Anyone else feel this way...

tigerseye

tigerseye

Kenny Wilson
Silver Member
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
 
Making a living doing something that you love. I wish I had half the time available to practice that would be necessary to get to that level. Right now I spend the week looking forward to playing one day a week.
 
tigerseye said:
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
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If you make it to the top, it's not such a bad life. By that I mean a top twenty player in the world, like a Ralf Souquet, Shane Van Boening, Mika Immonen, Francisco Bustamante and the like. Otherwise it can be pretty frustrating at times. Being a top pro can lead to other more lucrative endeavors though, like owning a billiard room or billiard supply, making cues, being a table mechanic, making DVD's, writing books ;) etc. More than one way to skin a cat.
 
Spring Training was just over in Arizona, and the Baseball Teams are gone, I understand the LEAST A Major League Baseball Player makes is $450,000.00/YEAR. HINT
 
yea

tigerseye said:
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
Click to expand...

You get a chance to play against the greatest players in the world. {and if you play really good, you may get to win a match here and there} That should be reward enough for you.

On the other hand, there are a few more rewards that go along with all the travel. You get to camp out a lot{sleep in your car}.... Learn how to borrow money off people you just met{because unless you play really, really good pool, or have a bunch of dough, you're gonna be busted every couple of weeks}, til you find some suckers to play and build up the bankroll.....

The previous post is sarcasm for those who don't recognize it.

Seriously, if you play good pool, and can afford to take a shot at some upper level tournies, go for it. There ain't much reward as far as money, unless you gamble really well. Just make sure if youre matching up at the tournies, that you go after the lower level players first. Once you start beating any of the top players gambling, even with weight, or beating them in the tourney, money will get hard to win.
 
"A tough way to make an easy living" is the quote I remember the most often.

Probably the same idea with "A tough way to make some easy money".

No J-O-B, boss or schedule -- gotta be worth something...

FWIW
 
Sad but true

tigerseye said:
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
Click to expand...

When I hear people make statements like yours I wonder how much untapped talent there is in pool. I am sure their are plenty of people who feel they have a legit change to make it big time at this game but never give it a shot because they see the big picture.

It is also sad to say that when I see a young gun and everybody is talking about how great the kid is going to become my first thought is always for what??

I truly wish you and everyboby like you would really be given a path to success in this game. I wish all those young talents like for example, Justin Bergman, who for my money has the most talent I have seen in a long time had a career path to take in the sport.

I have seen so many great players just become mediocore over time because passion doesn't pay the bills money does.

What amazes me about pool is how international it is and how serious the EU Championships and the World Championship are and there is still no dam money in this game. Every major sports wishes they were as international as pool and we still can't get the pros paid. Kinda makes you sick.

Good luck in whatever decision you make.
 
same thing I found in the early seventies . . .

tigerseye said:
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
Click to expand...

You have reached the same conclusions I reached in the early seventies. Hasn't much changed which doesn't bode well for change in the future.

The good thing about being a pro player is that you work your own hours. The bad thing is that you must work your own hours and you will find that those hours are largely controlled by other people after all.

Hu
 
If you do what you love to do you will spend more time at it than others. You will subsequently know more and be better at it than others. One way or another there will be a living because quality sells.

There is probably more involved in becoming highly professional than simply shooting pool balls. Know that and learn everything about your profession.

It is sad to see some person stuck in a life of drudgery because they do not have the confidence to live their dream.

I have met professional pizza makers. A profession is a way of life, not a job.
 
Presently, I believe it's more important just to enjoy the game itself for what it is, then it is to worry about becoming the best.

It's an art if there ever was one.
 
I am only 24 yet I feel back in January that my pool career suffered a mid life crisis. I was playing with a lot of different pros and road players in Georgia. All of them were living harsh. The pros that had families hardly ever got to spend time with them cause they have to travel to all the tournies and play in em to pay the bills. The road players are hollow, given up their best relationships, hardly have a bankroll to brag about unless their doing really good. I love this game and I wanted to be the best in the world. Even being the best you live tough though. So I was having problems being motivated to play once I realized this. So I reorganized my priorities from pool, work, college, relationships to wife, job, college, then pool. Now I still put alot of hours on the table right now but when college classes are going, thats first. If my wife wants to spend time with me thats really first. Pool has taken its proper role in my life.

Reorganizing my priorities was the best thing I ever did. I was honest with myself and now I'm a much happier, focused, determined player. If it takes another 10-20 years to play pro pool I am ok with that. Cause when it happens I wont be the one living off of the winnings, Ill be the one who has a career outside of pool and be more focused to win. This really takes the money out of it and Im just there to play pool and win beating the best, and thats all I ever wanted.

Hope this helps, I'm much happier
 
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center pocket said:
I am only 24 yet I feel back in January that my pool career suffered a mid life crisis. I was playing with a lot of different pros and road players in Georgia. All of them were living harsh. The pros that had families hardly ever got to spend time with them cause they have to travel to all the tournies and play in em to pay the bills. The road players are hollow, given up their best relationships, hardly have a bankroll to brag about unless their doing really good. I love this game and I wanted to be the best in the world. Even being the best you live tough though. So I was having problems being motivated to play once I realized this. So I reorganized my priorities from pool, work, college, relationships to wife, job, college, then pool. Now I still put alot of hours on the table right now but when college classes are going, thats first. If my wife wants to spend time with me thats really first. Pool has taken its proper role in my life.

