I think the word hustler carries with it very unfair connotations. What words do you think about when you hear the word hustler? "Scammer" has been mentioned, "cheater," "low-life," "scum-bag"... the list could go on right? Feel free to mention some yourself.
Yet, are these fair adjectives to describe a person who purposefully plays at a level less than his ability while at a pool table? I don't think so, in fact, I think they are very unfair and unjust associations.
What is the purpose of pool? People do have a great time while playing pool, and we all know how beneficial that is. But I want to put aside the "social player" aspect here, and talk about only one sect of pool.
What is the purpose of pool within the sect I want to discuss? TO WIN. That's it. So, let's try to keep this thread on that topic, people who are brought to pool and motivated by trying to be the best player they can be by winning as much as possible. This is not farfetched right? The point of any game is really to win.
Since I feel we have all been unjustly biased with the "scammer" and "cheater" associations mentioned previously, I think it is essential to draw analogies. We can choose them from any walk of life....
What does it take to "win" in the US as a businessman? It takes an extremely competitive spirit to win and be successful, if you're not outdoing the next guy, you are losing money. Every day, successful businessmen deceive people in very tactical, yet what I’d call ethical ways. Examples: "we don't have many of these units left" or "the price on these units is going up in 2 days" or maybe during a merger one side making the other side feel they are stable, calm and collected, when they are not. These are simple examples, and maybe you can think of some of your own, but the point is pretty much our whole system revolves around the fact that you need to deceive people at times in order to be successful.
One more example.... a strong chess player that has a tendency to be at his best when he lulls his opponent into thinking he is a weaker player. So the chess player will make his opponent think he doesn't know his plan by purposefully making "week moves", but he actually does, and uses this against him to plan his offensive moves and win the game.
If you have been reading between the lines, maybe you are already asking yourselves.... is this chess player a "scammer" and "cheater"? Is the businessman a "low-life" or a "scum-bag"?? I think we can all agree that they are not. So why are pool players labeled as such for doing the exact same types of things???
Pool is about winning and being successful too. If a good player walks into a town, and plays the first guy he sees $20 a rack, and makes the most amazing runout anybody has ever seen the first game, well, that is perfectly within his right, but he has really just lost. He's like the businessman who didn't make it because he was too fair and truthful. The real point here is, to be successful, there is almost always a certain amount of deception. Why in the world do we label pool players "scammers" when many other people out there are doing the same thing, yet they are admired and called "successful"?
Further, what is "hustling" anyway? Who is going to judge whether or not somebody is "hustling"? Is there some unwritten law in pool where one must play 100% up to his skill level all the time, or he's a hustler? Where do you draw the line? What if a player's son got in a car accident a month before... he may be playing bad, but is it your right to judge him and label him a “cheat” because he's off that day?
The truth is, we really don't have the right to judge other people's games like this. They have reached a certain level, and they are allowed to play as high or as low as they want. We should not judge them, because we don't know what is going on in their heads. Who is going to decide if they are "hustling" or not? You? If you say, "yes, me, I will judge them"... well then, you are part of the problem, not the solution. You aren't righteous for thinking this. You are actually guilty of promoting unjust stereotypes in pool. So, judge all you want, but realize you are part of the problem. You are like the teenage girl who looks at the other girls and tells herself how ugly they all are. That is really who you are. You are no better than them, in fact, you are acting below them by judging. You should not be proud of this, as perpetuating these stereotypes is bad for pool. So you are part of the problem!
Doesn't it make sense? We all sit around and wonder why pool won’t go anywhere, it makes perfect sense to me that perhaps we are all part of the problem without even knowing it!! This could be why the question of "what's the problem with pool" is so stupefying to us.
I think the term hustler, along with the connotations it carries, simply came from a time, perhaps during the depression, where it really meant being an actual bad person, ie, a thief or a person who may cause physical harm in order to gain something. These terms and the connotations are still there, yet not justly so. I really feel we all need to realize that a player has the right to play at whatever level he sees fit at any given moment, and we should not label him in our heads unless he does exhibit actual nefarious behavior.
Thanks for listening.
!!! I discovered a long time ago that a fool and his money are soon parted and have never fallen into the gambling trap. Hell, I ain't never even bought one single lottery ticket. EVER!!!
