An Observation About the Game we Love.

ForumGhost516 said:
The State of Pool and Billiards
In the Mainstream Sports World
By: Charles Eames

Pool and billiards for years was known as a sport of kings and gentleman. Dating back to its inception in the fifteenth century there have been three main variants of the game. Pocket Billiards, Carom Billiards, and of course Snooker. All cue sports are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick-and-ball lawn games such as croquet or golf. Since then the game has evolved greatly into various sub-divisions of each game including nine ball, 14 and 1 Straight Pool, 8 Ball and many many more.

Since those days the game we love has been morphed into a sport of hustlers, degenerate gamblers, and thieves in the eyes of the mainstream sports world. We have been relegated to the idea that pool rooms are dark and dingy places smoke filled with the scum of the earth roaming around searching for their next mark or target. They are places that parents are afraid to let their children go to and a place that laws pertaining to the distance from a school or religious property (church, temple, religious school, etc.) are currently in effect in some states. These are laws that also pertain to strip clubs and we know what so called polite society?s view of those are. Basically its just a different kind of hustler.

Now dear reader you might be saying to yourself that they can?t all be that bad. You yourself may have been inside of a pool room recently with friends or family and are now thinking to yourself hey it was nothing like you are describing now. Well believe me I have been in my fair share of dank dark pool rooms and they deserve the reputation they have gotten. However I have also been in some of the most elaborate, and upscale rooms in the country. Full restaraunts with great food, nice people, and a great ambience all around.

Next is the topic of gambling. Of all of the stereotypes of the game, gambling is by far the largest. That players are gambling away money that would be better used for personal gains such as rent, food, bills and the like. Now herein lies the rub dear reader. One of the newest phenomenons sweeping our nation is poker. It is on television constantly whether on ESPN or the Travel Channel. Even NBC one of the largest broadcasting networks has gotten in on the action. Poker is a game in which gambling is a must. It is the largest staple of the game that you are basing your betting on the quality of your own poker hand or the weakness of your opponent?s. The worlds top players have gained a celebrity the likes of which Tiger Woods would be jealous of. Golf, Football, Baseball, even Soccer all have betting lines in Las Vegas but that is considered to be a legitimate venture. Im not even going to mention horse racing or boxing and the gambling that goes on there. You might be asking yourself how this pertains to pool and billiards but think about it. There is an old joke that more money changes hands on the golf course than the entire New York Stock Exchange. Basically the point of this is that gambling is ok so long as its on the sports that society deems fit.

Pool in general it would appear is going through a renaiscannce. Professional tours with prize money in the tens of thousands, sponsors putting up money for newer and better quipment. Social leagues are also coming into play more than ever with memberships in the hundreds of thousands. Television coverage and fans across the country. Pool rooms popping up in family oriented places such as Dave and Buster?s and Jillians. Much like the Vegas we now know to be a family oriented place, pool is slowly creeping its way back into the minds of people as a sport that can be recognized as a friendly competition between friends, family, and of course a resected opponent.

The point of this little essay while I am sure it could have been written better and thoughts organized more, is that there are those of us who play as gentleman and of course gentlewomen. That we are sportsman and while we may enjoy the occasional gamble on a friendly game with friends or in tournaments, we play for the game. Although it sounds clich? I truly feel that we do it becaseue we love it. We strive to be great, we strive for excellence like in any sport. There are those of us who play with the etiquette and respect our opponents and the game deserve. There are those of us who dream of the bright lights of the final table (and no not poker) and the cameras rolling as our families watch on ESPN.

Just so everyone knows the idea of this was conceived while browsing through the magazine section of my local Barnes and Nobles. While they carry instructional books regarding the game on how to play and the rules. There is not one magazine dedicated to the subject. From my own research I have found there are over ten publications about pool and or billiards. Magazines following current events and trends in the game and what not. When I asked the manager about this travesty he said that the corporation deemed pool an unfit topic to have a magazine about stocked in their store. This of course was said while we were standing in front of every handgun, shotgun, hunting rifle, and knife magazine known to man.

While browsing I came across five different magazines about poker or gambling one of which entitled Slot Player. I guess slot machines are ok for our children to learn about in Barnes and Nobles. Perhaps it has something to do with the math aspect. Learning win loss ratios or statistics and number variances.

Now I know I didn?t articulate all of the issues and opinions regarding this topic. I know that what was said here today could have been better said and better laid out but it has gotten to the point that I simply could not take it anymore.

I look forward to any and all opinions and responses.
Click to expand...
Are you Charles Earnes?
 
