Parents / kids and pool.

[inside_english]

If your child tells you they want to become a professional pool player, what would you tell them?

Would you encourage them to pursue their dreams?

Would you let them drop out of school to play pool?

Would you tell them to go ahead as long as they finish school?

Secondly, what if they don't want to be a pro, but they want to gamble, or they have been gambling behind your back.

Would you be upset?
Would you stake them?
If you don't want them to gamble, how would you justify wearing clothing that promotes gambling (if that applies)?

Just curious about some of the parents out there whose children are thinking about pool or may already be playing / gambling.

Of course I am speaking of anyone under the age of 18.

 

[tom mcgonagle]

I kept my children away from the game for all of the above reasons.

If that option isn't there for you any more. I would have the child talk to someone who has made the above choices. They won't listen to their parents.

My two boys came home and told me they were going to get ear rings and tattoo's. I told them to go right ahead. They never did either one. If I had said no way. They probably would have fought me all the way and maybe even went ahead and got one or the other. Maybe both.

I hope this helps.


_____________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Depending on the child ability I ould point them to Golf, the NBA, NFL, or MLB where the money is.

Sadly there is NO REAL MONEY in Pro Pool. JMHO!

 

[metallicane]

I am honest with my kids. They understand they need an education. If they are good enough to gamble, go ahead. They also understand that becoming a professional athlete is something that takes a lot of work of which they are not ready to do just yet.

 

[Cdryden]

One of my daughters have shown an interest in pool. Her skill level is med-low but she is really showing promise. I take her to tournaments so she can get a feel for competition against others. Unfortunately that comes with allot of baggage. She gets exposed to allot of the things that I'm not to proud of in the pool world. Cheating, poor sportsmanship, bad attitudes, excessive gambling etc.

But these are things that she needs to know how to deal with in life so I look at it as an opportunity to teach her. I show her what to watch out for, who to avoid and what to stay away from and why. Be honest and up front. Tell them of your own experiences even if you are ashamed of them.

Kids are amazing in how they deal with new situations. But if you keep them in the dark there is a good chance they will learn the wrong way to handle things.

Teach, don't control, and be honest. I think that's the best way.

 

[C.Milian]

It would all depend on the environment. Some poolhalls have people who actually won't tolerate any nonsense. Gambling is not big a deal...there is much worse legimate ways of misusing money.

 

[inside_english]

Just to clarify, I do not have children.

I was just curious because I rarely see children in pool rooms, and if they are there, they're not playing pool, just running around annoying everybody else.

 

[Cdryden]

Just to clarify, I do not have children.

I was just curious because I rarely see children in pool rooms, and if they are there, they're not playing pool, just running around annoying everybody else.

You hit on another VERY important point. I taught my daughter early on to respect other peoples games. I am very impressed with how she acts in a pool room. She knows to avoids peoples shot line and to not be distracting to others.

I WISH others would have been brought up this way. But sadly there are allot of people that care more about winning at all costs rather than integrity.

But I agree, kids running around like they substituted massive amounts of sugar for their adhd meds are annoying. And usually their parents are clueless to the problems they cause.

 

[easy-e]

I won't let my daughter go down that road. I don't care if I have to buy her a pony to keep her away from it! I'm sure it's possible to be a pool player and a good kid, but not very likely from what I have seen. There are too many uneducated punks and not enough Landons.

 

[Delusional]

i have a child who is Great at this game. He is 16 and the one who has inspired me to Love this game. I have taken him to the Super Billiards Expo for the last 4yrs. He has a 5th and a 3rd in the Juniors. He has seen all the sides of Pool. Good and Bad. I think he could be one hell of a Pro someday if he practiced. This past spring he had to write a paper on what has made him the person he is today. He chose Pool to be his subject and all the people he has met over the years. I didn't even realize how much Pool has molded him till the paper was done. He talked about everything in his paper. He made see that we should embrace all the people in the Game because that is what makes it so Great. All the walks of Life that are into this Game are Amazing. Needless to say the Paper was Perfect and he has been Student Of The Year Twice now. Pool offers so much that we don't see. I hope that my Son allways plays this game.

 

[Cdryden]

I won't let my daughter go down that road. I don't care if I have to buy her a pony to keep her away from it! I'm sure it's possible to be a pool player and a good kid, but not very likely from what I have seen. There are too many uneducated punks and not enough Landons.

