Is Being Known As A Pool Hustler A Bad Thing?????

Hustler85 said:
I frequent the bars and poolhalls in my area weekly. The name pool hustler or simply Hustler has stuck with me since I was a teen, when I got addicted to the game. But I was hanging out with some known shooters when a guy shouted to me "what's up pool hustler??" And my friends looked at me like I should of taken offense by him saying this. So is it better to be known as a gambler or hustler??? I've done both and enjoyed both but don't know the right answer here.
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It sounds like you were out for an evening of pocket billiards with over half of the respondents to this post.

If you don't like it, what can you do ? You said yourself it stuck so just let it go. If your banker or family starts calling you that then I would start worrying about it.
 
Hustler85 said:
I frequent the bars and poolhalls in my area weekly. The name pool hustler or simply Hustler has stuck with me since I was a teen, when I got addicted to the game. But I was hanging out with some known shooters when a guy shouted to me "what's up pool hustler??" And my friends looked at me like I should of taken offense by him saying this. So is it better to be known as a gambler or hustler??? I've done both and enjoyed both but don't know the right answer here.
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I think that people get called "hustler" for playing well sometimes, just because you have to be good to be a hustler. If that is the case, then its probably a compliment. If people call you that because their is truth to it, then I would not consider it flattering. It would be kind of like calling someone a thief or low life, as that is essentially what a hustler is. That part of the culture of the game is a lot of what has caused it a black eye.
 
mantis99 said:
I think that people get called "hustler" for playing well sometimes, just because you have to be good to be a hustler. If that is the case, then its probably a compliment. If people call you that because their is truth to it, then I would not consider it flattering. It would be kind of like calling someone a thief or low life, as that is essentially what a hustler is. That part of the culture of the game is a lot of what has caused it a black eye.
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People also don't know the difference/meaning.
 
Mosconi never hustled??

ENGLISH! said:
I'm afraid I don't understand your point.

Mr. Mosconi said many times that he never hustled anyone, not ever, not even for a nickle. Now he did say that he played a few jokes on some unsuspecting people as a favor.

The point is that Mr. Mosconi was a Legitimate Tournament Champion & not a hustler & certainly dd not like being considered or called one.

He also did not like the image that Fat's displayed as being a hustler.

He felt that it was a black eye on the reputation of the legitimate game.

So...I don't see your point. What am I missing?

Best,
Rick
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Luther Lassiter, when asked by a reporter in 1963 (when he was on the verge of winning the World Championship) if he made his living by playing pool, replied along the lines of "Heavens no! I live with my mother and I have a rich brother who supports me." The point is that players' public statements regarding past hustling activities seldom bore resemblance to the truth. This was particularly so in Mosconi's case as he was repping Brunswick which was heavily involved in an effort to "clean up" the image of the sport in the early sixties. For the record, Mosconi is known to have done some hustling in his younger days according to pool sociologist Ned Polsky and many others.
 
Hustler85 said:
I frequent the bars and poolhalls in my area weekly. The name pool hustler or simply Hustler has stuck with me since I was a teen, when I got addicted to the game. But I was hanging out with some known shooters when a guy shouted to me "what's up pool hustler??" And my friends looked at me like I should of taken offense by him saying this. So is it better to be known as a gambler or hustler??? I've done both and enjoyed both but don't know the right answer here.
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Well... Did you ask him if he wanted to play some?!?
 
VIProfessor said:
Luther Lassiter, when asked by a reporter in 1963 (when he was on the verge of winning the World Championship) if he made his living by playing pool, replied along the lines of "Heavens no! I live with my mother and I have a rich brother who supports me." The point is that players' public statements regarding past hustling activities seldom bore resemblance to the truth. This was particularly so in Mosconi's case as he was repping Brunswick which was heavily involved in an effort to "clean up" the image of the sport in the early sixties. For the record, Mosconi is known to have done some hustling in his younger days according to pool sociologist Ned Polsky and many others.
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Not meaning to argue as I certainly do not have any 1st. or even 2nd. hand info.

But Mr. Lassiter's statement was said sarcastically.

And I doubt that any 'hustling' money would have been reported money.

So, I still don't see the point. Also if Brunswick was trying to clean up the image that would be why Mr. Mosconi would be a good choice as he was a Legitimate Tournament Champion many times over. I don't thinkit would have been good for Brunswick if someone where laying in the wood work with losers grudge that could come out & sat that he was a no good lying thief.

