Bar room gambling is dead

M

MiscueBlues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
 
Wages have stagnated costs on most goods are up 20-30 in the last 6 years... Factory work and most other blue collar jobs are gone and you think the leagues dried up the disposable earnings in dive bars??

Noone want to donate what little they have on a game of chance on the pool table especially against someone they don't know when they could just as easily buy another round... You did say Bar Room gambling and I think the reason everyone but you is there is likely that it's a bar... Not to gamble.....
 
MiscueBlues said:
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
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Not sure where you play, but come to Ohio and you can get all you want...
 
Head south!

There action in Texas, Houston has more pool rooms than any city in the country, theres action in all the bars, $10-$20 a game 8 ball and 9 ball, just head south.
 
Try charbells in Roanoke VA. Good action Wed night after league play. It wont be easy money if you win at all
 
MiscueBlues said:
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
Click to expand...
The answer to your question is in your own post. League pool is why there's so little action. Instead of progressing within a pool hall hierarchy based on matching up, they progress in a make believe scenario of balls pocketed based on ratings. Leagues forbid gambling anyway to ensure the operators and organizations get their cut. It's sad to see how much the leagues have changed things. It's really dumbed down pool. So few of these guys will progress. Most couldn't run 4 balls on a 9 footer. They put a negative connotation on gamblers. I'd say since league pool has been king the state of pool has deteriorated dramatically.
 
MiscueBlues said:
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
Click to expand...

I finally stopped hitting the bars around here about ten years ago. No action anymore. Used to make about the equivalent of a second job every week. Just betting small, but getting them to do it week after week after week. Had a nice "clientele" built up, and they never felt the pinch. It kept getting slower and slower over the years. I finally quit when I was just playing for fun one night, and some guy asked me if I wanted to play for anything.

I knew all the "players" around, and knew this guy wasn't one of them. And, I didn't really feel like taking his money, so I told him I would play for a dollar. (table cost 75 cents and I figured I would get a free game out of him anyways).

The guy actually told me that he didn't want to play for that much! I kinda lost it, and chewed him out up one side and down the other. He actually asked me to gamble, and only wanted to bet pocket change! Yeah, that's when I gave it up in the bars.
 
Went out to a couple of places a few months ago where pool used to be the thing. They each used to have two to three bar boxes right in front of the bar, and a lot of good players would show up on Friday and Saturday nights and play till the place closed. Now each place has one pool table in the back away from the video games and the sports on TV. Not like it used to be!
 
MiscueBlues said:
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
Click to expand...

I don't think it so much the money but the fear of being hustled. Kind of a pride thing. People are just a little smarter nowadays...especially after the Hustler, The Color of Money, and the interwebs. Oh and TOI.
 
ghost ball said:
I don't think it so much the money but the fear of being hustled. Kind of a pride thing. People are just a little smarter nowadays...especially after the Hustler, The Color of Money, and the interwebs. Oh and TOI.
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I couldn't agree more. Johnnyt
 
i moved from denver to santa monica last august and pretty much just play at house of billiards all the time (a great 1 hole room with some other action too) so i dont really need to go anywhere else, but when i lived in colorado there was a bar in boulder with 5 valley's and free pool and i was there a lot. regular 20-50 a game 8/9 ball. some good players, lots of drunk college kids with no chance. i even played 100 a game 9 ball a couple times. just had to be careful about people running out, but otherwise a great spot. maybe its the college town thing
 
highkarate said:
i moved from denver to santa monica last august and pretty much just play at house of billiards all the time (a great 1 hole room with some other action too) so i dont really need to go anywhere else, but when i lived in colorado there was a bar in boulder with 5 valley's and free pool and i was there a lot. regular 20-50 a game 8/9 ball. some good players, lots of drunk college kids with no chance. i even played 100 a game 9 ball a couple times. just had to be careful about people running out, but otherwise a great spot. maybe its the college town thing
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That sounds like heaven.
 
