Who are the top players in USA that work?

keilperry

Registered
Most if not ALL really GREAT pool players- or any great accomplished athlete / sports figure had at least some period in their life where they did NOT work and only focused on the sport itself before they were considered GREAT. Ray Martin worked full time until he gave it up for pool- Jack Colavita always worked full time. Mizerak was a school teacher for a while- I don't think guys like Varner, Seigel, Rempe, Hopkins, Fusco etc. ever really worked full time before they were great players. Just from a bygone era perspective.

Jack Colavita lived in NJ right? I believed I ran into him when I was traveling while working. He was 83 years old and he ran out on me every time he got to the table; made the rack look so simple.
 

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mark Twain is my favorite all time author but I have many other favorites who are a close second place.

I understand the sentiment behind what Mark Twain said when he said, "If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it" but at face value this is just plain wrong.

Opinions vary. :)
 

GideonF

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Rodney Morris.

Last time I talked to him, he just got a job at the Porsche dealer in Orlando. He is in their training program to be a salesman. He seemed pretty happy about it. With his outgoing positive personality, I think he will do great at it.

I guess it depends on what the OP was really asking. If we are looking at the question of who plays top level pool but is a real working person, I myself would exclude guys who had long professional careers and then went into full or semi-retirement (like Rodney, Dennis, George, Mike D). I don't think the top level skill they developed as full time players ever really goes away. I think Dennis hadn't touched a cue in months (or so they said) but still made a pretty deep run at the US Open, for example.
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
First post?

Demetrius Jelatis and Jesse Engel definitely up there

Hahahaha, thanks for the shout out Momoney! First post, huh, is that you mom? :)

Seriously, Gideon said it best: I guess it depends on what the OP was really asking. If we are looking at the question of who plays top level pool but is a real working person, I myself would exclude guys who had long professional careers and then went into full or semi-retirement (like Rodney, Dennis, George, Mike D). I don't think the top level skill they developed as full time players ever really goes away. I think Dennis hadn't touched a cue in months (or so they said) but still made a pretty deep run at the US Open, for example.


I agree. If we look at the best players currently working then the players he mentioned would definitely dominate the list.

If we narrow the pool to players that have always managed a full time job since they were adults then it would change substantially. If we further narrow it to those who are married and have children that would change things up again.

Personally I have a full time job since I was 18 and have three children, oldest 15. If we looked at players who have been full time employees and parents for the last 10+ years I am pretty sure I'd be competitive within that group. That said, I did play pool a ridiculous amount of hours as a teen and got pretty competent by age 17. Jesse Engel got better than me younger and followed it up with a few years of competing full time. He has had a job and child for 3-4 years now. Not surprising he plays a level above me.

Bottom line, it's not about whether you have a job or family, it's about how far you got before you do. In almost all cases the best players either don't have a job/family, or they went much further with pool before opting out of full time pursuit. You get out of it what you put into it.

It's a great reminder for those that put family and career ahead of pool not to compare themselves critically with those that didn't. Look at it like different weight divisions in boxing or MMA. Challenge yourself to get better. Try to break through your limits. Do the best you can with the resources you put in. Enjoy the heck out of this great game. But never beat yourself up for your decisions or regret spending time with your children, supporting yourself, giving back to your community, and celebrating the diversity of what life has to offer.
 

mikepage

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
[...] Challenge yourself to get better. Try to break through your limits. Do the best you can with the resources you put in. Enjoy the heck out of this great game. But never beat yourself up for your decisions or regret spending time with your children, supporting yourself, giving back to your community, and celebrating the diversity of what life has to offer.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a daughter who looks at you and says....

damn... what is that strange activity my father does in his spare time that feeds his passion like that? something powerful there for sure... maybe I'll give it a try.
 

Korsakoff

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Hahahaha, thanks for the shout out Momoney! First post, huh, is that you mom? :)

Seriously, Gideon said it best: I guess it depends on what the OP was really asking. If we are looking at the question of who plays top level pool but is a real working person, I myself would exclude guys who had long professional careers and then went into full or semi-retirement (like Rodney, Dennis, George, Mike D). I don't think the top level skill they developed as full time players ever really goes away. I think Dennis hadn't touched a cue in months (or so they said) but still made a pretty deep run at the US Open, for example.


I agree. If we look at the best players currently working then the players he mentioned would definitely dominate the list.

If we narrow the pool to players that have always managed a full time job since they were adults then it would change substantially. If we further narrow it to those who are married and have children that would change things up again.

Personally I have a full time job since I was 18 and have three children, oldest 15. If we looked at players who have been full time employees and parents for the last 10+ years I am pretty sure I'd be competitive within that group. That said, I did play pool a ridiculous amount of hours as a teen and got pretty competent by age 17. Jesse Engel got better than me younger and followed it up with a few years of competing full time. He has had a job and child for 3-4 years now. Not surprising he plays a level above me.

Bottom line, it's not about whether you have a job or family, it's about how far you got before you do. In almost all cases the best players either don't have a job/family, or they went much further with pool before opting out of full time pursuit. You get out of it what you put into it.

It's a great reminder for those that put family and career ahead of pool not to compare themselves critically with those that didn't. Look at it like different weight divisions in boxing or MMA. Challenge yourself to get better. Try to break through your limits. Do the best you can with the resources you put in. Enjoy the heck out of this great game. But never beat yourself up for your decisions or regret spending time with your children, supporting yourself, giving back to your community, and celebrating the diversity of what life has to offer.

I found this post well written with well organized thoughts. It made me think, and I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for your insights.
 

mr3cushion

Regestered User
Silver Member
I think the best working player of all time was, Irving Crane! He was a Cadillac salesman! JMHO.
 

sannek

amateur for life
Silver Member
Tin Man: I dont post often but had to follow up on your post above.

It is not often i read something on AZB that resonates that strongly: well worded, and so true -> big kudos to you
 

bennettspring

Registered
working players

I recently took a lesson from a well know pro. I explained I wanted to get a lot better.
He said how many hours could I devote to pool? I said 2 - 4 hours per day six days a week. He said I would get better but reach the level I wanted without more table time.
Thanks
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think there should be a list of workers that play good, instead of pool players that also work because they can't make a living (or don't want to) playing pool.

Which would be every B and A player I know.

What I find very interesting is that the more white collar a player is, the more likely they are to be an A- or B player vs the guys that have less education or have construction/landscaping jobs, more of those are A players. Almost every B player I know is in engineering, computers, etc... It's almost spooky, even new players that I meet, invariably if they are a B player, they sit at a desk for a job or at least have gone through school for that.
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think there should be a list of workers that play good, instead of pool players that also work because they can't make a living (or don't want to) playing pool.

Which would be every B and A player I know.

What I find very interesting is that the more white collar a player is, the more likely they are to top out at an A- or B level vs the guys that have less education or have construction/landscaping jobs, more of those are A players. Almost every B player I know is in engineering, computers, etc... It's almost spooky, even new players that I meet, invariably if they are a B player, they sit at a desk for a job.
 
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