Worst Player You Know of That Made a Living Hustling?

So far I've only met and played against two people who made a living playing pool (back in the day) and I don't believe either actually hustled anyone and both are REALLY good players still.

However, I've only been involved in pool for about 2 years now and I've already encountered two different people who claim that they "made a little money in college" playing pool and neither even qualified as B players.

I think the "I paid my way through college" stories are more common these days and as I get more comfortable playing for money I'm learning that's an excellent opportunity.

Describe your meaning of "living".

randyg

I knew plenty of guys who were B level that made $200-$300 a night playing nickel and dime 8 ball, 9 ball, 6 ball and even 3 ball. You just had to know where to fish and when to move on. That stuff can add up quick if you're clever. To answer the OP's question, you didn't have to be a world beater to make money scuffling through college towns/bars back in the 80s. Playing long sets for big bucks was a totally different scenario, though. Lots of A and B players tried to get a spot they could stay ahead of and monsters like St. Louis Louis and many others lived for that action.

I think those days are gone forever, now, though. Go into any bar and try and get action, even $5 a game...it's either nothing or there's a shortstop present who wants to start at $50. I haven't seen a designated challenge table in a bar in years, where those nickel and dime games flourished, everybody lined up their quarters on the rail and a B player could put .50 cents in at 5:00 pm and hold the table all night, just beating all comers and taking Lincolns and beers off them at a clip.

West Point 1987 said:

I haven't seen a designated challenge table in a bar in years, where those nickel and dime games flourished, everybody lined up their quarters on the rail and a B player could put .50 cents in at 5:00 pm and hold the table all night, just beating all comers and taking Lincolns and beers off them at a clip.

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There isn't too much gambling going on (a beer here and there maybe) but there are still challenge tables at the Oasis and the Down Lo in Chico, CA. Both are coin-ops but the one at the Oasis is a 7ft. diamond at least. Put your name on the white board and take you chance. It's a fun way to spend a few hours.

This instructor who has several videos....

Get_A_Grip said:

I think you may be right about those days drying up. Years ago I had won 16 games in a row playing for just a buck or two a game.

My best night (for small stakes) was playing $5 a game to all comers and had won about $95 by the end of the night.

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On more than one occasion I cleared close to $300 playing 3 ball, at $2 per player antes! I had every $1 bill in the bar, they had to come to me to break $20s and keep playing. And still they kept coming. Haven't seen a 3 ball game in almost 20 years...$5 and $10 games of 8 ball could net me $200 easy in a military or college town, back when every bar had one bar box designated as a challenge table. People don't mind lining up and paying a few bucks to try and beat the "shark". It adds up quick, and you don't have to play any scams. Once you lose (ahead), put your .50 cents up on the table, have a beer and disappear. Hit two or three bars a night.

Those cheap games were the way most scufflers made money; you could bleed the WHOLE BAR dry and they'd never catch on. Doubling down and getting the games expensive is too risky and you usually end up with less than what you'd get nickel and diming everybody. All you had to do was stay ahead, and they'd spend every thing they had trying to catch up, no need to double down. No challenge tables anymore. Used to be you'd have to run get there early to beat the crowd or you'd wait two hours to get a shot at a table. Now the bar is still full but the pool tables are usually open. Just decorative furniture. Dead, dead, dead.

I mean shit, I could have paid my way through college hustling pool if it cost me what it cost in the 60's as opposed to the 25K I'm currently paying off. I think my mom said she paid like 100 bucks a quarter at UCLA in the 60's. And no, I'm not a good player but it doesn't take much of a player to hold down the bar table for a night.

West Point 1987 said:

On more than one occasion I cleared close to $300 playing 3 ball, at $2 per player antes! I had every $1 bill in the bar, they had to come to me to break $20s and keep playing. And still they kept coming. Haven't seen a 3 ball game in almost 20 years...