Reorganizing my priorities was the best thing I ever did. I was honest with myself and now I'm a much happier, focused, determined player. If it takes another 10-20 years to play pro pool I am ok with that. Cause when it happens I want be the one living off of the winnings, Ill be the one who has a career outside of pool and be more focused to win. This really takes the money out of it and Im just there to play pool and win beating the best, and thats all I ever wanted.

Hope this helps, I'm much happier
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Very well said:thumbup:
 
If you have the spare time to fine tune your game to that level go for it. If you don't really care about the accolades and just like money, you can take weekend road trips and hustle all over and just play the pros you would at a tourney. For you to ask the question you feel like you can get there talent wise so I won't question that since I still believe pool is about confidence after you figure out how to play. So that just leaves the financial situation, you could look at it like buying something expensive and start your bank roll there...if you go bust and dont see a future you can probably always go back to what you do now. The funny thing is people always find it hardest to invest in themselves. Bottom line go for it....if you can.
 
tigerseye said:
I am wanting to put forth a great effort to become a touring professional player but it seems that it is no reward for doing it. The competition is so tough and if you break even you are doing well with taking in consideration travel expenses....
Anyone have some good sides to being a touring professional??
Click to expand...

If I was to respond to you 8 or 9 years ago, I would have a totally different reply than I do today. :(

Without getting into the particulars, I must say that the best time I ever had with pool in my life was when I was on the leagues. Yes, the leagues are competitive in nature, but they are not in the same category as a touring professional.

If I were inclined to be an aspiring pro today, knowing what I know today about pool as a sport, with all of its warts and accolades, I would not quit my day job. I would compete in as many tournaments as I could afford, but there is no way I'd put all of my resources into being a professional touring pro.

In the words of Ms. O'Hara, there ain't no place like home! :wink:
 
How old are you?

Do you have a job?

Are you married?

Do you have any responsibilities?

These are some of the things you need to consider before you try to make a living playing pool.

I'm fifty-nine years old today and I'm sitting home collecting a retirement check talking to people all across America on my computer.

Had I chose to play pool professionally, I had the talent, I don't think I'd be sitting here doing what I'm doing.

I was often asked why I didn't play pool professionally. I cashed in all but one of the professional tournaments I played in during the 1980's. I told people there are two things in life that are hard to overcome, greed and stupidity. I felt the people who had the most say in the game were guilty of both. I still feel the same way. There's no leadership or organization in the game. The best players in the world are still making peanuts.

I wish I could say a lot of great things about the life of a professional player but I honestly can't at this time. I'm happy I made the choices I made in my life. I treated pool as a part time job. I played in a lot of weekend tournaments and picked my spots playing against the top pro's, while maintaining a job and a life.

I'd love to see things change for the better.
 
That's a tough one. It's very hard to make it as a touring pro. Just look at all the really good players that quit because they couldn't make it. Unless you really think you can be a top player, I'd say it's not realistic. By top player, I mean Archer, Souquet, Pagulayan - the very elite. I've known really good players that quickly became disillusioned after trying to tour for a year or so. These were 300 ball runners! A common scenario would be where they were up 10-7 in a losers bracket match against a top pro and they'd come up dry on the break and then never shoot again in the match and they were out of the event and out of the money! If you really feel you can do it then go for it it but it won't be easy.
 
I respect any man or woman who make their living playing pool. I love the game. With that being said I dont envy the life of a pool player, as im sure they dont envy my punching a clock 5 days a week either. I think a person should live their dream and do whatever it takes to make that dream come true if thats their desire. I also think we have to be realistic in our pursuits for that dream. Some guys just get it, when it comes to pool. They just see the lines and cut angle to make any shot. Just as Tiger Woods can just see that right line for the 15 foots for the money. The majority have to put in a lot of time, money and effort to compete in the tough world of a "touring pro". Unless you are already independently wealthy or have some great sponsors, its extremely tough to pay the bills. You almost definitely have to be a single man due to you have to be there almost everytime the balls break to make money. The competition is so tough on tour and the purses are getting a bit bigger, but still not near enough. These are not things to discourage a man from becoming a pro, but a realistic look and what your facing with that decision. For some the risk is worth the reward. If it is I say go for it. Thats just my humble opinion as always.

Big Frank
 
I don't really think that money should be the motivation.

Example: A lawyer or doctor makes more than I do but it is not anything that I am interested in.

How many starving artist, actors and musicians are there. Look at the top and they all struggled but they were successful because they did what they loved.

If you do something that you love success will follow. If you listen to the top pros they do it for the love of the game. I love pool but not to the extent that they do. I had other priorities in life.

I don't like hanging around PH, bars, or living out of my car, hotels, motels, eating out, etc. but some do.

Those guys play 24/7. I say get a life, but to them that is their life.

There was a factory service rep that was at our plant while installing a stamping press. He would go home about once a month and the rest of the time he was on the road. He did this for over 25 years. I asked him "Isn't that hard on a normal family life?" He replied " I don't know. What is normal?"

I also knew a guy that worked on ocean freighters. Came home a few times a year and was happy with the situation. Couldn't stand being with his wife but he "loved" her????

Follow your heart. Apparently it is not pool.
 
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