That is the problem, my guess is that no one took the time to show them the right way to do things to begin with. I don't let my daughter go to a pool hall without me, she is only 13, but when the day comes that she can i want her to know all the angles and not get sucked into the wrong crowd.

Getting pool into the schools can go a long way to improving this problem as well help make pool better in the long run.

 

[easy-e]

That is the problem, my guess is that no one took the time to show them the right way to do things to begin with. I don't let my daughter go to a pool hall without me, she is only 13, but when the day comes that she can i want her to know all the angles and not get sucked into the wrong crowd.

Getting pool into the schools can go a long way to improving this problem as well help make pool better in the long run.

I hope it works out for you, sounds like you're off to a good start. I am not willing to take the risk.

 

[Cdryden]

I hope it works out for you, sounds like you're off to a good start. I am not willing to take the risk.

Well for me I see risk in walking out the front door.... but I still go through it. I understand how you feel though, we all want to protect our children from the bad things in life and there is nothing wrong with that.

I don't know if my way is right or wrong, or if there even is a right answer. I just try to do what i think is right. Last I looked kids are allot like products from China, Neither comes with a manual!

 

[Mr Hoppe]

As much as I love this game, it is exactly that . . . a game, to be enjoyed in your free time. IMO, it is not a career. However, many people who are good at this game are good at other skill based games, and should try their hand at golf or even tennis, where real money can be made. Heck, even professional FISHING holds more financial promise than pool these days! Enjoy the game for what it really is.

 

[easy-e]

Well for me I see risk in walking out the front door.... but I still go through it. I understand how you feel though, we all want to protect our children from the bad things in life and there is nothing wrong with that.

I don't know if my way is right or wrong, or if there even is a right answer. I just try to do what i think is right. Last I looked kids are allot like products from China, Neither comes with a manual!

We all have our biases. In my experience, the ratio of shit heads to good people in the pool world far exceeds that of pretty much any other activity.

Walking out the door is a risk my daughter has to take, becoming a pool player is not.

 

[easy-e]

Would you let them drop out of school to play pool?

I wouldn't let her drop out of school for anything. We are talking about high school, right? If it's college than it is not my choice, all I can do is try not to let her get to that point.

 

[inside_english]

i have a child who is Great at this game. He is 16 and the one who has inspired me to Love this game. I have taken him to the Super Billiards Expo for the last 4yrs. He has a 5th and a 3rd in the Juniors. He has seen all the sides of Pool. Good and Bad. I think he could be one hell of a Pro someday if he practiced. This past spring he had to write a paper on what has made him the person he is today. He chose Pool to be his subject and all the people he has met over the years. I didn't even realize how much Pool has molded him till the paper was done. He talked about everything in his paper. He made see that we should embrace all the people in the Game because that is what makes it so Great. All the walks of Life that are into this Game are Amazing. Needless to say the Paper was Perfect and he has been Student Of The Year Twice now. Pool offers so much that we don't see. I hope that my Son allways plays this game.

I would love to read that paper.

 

[genomachino]

Lead by example..........

If your child tells you they want to become a professional pool player, what would you tell them?

Would you encourage them to pursue their dreams?

Would you let them drop out of school to play pool?

Would you tell them to go ahead as long as they finish school?

Secondly, what if they don't want to be a pro, but they want to gamble, or they have been gambling behind your back.

Would you be upset?
Would you stake them?
If you don't want them to gamble, how would you justify wearing clothing that promotes gambling (if that applies)?

Just curious about some of the parents out there whose children are thinking about pool or may already be playing / gambling.

Of course I am speaking of anyone under the age of 18.

It's kind of hard to tell your son or daughter not to play when you play yourself especially if you play alot.

Pool can be a great tool to spend time with your son, daughter or even wife or girlfriend or both.#$&)*#

My x-wife told my son from the time he was 4 until the time he was 10 that I was no good at pool. She didn't want me to take him here and there and teach him to play because to her pool was bad. there were no poolhalls in the town we were from so it was mainly played in the bars with alot of drunks and back in the 70's the bars were full in the home town.

Even though I whimmed to my x's demand of not teaching my son to play he was just crazy to play on his grandmothers bar table. That was my x wifes mother. I didn't know this was going on. I was never invited.