It's hard to get a game with most folks, so I always play a few games and ask if they want to play for a drink or a couple bucks. I usually don't push it, and I tell them i'm happy to play for fun as well.

You also get the guys that you can tell like to gamble. They're either way too nice, or they bark too much. There's also the guys (or gals) who way overestimate their game. I'm always happy to accept their donations.
 
ghost ball said:
I don't think it so much the money but the fear of being hustled. Kind of a pride thing. People are just a little smarter nowadays...especially after the Hustler, The Color of Money, and the interwebs. Oh and TOI.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's that at all.... I think its because there is pretty much a casino on every corner nowadays. If someone were to track the spread of casinos across the country there is most likely a clear trend in the downturn of gambling on pool. The money in pool has pretty much come from people with expendable money, the lose to a few different people that in turn play different people chasing that money, on and on like a vacuum. Some of those that blew big money were legitimate business men but several were pimps, bookies, drug dealers, con men, etc... Those guys can only let the government see a small portion of what they have and have trouble finding places to spend/blow money. For decades they chose underground card games and gambling in poolrooms, it was where they could show off and pad their ego. They had to fly to Vegas or Atlantic City to gamble in a casino. Now, most can be at a casino within minutes to no more than an hour or so from pretty much anywhere in the country. At the casino they don't have to worry about people nitting them around, they can always find immediate action.
 
I don't think I'd get much satisfaction out of robbing some drunk idiot at a bar. I just like to play for drinks and play my best. The excitement of the surrounding audience who think an APA 6 is basically a pro is enough for me lol.
 
MiscueBlues said:
It's so rare to find a gambler these days. Sure there are the good players who will gamble at the big pool halls... but on the low-average player side, in bars and half-pool halls, nobody will gamble. Maybe 20+ years ago you'd walk into a place with 2, 3, 6 or even 15 tables and a bar and people would actually play something for $20, $50 or even $100 but that's unheard of these days. You can barely find a $5 game, or even a rack for drinks! Everyone is scared to lose $5!!

Sad times.

On the other hand we do have leagues and tournaments 7 days a week... Always opportunities to find a good game there.

Maybe it's for the best... bar room gambling just encourages bad habits. But it's so much fun! :wink:
Click to expand...

I agree, haven't seen bar action in 15 - 20yrs.
 
The Saw said:
I don't think it's that at all.... I think its because there is pretty much a casino on every corner nowadays. If someone were to track the spread of casinos across the country there is most likely a clear trend in the downturn of gambling on pool. The money in pool has pretty much come from people with expendable money, the lose to a few different people that in turn play different people chasing that money, on and on like a vacuum. Some of those that blew big money were legitimate business men but several were pimps, bookies, drug dealers, con men, etc... Those guys can only let the government see a small portion of what they have and have trouble finding places to spend/blow money. For decades they chose underground card games and gambling in poolrooms, it was where they could show off and pad their ego. They had to fly to Vegas or Atlantic City to gamble in a casino. Now, most can be at a casino within minutes to no more than an hour or so from pretty much anywhere in the country. At the casino they don't have to worry about people nitting them around, they can always find immediate action.
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Perhaps some correlation, but, I'm referring to the regular joe schmoe's hanging around the dive bars. I am a decent player, not great, but good enough to go into most dive bars and be one of top players. When I ask to play for a beer, they almost always say, "naw, but I will buy you a beer." What's up with that???
 
Tons of guys around here like to at least play cheap (i.e. 5 or 10 a game). I am able to do small side bets on almost every matchup in my weekly bar tourney.

I don't go looking for high stakes in a bar though so I have no idea about that. I'd look for the big doll hairs at a big pool hall.
 
so...you can't find action in bars...but you said you can find it in pool halls....but leagues are the problem. seems like you should just go to your local pool hall to find the action you're looking for. or is it that the action in the pool halls isn't guaranteed money? in my opinion what killed gambling is the fact that nobody wants to gamble anymore. they don't want an even set with someone. they want a lock. hence why the guys that are losing don't come back.
 
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