A hustle can come in many forms.
Most hustles happen before the first ball is hit.
Some hustles take weeks or even months to mature.
Then again, some hustles happen on the fly. Literally because some idiot that thinks he can play will walk up and say those magic words:
Wanna play something cheap?
When I was learning to play there was a place full of serious players, normal people would not go there.
Place was huge, I set up in a corner away from the action. A guy came over and told me - I was pretty good.
I knew it was a line because I sucked.
He then asked to play a race for a $100. I told him that I know that I suck and there is no way I would gamble with him.
Next week he came over and ask to play for $50, couple weeks later for $20. He watched me practice from far.
Two months into it, he said lets just play for fun and we did, I thank him for playing me and bought him a drink.
Fast forward a couple of years, I was getting good playing nonstop, gambling, tournaments, league, 40 hours a week easy.
I came over to him and asked for a match, the money in my pocket was the money I took from others, and I was willing to donate.
We started playing sets for that $100, I won when given odds, lost straight up, 6 sets in and it was even. We played several times later too.
Incidentally, when, I rejected his hustle the first time we met, I knew he was good, I had no idea how good, a very strong master.