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We still play some 3 ball in a lot of small towns in South Dakota and you are right. even at a dollar or two a person the pots get huge. Some of my best memories were playing 3 ball with my grandpa and grandma in a small bar with 2 barboxes and pretty much every every person in the bar in on the game. People would get kind of angry when my grandma would lug her oxygen tank around the table and end up clearing the pot.

Baron said:

I mean shit, I could have paid my way through college hustling pool if it cost me what it cost in the 60's as opposed to the 25K I'm currently paying off. I think my mom said she paid like 100 bucks a quarter at UCLA in the 60's. And no, I'm not a good player but it doesn't take much of a player to hold down the bar table for a night.

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I went to TCC in Ft Worth & UTA in Arlington for 3 years... just playing pool every night of the week. 1964-1967. We played 9 ball for $50 a game back then, we played snooker for a $100- $200... those were the days.

In 1970 I got married & that was that.....

The York bar and Heisners just north of Detroit were great action bars, you could walk in with $20 and leave with $500-$1000 any Friday or Sat night. No real good players, just factory workers and there wives. Many time you would play for 20 and their wife would bet another 20 on the side. About the time you busted the day shift workers the 3pm-11pm shift would walk in and you had a whole new bunch of players with their paychecks to cash and play. Lots of 10-20 ring games, it would last till closing time. I sure miss those good times.

If you accept a liberal definition of "Hustling", Fatty was the worst player that made the best living from pool.

MVPCues said:

If you accept a liberal definition of "Hustling", Fatty was the worst player that made the best living from pool.

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Fats could play,played one pocket just under world beaters. I don't know where this
thing about Fats not being able to play in his day go started but it's wrong. Ask the
older guys on here who saw him when he was younger.
jack

West Point had it right. Back in the 80's and 90's you could make a pretty good living without having to be a "road player". Keep it fun and don't be a dirtbag and you could play all night for cheap and walk out with hundreds most any night.

As Archie Bunker would sing....Those were the days!!!

Diamond69 said:

West Point had it right. Back in the 80's and 90's you could make a pretty good living without having to be a "road player". Keep it fun and don't be a dirtbag and you could play all night for cheap and walk out with hundreds most any night.

As Archie Bunker would sing....Those were the days!!!

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I was never playing for money but I remember the days in the 90s where we played doubles at a bar for pitchers of beer. We were probably c+ players back then. Pitchers of beer were $5 so nobody minded playing for them. We could hold the table for 5 hours some nights and had a crowd around the table because there was no way we could drink that much beer so we would be pouring drinks for everyone who stopped by!

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jackpot said:

Fats could play,played one pocket just under world beaters. I don't know where this
thing about Fats not being able to play in his day go started but it's wrong. Ask the
older guys on here who saw him when he was younger.
jack

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Played top speed, bet higher than most was smarter than all.
Rod.

A B player will beat almost every player in the bars who are drunk banging them around so the key is getting people to play. Your speed of play is not all that important as your sales pitch.

I can go to a bar and if its got people in it then I am guaranteed to be swimming in drinks all night long but when the bet changes to money then you need to have a pitch. I would usually say I already have had a drink or enough to drink so lets just bet $5 or $10. I have had people playing me $50 to a $100 a game before but that is rare.

A funny instance was when I saw an Indian restaurant owner in the bar, the guy had played less than a month ago for $100 against the bar tender so I knew he would gamble. My roommate and I who plays pretty good too decide to play them partners for $20 a man, we win that game and the Indian guy wants to play heads up for a $100 and I win that game.

A Samoan dude is at the bar watching it all and says I will play a game for $50. I agree and we post with the bar tender who is a nice looking young lady and enjoying the action. We are halfway through the first game and my roommate says to me, the guy has no tip on his cue and it is absolutely true and I could not believe it.

He loses that game and I agree to play another obviously and we post with the bar tender who we tip $10 each game. He says lets play for $60 this time, he loses again and never realized he had no tip on his cue. This happened on a Wednesday night so there is no rhyme or reason to it, just right place right time I guess.