I doubt that it is about gambling as a social activity that gives pool a bad name. It has been pointed out that gambling is part of our culture in many ways. It is about the type of gambling that goes on in pool halls.

The perception is that pool hall gambling is a form of swindling by con artists, and consists of underhanded dealings in which sharks pick the pockets of fish who are enticed to comeback tomorrow with more money to lose. In essence the public and potential sponsors perceive pool playing gamblers as a sleazy offshoot of criminal behavior at worst and participated in by amoral people at best.

On this forum and in some other places the players continue to applaud this type of mentality where it is impolite to "knock" another player's action. One gives and constructs advantages that are apparently real but are disadvantages from the shark's perspective. One does not reveal identities. Tushogs are lauded and the dialog praises and only slightly masks the pool hustler mentality.

It is not the sport of pool that has problems. It is the mentality of hustlers that detract from the game's potential. A would be sponsor does not gain an advantage from an association with pool players as they are currently tied inextricably with hustlers. This is indeed a sad state of affairs and hence the public's perception that keeps pool magazines off the shelf. I would not want my children hanging out and learning from these amoral people and the book stores are aware of the problem.

When we make a movie about football it is heroic. A movie about pool playing is a morality play for good reason. The protagonist inthe Color of Money shows how our children (barely of age and working for a living in a children's store) are corrupted by hustlers. Is this what you want your child to become? That is the message which tells the story about how to take a child and make him into a hustler -- evey parents nightmare.

Golf and other sports have hustlers but they are down played. In pool we make heros of the hustler and the ultimate swindle.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sjm
For one, I feel the general atitude about pool and pool players is far outdated and in general greatly exaggerated. Life and society changes and so has life in the pool world.
Sure, there was the day of the dark and dingy pool room and that has greatly changed. They are replaced with upscale sports bars and IMO should not even be considered pool halls, but that, today, is what we have.
Sure, there are deganerate gamblers in some of these places and many irrsesponsible gamblers. But, they are everywhere. They are at the tracks, poker clubs, golf courses and many other places as well. Action in the pool halls is nothing as compared to years past.
IMO the stories about the big dumps and big cons are just that, stories. Mainly sensationalisms which sell and are fun at BS sessions. Of course they took place in pool rooms. The Black Sox con took place at a ball park and Watergate took place in Washington.
Also IMO, the image of pool and the way it is percieved is what we the players and fans talk about and refuse to let die. When was there a story about some action in this country that somebody on this forum didn't suggest that it could have been "business" or some sort of dump. When was the last time someone lost that they weren't referred to as a has been or some degenerate loser.
All I suggest is that we the lovers of the game itself, greatly support the image of the game and fuel the fire.
Gambling at this game has gone on forever and ever and will continue. It is the biggest attraction for most whether admitted or not. For many, it is just a way of life not chosen by most and WIDELY musunderstood.
I guess my point is that is little written abpout thisd game without referring to the old dark and dingy pool halls. Folks, few exist, {RIP} and many miss them and mourn them and really don't like what they have been replaced with. The new places have pool tables merely to occupy the drinkers and punks. Most owners today can't see 5 feet past the bar and could care less about the equipment or the image of the game. To me, it is frustrating and sad.
I witnessed a few guys who love the game last year build a beautiful room. It was a pool players dream. It went under in about 6 months because it was built by the heart. It was sad to say the least. I don't think they were financially devastated by it, but they were wounded just the same. Times have changed.
Attitudess about the game and it's image may never change until we change our attitude. IMO!
 
Charles, you speak for millions.

Although you suggest the essay could have been written better, I don't think your statement could come through any louder: America thinks we're all a bunch of lowlife sharks and hustlers. It's also the image the media feeds on. Perhaps it's a basic human trait to create stereotypes. Even Rob Nilsson's film "Chalk" emphasized the scummy side of the game, and Rob is an upscale pool player himself. (Into WHICH orifice did the star want his pool cue inserted?)

But is the media conspiring to promote unfair fantasies? Some would insist that the media is a very accurate reflection of US: As we lounge around the pool room, we like to talk about that great hustler who never worked a real job and had two dozen girls keeping him as he roamed the country. We might talk very little about who and how he played.

Hollywood loves the preferred image and we can't expect them to vary much from it in the future.

A simple step that Hollywood could take: On the occasional episode of popular TV dramas, two well-liked characters could conduct part of their interchange over a game of pool in, for example, a well-lit party room next to a swimming pool. They could easily conduct one of their scenes at a pool tournament. Most of the people who play this game are pretty typical Americans living average lives. Hollywood needs to make them visible, and Hollywood can achieve it without discarding its preferred formula.