My instructions from my x wife was I was not to teach my son anything about pool. She didn't want him to be around all the bad things.

Finally my son was about 10 years old. he really wanted to go to a pool tournament with me. There was a good one in Racine at Polaskis Lounge. I knew all the best players from here and everyone from everywhere would be there and it would be pretty neat if my son could meet some champions. He would meet a bunch of players that were playing on the Pro tour right then.

The x said yes. My son was overjoyed. I was looking at spending some quality time with my son. Plus he could see some of the best players in the country. He got to see first hand what it was like to be in a tournament. What an experience for a young man.

Once we got there I took my son around to all the players and he even got a bunch of autographs in his little notebook that he brought. He had that all planned out. After introducing him to about 25 players I thought to myself. This is going to be a really tough tournament.

We played the first day and I lost my third match. with 64 players in the tourny it was going to be a long hall for me and my son. That kid was on the edge of his chair and never missed watching any of the action. Especially when dad was playing. His eyes never left the table.

At this point in my pool career I hadn't played in a tournament ever with this caliber of players in it. I was kind of in awe. I was just hoping to get a ways through it and not lose to soon.

I made it through the first day. We had a room together and got up, got a bite to eat and right back to Polaskis at 10:00 AM.

One by one I kept winning my matches. And still my son was always on the edge of his chair with his eyes glued to the table. I could see at this time that there was no way to stop this kid from playing pool.

I made it to the final match and had to beat a player named Claudio Parrone. I hope I spelled it right.

I won the first set and when it was tied one before the hill I shot the 5 and missed it and it went in another pocket. Made the nine on the break and the match was over. I had won the tourny. It was 5:30 in the morning and my son was still on the edge of his chair with a smile from ear to ear. He was pretty excited about what had just happened.
Let me tell you he was proud of his father.

Here I was introducing him to all these great players. Being in the losers side I had to personally knock alot of them out one by one and the best part of the whole thing was to experience this great event with my son.

We got the prize money and headed back to the motel room. I think it was about $4,000 with the calcutta money but not sure on the exact amount.

We were both exausted. My legs felt like they wieghed 100 pounds each.

As we were pulling up to the motel room my son looked at me and said a few words that I never forgot.

Gosh dad. You beat them all. All them Champions.

I won many tournys in my lifetime after that but that was by far the highlight of my whole pool career for sure.

What a magical moment to share with your son. How many father out there could be so lucky.

I kept my x wifes wishes and never showed my son even how to hold the cue. But guess what? when he turned 18 that is all he did with his spare time is want to play pool.

I had a bar/nightclub/poolhall then and he would come up and play and play and play. I started teaching him and did he ever get better quick. I wish I would have showed him some things before.

One thing I forgot to mention. Once we got back from the trip, my son, being taught to be very honest said to his mother; I thought you said my dad was no good at pool. My dad beat them all.

Priceless. Now how was I going to try and tell my son not to play pool.

He played pool. Went to college for a couple of years and owns his own a bunch of semi trucks now. He's contracted through a big company. My son and his mother are partners and have about 10 rigs.

But I'm also proud of the x wife for guideing my son and helping him in the business world. And I appreciate her concern about the pool. But teaching the kids the right things in pool and life is very important. Us parents need to be there with them be it pool, bowling , archery or whatever. Spending quality time is where it's at and just let the rest happen leading by example. And those kids pick up on everything.

Pool never hurt him in the least. He's gotten so much from it just like I did. He gambles a little but keeps it in perspective.

I'm proud of my son and it's just fun to battle it out sometimes on the pool table. he plays so good now that if I don't play Perfect he kicks my ars.

I say to parents to share this wonderful pool world with your children. It's so rewarding especially if you can do it together.

My son and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have a great day geno...........

 

[Zhero]

I played pool since I was 13. I knew I m addicted to this game when I am constantly forming a bridge hand driving, watching TV, studying, even sleeping; so one day I told my mom, in a jokingly manner, that I am going to drop out of college (a top college in the country) and continue my life as a pool player. She said no, so I didn't. How I regret that decision. I make money, yes. But I am not happy. I would never force my child on a road that he does not like.

 

[inside_english]

It's kind of hard to tell your son or daughter not to play when you play yourself especially if you play alot.

