Is pool really an addiction?

kilojo420 said:
yes, yes, yes. my addiction to pool has caused multiple breakups between me and my girlfriend. I started playin pool late in life because i couldnt get in to play anywhere unless i was 18 yrs old. so when i started playin i never stopped. then i got good, and the addiction got worse. i got dumped by someone who i really loved and a part of me was relieved because i could now play all i wanted. although we eventually got back together and now have a family of three, pool still remains a stress factor between us. its gettin bettrer though.

i have a friend that lost his wife due to this beautiful game. he couldnt hold a job because he would play all night, gambled away all his tournament winnings. ive seen the best players in dallas askin me for 20 bucks for gas. so when i get to wishin that i played like them, and then i see what i cost them to get there im glad i just play pretty good. when i do play them, they get excited bc they beat me out of a hundred dollars and they can now pay their rent on time this month. i laugh it off, pay them and drive off thankin God that I took control of myself over time.

i will never stop playin, ever. the game is awesome, i love to play it, read bout it, watch it, hear about it. there is nothing better!!!!
Click to expand...

These are serious issues, with serious consequences.

Some of these posts are disturbing to me.

A game involving a table, balls, and a pool cue should never, ever, take over your life to the point where it effects your life with your family, work, health, or finances.
 
girlwon1 said:
I suppose it was an addiction. I like to compare pool to a person anyone might be going out with. You love this boyfriend, you take care of this boyfriend, you give, you give, you make all the efforts in the world for it to love you back and in the end - pool doesn't give back to you. I am tired putting the money in to travel to these events, I am tired of tirelessly looking for sponsorship. I am at the point now that I am not going to put this effort into my pool anymore. I am not happy, I am miserable.

If I didnt start playing this game 14 years ago, my last year of high school, I am convinced I would be a dentist today. Instead, I am far from home, trying desperately to find it in me to pull out for one more tournament, because one person believed in me enough to help me with half my entry fee. I do this for them. I am tired of this game, tired of the promises of something bigger and better for this sport around the corner. I went through the era of the late 90's when it was talked about that pool was going to possibly be an Olympic sport - to no avail. Now I get to see curling on Olympic telecasts. :rolleyes:

Some may say that you play for the heart, but somewhere down the line, practicality must settle in and there has to be some sort of financial benefit too when attempting to play at the higher levels, on tour. I played this game, loved it, but have found the end with it. Who knows, maybe I will change my mind. I always have before I guess. I have seen alot in this last year, unlike the experiences I have had before. This time, maybe, this will be it.
Click to expand...

Hey! Don't I know you? haha.
Yeah, it's brutal. I've heard about it from all the Pro's and Short-stops. I experiance it myself. Just try and keep your head up.
Didn't get to see you play yesterday, sorry. Maybe next time. I'd like to see what you're workin' with.
Good Luck.
 
All both of them ...

My 2 favorite things both start with P, Pool being one and you can guess the other .... <devilish lil grin>. Sometimes I have a hard time making up my mind which I want more or first. The problem is that one makes me money and the other makes me spend it.

It could be because:

I came across both of these when I was 14, and they have been giving me problems since ... LOL
 
AZE said:
Today I left the pool hall (another all-nighter), again, yelling to myself in my car "I'm NEVER going back to this stupid f*cking pool hall ever again!"... Well, It's about 4 hours later and I'm packing up to head right back over there (10 ball tournament.. going to watch the short-stops play)... I can't stop!
I don't know what it is.. I want to quit.. I really want to not want to play this game, or be interested, but something keeps sucking me in. I don't think it's just the gambling - because I'd be going to the pool halls to just hit balls, practice, and WATCH.. Maybe it's all the nicotine in the air (seriously!).. or is it just because the game is THAT beautiful? (I doubt it, or else I wouldn't want out).

I've only been playing pool for about a year and change - but I'm in it alot more than the average person. I've become a full-fledged junky. My skin is pale white, my sleeping hours are between never and never (sometimes it's like 11am - 7pm). It's sick!
I had a promising life ahead of me. I could've been a rapper! (check my myspace, nigga!).

I may be posting this just because I'm REALLY tired.. and I may have already forgotten what this was about.. but whatever..


..... ?
Click to expand...


JUST SAY NO!
 
I think pool screws with your head in a way that other games don't. The principle behind any game is achieving some goal with effort; thats what drives us to play. If there wasn't any goal or degree of effort involved, it wouldn't be interesting. What makes pool different is two-fold. For one thing, your reinforcement (making a ball) occurs fairly frequently (hopefully). But you can slop balls in or make a shot knowing that there was luck involved, and to get the full reward of the shot, you have to be able to make it knowing that you are in control of everything. To do that, you have to perfect your stroke, a very complicated skill.

Golf is similarly addictive in that perfecting your swing drives your reinforcement of making the shot. However, reinforcements are fewer and farther in between than with pool. Perhaps thats the element that lets us slaves to the game play for inhumane chunks of time.

I distinctly remember when I first began playing the game. I'd start playing a few games with friends, and play for hours, trying to perfect one thing, getting more into it with every game, every ball. I'd fall asleep at night with some "stroke thought" in my head, some reminder of what I needed to play better than I did. The next morning I would wake up with a bit of the same feeling one gets the morning after drinking and not knowing fully what happened the night before. I'd tell myself "Its just a friggin game!" and try to understand how I could have been driven to the point of obsession the night before. Well, that day would be a repeat, and by that night my mind would again be stuck on pool.
 
I started this thread as a (sort of) goof off.. but there is ALOT of truth to it.

I got into pool because of my ex-girlfriend. The drama. I hated pool, I thought it was for fags who couldn't play a real sport - my friends took me out to play one night to get my mind off things, and then I got hooked, bad. My ex also helped my addiction by getting me my first pool-stick for christmas (a red 'sports craft' titanium cue). I walked around with that thing by my side for WEEKS. Even if I wasn't playing pool!
 
I could have an addictive personality so that pools a healthy addiction for me.
I have a day job and girlfriend and money so it seems ok......:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top