me than the other way around. When you are playing alone in a strange place, people will sometimes come up and attempt to get a money game going. I was never shy about playing somebody I didn't know, so I normally would jump right into a game with them and I usually came away with their money.

Reminds of once, a few years ago, when a guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to play some cheap 9-ball. I asked him, "how much" and he said $3 a game. I've seen this guy play for lots of money before, but he'd never seen me play. He has a Gold Crown in his house and he sometimes had Allison Fisher come to his house to gamble with him when she was in Hawaii. They would play for hundreds. She always spotted him something and won.

Him and I played for an hour, or so, and I was up 18 games on him and he quit. I didn't try to sucker him into anything, even though I know I could have gotten him to play for more if I had "let him win" a few.

Most people would have "laid down" and tried to milk him. I just played my normal game and let him decide if he wanted to pump it up or ask for something. He didn't.

What do you call a pool hustler with no girlfriend?



Homeless!


Stones

Pool hustlers....
I see a bunch of you like to paint with a broad brush.....

...I’ve played for money a lot of times...and sometimes even up when they needed weight.
Sometimes I’ve given weight when they needed a lot more.
....I’m a way ahead at prop bets over the years also.

But I don’t appreciate being lumped in with dumpers or those that’ll jar someone...
...or roll a restaurant or motel bill.
I feel I’m welcome back at any place I did business with.

I’ve seen a lot of pool players that think they have a right to a fair game when they’ve
Found they got the worst of it....but wouldn’t turn down a lock for themselves...
...the same people will have a straight flush at poker and try to fool everybody in the game...
...why is having the same advantage on a pool table unacceptable?

Prettty sure I’ve never won money from someone who wasn’t trying to take mine.

So if you guys want to paint with the broad brush.....I can get one too.

FuManchu said:

"Pool Hustlers" are the reason this game is dying. Recreational players don't want to walk in a pool hall and be bothered to gamble by some drug addicted ball of puss trying to hustle them out of their money. There are no successful "pool hustlers" anymore. You can spot them a mile away. Most of the time they are just trying to win some fast cash to get their next fix. The world doesn't need pool huslters. The world needs more guys like Charlie Bryant that actually want to promote the game and make it better. Guys that want to create fair tournaments and stop the cheating and sideways BS that has been going on for far too long. The pool world doesn't need hustlers, stop glorifying them.

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You don't know anything about pool hustlers or even how to hustle pool. And, there are very very few players that know anything about hustling pool ! The players of today only want to bet high with a stake horse and make dates to play. Most won't play unless they are paid to show up and play. Pool is doing well with league players. Pros have many tourneys to play in with sponsors ( aka stake horses ).
BTW, there are plenty of , as you phrased it ' drug addicted ball of puss' that play in leagues all over. Hustlers kept pool alive in 50's 60's 70's . Pool would have died except for gamblers & hustlers.
ps Hillbilly was one of those hustlers you think are scum for a lot of years. And a very good one.

Your right!

pt109 said:

Pool hustlers....

...I’ve played for money a lot of times...and sometimes even up when they needed weight.
Sometimes I’ve given weight when they needed a lot more.

...why is having the same advantage on a pool table unacceptable?

Prettty sure I’ve never won money from someone who wasn’t trying to take mine.

So if you guys want to paint with the broad brush.....I can get one too.

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So is the player that keeps his Fargo score low so that he can play in BCA tournaments a bum or a Hustler? Or the APA player that slows down a little to keep is Skill Rating a little lower a bum or a Hustler?

Is the guy that really needs the Money because minimum wage wont quit get him there a playing lower skilled players a bum or a Hustler? Are our Mosconi Cup heroes Bums or Hustlers they all gamble with people that cant play?

If you aint Hustling what are you doing?

King T said:

So is the player that keeps his Fargo score low so that he can play in BCA tournaments a bum or a Hustler? Or the APA player that slows down a little to keep is Skill Rating a little lower a bum or a Hustler?

Is the guy that really needs the Money because minimum wage wont quit get him there a playing lower skilled players a bum or a Hustler? Are our Mosconi Cup heroes Bums or Hustlers they all gamble with people that cant play?

If you aint Hustling what are you doing?

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I never had a problem with hustling....did it every time I could.
...I gamble by the same rules as poker....no cheating, but it’s up to my opponent to get a
Fair game out of me....I aint going to help him.

This is not the first time this has come up...I think I’m having a problem with people
Re-defining words to their own liking....hustling requires a lot of energy...making the game...
...and playing it.
Sometimes I think it’s bad losers are trying to pour all the meaning of ‘hustling’ into the
Hooker and sleaze bag camp.