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IamCalvin06

IamCalvin06

Yang "The Son of Pool"
Silver Member
So a few of the threads and watching the Earl Strickland Documentary got me thinking.

Why is it that we have so little action in pool rooms now a days? It can be contributed to many things. Such as: the economy, popularity of pool, etc.

I think that the sport is in decline bc the amount of action has declined significantly. Im not talking about Locksmiths and Bottom Feeders playing for $20. I'm talking about ppl matching up in even games or big hearts trying to outrun the nuts or just simply guys stepping up bc they feel like they are capable.

Earl talks about how it was in his day. "if a guy thought he was something hitting balls around i'd call him out, if he said no then you got the 8, if he said no you got the 7, no matter what ball i gave him i knew i was gonna win bc he had fear in him!"

See I think at some point players of Earl's generation disappeared and we started to have skilled players that didn't come from gambling so they might not have known how to handle gambling at pool. Instead they were always worried about getting hustled and in turn maybe the up and coming players learned this mentality as well.

I can't tell you how many times a "new" guy has walked into where i was looking for action and no one would play him. I can also tell you how much i have benefited from this hesitation by the players in the room.

They are worried about getting hustled but they fail to realize that if he's going to lose or dump its going to be in the beginning.

The best though is when you get a genuine Gambler. Now i'm the First and probably only player that's gonna get to play him.

That's just two reasons to be the first one to accept a game. Another would be to just test yourself. If you know that you're only playing for money vs a stronger player to see what you're made of, then you know not to let it get out of hand either. Because we all know that stuck feeling of chasing ur money. So if you get that feeling then let it go bc it's a HUGE snowball effect.

Anyways I advocate playing for "something" in pool. It's one of the many beauties of our wonderful game. Even League Players. I mean what are league players doing if not gambling every day they play? Even Hustling aka sandbagging. Pay 12 bucks to play a set per day? Is this not gambling?

Do what you can to bring life to the game. Wear pool apparel, take lessons, support anything pool, play League, Play for cash, Do whatever you can to protect the game we love so Earl doesn't go bizzerk all the time. lol not kidding though. He has more passion and love then the whole pool community put together for this game.

okay, you get it that's all for now.
 
I agree..., for the most part

Earl, well I don't know if he can help the game anymore. I mean think about it, if the game is down to a mad man for help, we have trouble. I like the way he plays and when he's playing and not talking I like watching.

The rest of the post is great, right on point. I hope everybody does everything they can for the game. The game does need action, the needs all players to step up and do more, spread the word!
 
Put_upor_shutup said:
Ill start with u .U wanna play a set?Don't show fear in the jungle. .cause I will pounce .Just get up there. Ha ha
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Lol I'll play anybody who isn't a locksmith or bottom feeder. And even those guys get action but only the same action they give me.

It's not that I say we should turn to Earl for help. I'm just saying he's going mad bc he feels like he has to protect the game. If you've ever been madly in love you know what it can do to persons psyche. Earl's in love with pool on that level.
 
Pool is a different thing than it was 20 yrs ago and it is completely changed from what it was 50 yr ago. It isn't going back to either.

Life is just too expensive and time consuming for people to spend the time and money folks did in the past.

Pool is a recreational activity and there are many substitutes out there that require a far lower time/ money investment. The reward just isn't recognizable for a huge majority of the population.

Sorry to say it, coz we all love pool- and I love being able to go out and get my mind off life, to return home with more money than I left with- but the action days are a memory only.
 
Everyone keeps blaming the economy. I don't believe that has much to do with it at all. During the great depression, the pool rooms were full of people gambling. Part of it is that people today have much more expensive toys than in the past. Just get rid of cable t.v., your cell phone, and your internet, and look what you would have extra each month.

I don't think it's a coincidence that gambling died down as the leagues grew. Not bashing the leagues here, just an observation. One of the rules of leagues is no gambling, so it stands to reason that most would then think it is a bad thing and turn against it. Rather odd, considering that the founders of the largest league were road players.