As you know, ?The Hustler? made a powerful impression on the young pool-playing kids who saw it when it came out. As a society we are dazzled by the rebellious, the feisty, the slightly out-of-control young renegade. It?s an enduring image we?re going to have to work around and create our own personality for the media to see.
 
JoeW said:
I doubt that it is about gambling as a social activity that gives pool a bad name. It has been pointed out that gambling is part of our culture in many ways. It is about the type of gambling that goes on in pool halls.

The perception is that pool hall gambling is a form of swindling by con artists, and consists of underhanded dealings in which sharks pick the pockets of fish who are enticed to comeback tomorrow with more money to lose. In essence the public and potential sponsors perceive pool playing gamblers as a sleazy offshoot of criminal behavior at worst and participated in by amoral people at best.

On this forum and in some other places the players continue to applaud this type of mentality where it is impolite to "knock" another player's action. One gives and constructs advantages that are apparently real but are disadvantages from the shark's perspective. One does not reveal identities. Tushogs are lauded and the dialog praises and only slightly masks the pool hustler mentality.

It is not the sport of pool that has problems. It is the mentality of hustlers that detract from the game's potential. A would be sponsor does not gain an advantage from an association with pool players as they are currently tied inextricably with hustlers. This is indeed a sad state of affairs and hence the public's perception that keeps pool magazines off the shelf. I would not want my children hanging out and learning from these amoral people and the book stores are aware of the problem.

When we make a movie about football it is heroic. A movie about pool playing is a morality play for good reason. The protagonist inthe Color of Money shows how our children (barely of age and working for a living in a children's store) are corrupted by hustlers. Is this what you want your child to become? That is the message which tells the story about how to take a child and make him into a hustler -- evey parents nightmare.

Golf and other sports have hustlers but they are down played. In pool we make heros of the hustler and the ultimate swindle.
Click to expand...

It's tough to add to this exceptional post, so I'll just say nicely put.
 
I replied on the topic of improving the image of pool. I would post the same here. Most people are introduced to pool in bars on lousy equipment. Golfers play with their own equipment. Golf courses are cared for. Most bar equipment is abused. Want the sport to get respect then it has to grow. To grow people have to enjoy it. Hard to enjoy on bad equipment jacked up over someone eating diner. My 2 cents.
 
JoeW said:
I doubt that it is about gambling as a social activity that gives pool a bad name. It has been pointed out that gambling is part of our culture in many ways. It is about the type of gambling that goes on in pool halls.

The perception is that pool hall gambling is a form of swindling by con artists, and consists of underhanded dealings in which sharks pick the pockets of fish who are enticed to comeback tomorrow with more money to lose. In essence the public and potential sponsors perceive pool playing gamblers as a sleazy offshoot of criminal behavior at worst and participated in by amoral people at best.

On this forum and in some other places the players continue to applaud this type of mentality where it is impolite to "knock" another player's action. One gives and constructs advantages that are apparently real but are disadvantages from the shark's perspective. One does not reveal identities. Tushogs are lauded and the dialog praises and only slightly masks the pool hustler mentality.

It is not the sport of pool that has problems. It is the mentality of hustlers that detract from the game's potential. A would be sponsor does not gain an advantage from an association with pool players as they are currently tied inextricably with hustlers. This is indeed a sad state of affairs and hence the public's perception that keeps pool magazines off the shelf. I would not want my children hanging out and learning from these amoral people and the book stores are aware of the problem.

When we make a movie about football it is heroic. A movie about pool playing is a morality play for good reason. The protagonist inthe Color of Money shows how our children (barely of age and working for a living in a children's store) are corrupted by hustlers. Is this what you want your child to become? That is the message which tells the story about how to take a child and make him into a hustler -- evey parents nightmare.

Golf and other sports have hustlers but they are down played. In pool we make heros of the hustler and the ultimate swindle.
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I have a few friends I play with for dinner, or a beer, or some of us get together for partners, five bucks a man. This is my idea of a terrific way to pass the time. Tonight during our partners routine I saw a kid across the room stalling on his new fish, missing balls like an old lady, trying to get one more set. Same old lowlife drudgery, and I actually did it too, when I was much younger. The guys pressured me and I thought it was cool, like all the others. I'm hoping Hollywood will realize they can still do their scummy pool movies if they'll also depict the game from a better perspective within an entirely different envirmonment. It's an equal time thing.
 
Hey I just wanted to say thanks to everyone so far who has posted responses they have been great to read keep em coming. And to answer yes I am Charles Eames and yes I wrote this. Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top