"never play poker with a man named Ace"
Hard to say that I was ever a pro. I made my living shooting pool when jobs were hard to come by but I have never shot major tournaments. Nicknames came and went as I moved around however most folks that knew me only knew me as "Hu".
If I were to pick my own nickname it would probably be something like "Shaky" or "Shaky Jake" for obvious reasons. "I'm just an old man with the back gone, the eyes shot, and a gimp in my gettyup!" "Well yeah, I guess I might live long enough to play you one or two games. What ya gonna spot me?"
If you get to the point that you are fishing for major sponsors a trick sounding nickname can be an asset I suppose because public image is all important. Otherwise, I think it far better to sneak along under the radar even in competition. Different form of competition but I beat about thirty shooters awhile back, sneaking onto a scene where I didn't show up but about once a year. I watched the regulars and young pups comparing notes and checking which of them had the highest score. When it was announced that Hu had taken first place the result was universal, "Who the hell is that?" That was worth a lot more than the few dollars I won. I still laugh about them getting blindsided.
Hu