But like I said I was not there & as Dennis Miller says, 'I could be wrong'.

Best,
Rick
 
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ENGLISH! said:
Not meaning to argue as I certainly do not have any 1st. or even 2nd. hand info.

But Mr. Lassiter's statement was said sarcastically.

And I doubt that any 'hustling' money would have been reported money.

So, I still don't see the point. Also if Brunswick was trying to clean up the image that would be why Mr. Mosconi would be a good choice as he was a Legitimate Tournament Champion many times over. I don't thinkit would have been good for Brunswick if someone where laying in the wood work with losers grudge that could come out & sat that he was a no good lying thief.

But like I said I was not there & as Dennis Miller says, 'I could be wrong'.

Best,
Rick
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The point I was making in my post was that Mosconi DID hustle in his earlier days, and his often-professed disdain for the "pool hustler" was often viewed as outright hypocrisy by many of his contemporaries who were well aware of his past activities.

The more salient point in regards to this thread, however, and one which I did not touch on earlier, is that it is all too easy to blame hustlers and hustling for the game's ills. However, this assertion seems to fly, as far as I can see, in the face of historical evidence which shows that pool has always, and especially in it's heyday of the late 19th and early 20th century, been stigmatized by its gambling image. Further, the two great revivals of the sport in the post-WWII era came about as a result of movies about (horrors!) the hustling aspect of the sport.

So, while many of us as individuals may (and rightly so) shun the label of 'hustler', let's not fall into the trap of blaming hustling for the state of the game..
 
Hustling

I met Mosconi back in the late 60's in San Diego, and I can tell you he was not the hustler type at all. He was what I would call a 'Professional Sportsman'. What is a hustler anyway, someone that disguises their true skill to player lessor players and get their money. I admit I have hustled in the past at times, but I do not do so nowdays.
I do matchup occasionally, and like to think I got the best of it, but not always.

I prefer to be referred to as a player and sportsman today.
 
From the Free Dictionary

hus·tle (hsl)
v. hus·tled, hus·tling, hus·tles

v.intr.
1. To move or act energetically and rapidly: We hustled to get dinner ready on time.

2. To push or force one's way.

3. To act aggressively, especially in business dealings.

4. Slang
a. To obtain something by deceitful or illicit means; practice theft or swindling.

b. To solicit customers. Used of a pimp or prostitute.

c. To misrepresent one's ability in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling.

v.tr.
1. To push or convey in a hurried or rough manner: hustled the prisoner into a van.

2. To cause or urge to proceed quickly; hurry: hustled the board into a quick decision.

3. Slang
a. To sell or get by questionable or aggressive means: hustled stolen watches; hustling spare change.

b. To pressure into buying or doing something: a barfly hustling the other customers for drinks.

c. To misrepresent one's skill in (a game or activity) in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling: hustle pool.

n.
1. The act or an instance of jostling or shoving.

2. Energetic activity; drive.

3. Slang An illicit or unethical way of doing business or obtaining money; a fraud or deceit: "the most dangerous and wide-open drug hustle of them all" (Newsweek).

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Seems that in general use it refers to a swindler or con artist.

If that is a description that one accepts it would seem they have a ways to go learning what life is all about.

Personally, I would be insulted. But then it is not the kind of person I am or want to be.
 
Hustler85 said:
I frequent the bars and poolhalls in my area weekly. The name pool hustler or simply Hustler has stuck with me since I was a teen, when I got addicted to the game. But I was hanging out with some known shooters when a guy shouted to me "what's up pool hustler??" And my friends looked at me like I should of taken offense by him saying this. So is it better to be known as a gambler or hustler??? I've done both and enjoyed both but don't know the right answer here.
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Why would a hustler want everybody to know he is a hustler in pool or anything else? In fact why would anybody want people to think they are a hustler?
 
The name first was just hustler because of my ability to flip a buck or two into more. But when I took up pool it was added to become pool hustler. It's not like I announced it to the world. Believe me if I hustled you you wouldn't of known it for a while. I lay it on pretty thick.
 
I would love to butt heads with somebody that walked into a game proudly announcing that he was a hustler.

Dave
 
I certainly wouldn't be proud of it, nor would I be bragging about how I cheat people out of their money by hustling them.
 
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