Combine that with todays work mentality, which is just show up and do as little work as possible, and you have a huge no go. No gambling, and no new group of players. Todays players have more information than ever before. And, it does show. There are many more decent players today. But it's hard to find one with the work ethic to be a great player among the younger crowd. There are a few, but they are very few.
 
Neil said:
Everyone keeps blaming the economy. I don't believe that has much to do with it at all. During the great depression, the pool rooms were full of people gambling. Part of it is that people today have much more expensive toys than in the past. Just get rid of cable t.v., your cell phone, and your internet, and look what you would have extra each month.

I don't think it's a coincidence that gambling died down as the leagues grew. Not bashing the leagues here, just an observation. One of the rules of leagues is no gambling, so it stands to reason that most would then think it is a bad thing and turn against it. Rather odd, considering that the founders of the largest league were road players.

Combine that with todays work mentality, which is just show up and do as little work as possible, and you have a huge no go. No gambling, and no new group of players. Todays players have more information than ever before. And, it does show. There are many more decent players today. But it's hard to find one with the work ethic to be a great player among the younger crowd. There are a few, but they are very few.
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I agree wholly with your view and wish to add...when times were very tough gambling was quite common. Our culture does not support risk, not working and still getting paid is one side the other is starting an enterprise and getting taxed into next year. Many business men we used to gamble with have tightened up and the other side of the equation only leads to games they can't pay for.

I miss in a way the friday happy hour $2-5 games at least in time that would lead to bigger events. That is why its important to have a free challenge table...you can rotate many folks in a friendly manner at $1 a game just to keep things fluid...I realize its penny ante but as most will say you have to start somewhere..... JBC
 
I agree it's probably not the economy.

You would think that gambling is something that would be favored the most by financially stable people.
Well-off and comfortably retired guys who have extra income that they can lose without any real consequences.

Instead, the people you see gambling are often poor and broke. Who buys the most lottery tickets?
For every "Titanic Thompson" losing millions, there are a thousand filipinos making 100 USD a month
who are willing to bet a month's pay on a set (or at least that's the narrative I keep hearing).

Maybe freely gambling is more a sign of desperation than of leisure.
The standard of living is higher and people don't feel as desperate for pocket money.
 
Gambling on pool in my area took a nose dive with the legalization of riverboat casinos. The action went to the boats and out of the pool rooms. Action in the pool room now seems to be about matching up rather than playing.
 
Neil said:
Everyone keeps blaming the economy. I don't believe that has much to do with it at all. During the great depression, the pool rooms were full of people gambling. Part of it is that people today have much more expensive toys than in the past. Just get rid of cable t.v., your cell phone, and your internet, and look what you would have extra each month.

I don't think it's a coincidence that gambling died down as the leagues grew. Not bashing the leagues here, just an observation. One of the rules of leagues is no gambling, so it stands to reason that most would then think it is a bad thing and turn against it. Rather odd, considering that the founders of the largest league were road players.

Combine that with todays work mentality, which is just show up and do as little work as possible, and you have a huge no go. No gambling, and no new group of players. Todays players have more information than ever before. And, it does show. There are many more decent players today. But it's hard to find one with the work ethic to be a great player among the younger crowd. There are a few, but they are very few.
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I know my work depends on me having the internet and cell phone. I think it's a good point though, people are choosing to spend the money on other things. Old school pool players are a dying breed.
 
CreeDo said:
Maybe freely gambling is more a sign of desperation than of leisure.
The standard of living is higher and people don't feel as desperate for pocket money.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting insight and it echo's the thoughts I had after speaking with someone recently about gambling in the old days. He was lamenting that today's league players don't hang out in pool halls all day. Instead the masters-level league players have tables in their house, practice all week, and come out for league for personal pride reasons. And they don't drink much at that. So overall they are not "supporting" the pool halls, and the pool halls die off one by one. But then his picture of the fabled gambling garden of eden days didn't sound much better. He said many people looked at the pool hall as a way to make some money, and would scrub together a stake anyway they could ("you don't want to know how they got their stake"). Those players would run into the buzz-saw of the top players in the pool hall. I'd love to have been around the gambling scene of the old days, to see great players going at it, but the above scenario does sound like the desperate equivalent of people buying lottery tickets.
 
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