Pool can be a great tool to spend time with your son, daughter or even wife or girlfriend or both.#$&)*#

My x-wife told my son from the time he was 4 until the time he was 10 that I was no good at pool. She didn't want me to take him here and there and teach him to play because to her pool was bad. there were no poolhalls in the town we were from so it was mainly played in the bars with alot of drunks and back in the 70's the bars were full in the home town.

Even though I whimmed to my x's demand of not teaching my son to play he was just crazy to play on his grandmothers bar table. That was my x wifes mother. I didn't know this was going on. I was never invited.

My instructions from my x wife was I was not to teach my son anything about pool. She didn't want him to be around all the bad things.

Finally my son was about 10 years old. he really wanted to go to a pool tournament with me. There was a good one in Racine at Polaskis Lounge. I knew all the best players from here and everyone from everywhere would be there and it would be pretty neat if my son could meet some champions. He would meet a bunch of players that were playing on the Pro tour right then.

The x said yes. My son was overjoyed. I was looking at spending some quality time with my son. Plus he could see some of the best players in the country. He got to see first hand what it was like to be in a tournament. What an experience for a young man.

Once we got there I took my son around to all the players and he even got a bunch of autographs in his little notebook that he brought. He had that all planned out. After introducing him to about 25 players I thought to myself. This is going to be a really tough tournament.

We played the first day and I lost my third match. with 64 players in the tourny it was going to be a long hall for me and my son. That kid was on the edge of his chair and never missed watching any of the action. Especially when dad was playing. His eyes never left the table.

At this point in my pool career I hadn't played in a tournament ever with this caliber of players in it. I was kind of in awe. I was just hoping to get a ways through it and not lose to soon.

I made it through the first day. We had a room together and got up, got a bite to eat and right back to Polaskis at 10:00 AM.

One by one I kept winning my matches. And still my son was always on the edge of his chair with his eyes glued to the table. I could see at this time that there was no way to stop this kid from playing pool.

I made it to the final match and had to beat a player named Claudio Parrone. I hope I spelled it right.

I won the first set and when it was tied one before the hill I shot the 5 and missed it and it went in another pocket. Made the nine on the break and the match was over. I had won the tourny. It was 5:30 in the morning and my son was still on the edge of his chair with a smile from ear to ear. He was pretty excited about what had just happened.
Let me tell you he was proud of his father.

Here I was introducing him to all these great players. Being in the losers side I had to personally knock alot of them out one by one and the best part of the whole thing was to experience this great event with my son.

We got the prize money and headed back to the motel room. I think it was about $4,000 with the calcutta money but not sure on the exact amount.

We were both exausted. My legs felt like they wieghed 100 pounds each.

As we were pulling up to the motel room my son looked at me and said a few words that I never forgot.

Gosh dad. You beat them all. All them Champions.

I won many tournys in my lifetime after that but that was by far the highlight of my whole pool career for sure.

What a magical moment to share with your son. How many father out there could be so lucky.

I kept my x wifes wishes and never showed my son even how to hold the cue. But guess what? when he turned 18 that is all he did with his spare time is want to play pool.

I had a bar/nightclub/poolhall then and he would come up and play and play and play. I started teaching him and did he ever get better quick. I wish I would have showed him some things before.

One thing I forgot to mention. Once we got back from the trip, my son, being taught to be very honest said to his mother; I thought you said my dad was no good at pool. My dad beat them all.

Priceless. Now how was I going to try and tell my son not to play pool.

He played pool. Went to college for a couple of years and owns his own a bunch of semi trucks now. He's contracted through a big company. My son and his mother are partners and have about 10 rigs.

But I'm also proud of the x wife for guideing my son and helping him in the business world. And I appreciate her concern about the pool. But teaching the kids the right things in pool and life is very important. Us parents need to be there with them be it pool, bowling , archery or whatever. Spending quality time is where it's at and just let the rest happen leading by example. And those kids pick up on everything.

Pool never hurt him in the least. He's gotten so much from it just like I did. He gambles a little but keeps it in perspective.

I'm proud of my son and it's just fun to battle it out sometimes on the pool table. he plays so good now that if I don't play Perfect he kicks my ars.

I say to parents to share this wonderful pool world with your children. It's so rewarding especially if you can do it together.

My son and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have a great day geno...........

That was a fantastic story!

Thanks for sharing.