Pool player vs Enjoying Playing

B

BarTableMan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My Great Grand Uncle once told me I'm a "fisherman". He said my uncles and my dad loved going fishing, but they were not "fishermen" like myself and my grandfather. I think the same thing applies to pool players. Tons of people love playing pool, few are pool players. I think the difference is the constant urge to gain knowledge and apply it. Players who play in a league, play multiple nights and stay at a low level for 30+ years and LOVE playing...not pool players. Players who don't ask for help or seek information...not pool players. Thoughts...

Also: Are people that enjoy pool unique that they think asking for help somehow makes them less of a person. SOOOOO many players would rather make the wrong decisions 1,000 times in a row as long as the decision is their own. Is this the same for bowling, golf, darts?

"I can figure this out on my own" is some kind of an odd competitive "disease" for some 'sports'. Weird.
 
After all is said and done, the players to be envied the most are the ones that enjoy it most. I recall a match I played some thirty years ago against a top pro. On a nearby table, someone made a great shot and their expression of joy was both animated and loud. The pro looked at me and commented "I wish I could get that excited about pool."

Among the pros I've watched, two got more excited about playing than all the others: Efren Reyes and Jeanette Lee.
 
There is an old joke about the difference between Pro Pool Player & Extra Large Pizza.

You can fee family of 4 with the Extra Large Pizza.

Most Pro PoolPlayer struggle to survive, few die well off. Many times a Great Pool Player dies, and their is a passing of hat, or GoFundMe to pay final expenses.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
There is an old joke about the difference between Pro Pool Player & Extra Large Pizza.

You can fee family of 4 with the Extra Large Pizza.

Most Pro PoolPlayer struggle to survive, few die well off. Many times a Great Pool Player dies, and their is a passing of hat, or GoFundMe to pay final expenses.
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tou’d be an excellnt whit house pres secretery
 
BarTableMan said:
My Great Grand Uncle once told me I'm a "fisherman". He said my uncles and my dad loved going fishing, but they were not "fishermen" like myself and my grandfather. I think the same thing applies to pool players. Tons of people love playing pool, few are pool players. I think the difference is the constant urge to gain knowledge and apply it. Players who play in a league, play multiple nights and stay at a low level for 30+ years and LOVE playing...not pool players. Players who don't ask for help or seek information...not pool players. Thoughts...

Also: Are people that enjoy pool unique that they think asking for help somehow makes them less of a person. SOOOOO many players would rather make the wrong decisions 1,000 times in a row as long as the decision is their own. Is this the same for bowling, golf, darts?

"I can figure this out on my own" is some kind of an odd competitive "disease" for some 'sports'. Weird.
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I'm nudging 65 and I have to watch it or I'll end up playing 5 days a week and then I don't like it as much.
I prefer a good day of playing and 1 day off in between. I also don't mind paying some players to get to play them
if its cheap enough until I get to that level, then its competitive. The best lessons are when you play someone heads
up and they don't mind it because they are going to end up in the positive when its done. I still love it. Every minute of
it and I really like when I get put in a position I have to think my way out of. 1-pocket. That to me is the best game.
 
BarTableMan said:
My Great Grand Uncle once told me I'm a "fisherman". He said my uncles and my dad loved going fishing, but they were not "fishermen" like myself and my grandfather. I think the same thing applies to pool players. Tons of people love playing pool, few are pool players. I think the difference is the constant urge to gain knowledge and apply it. Players who play in a league, play multiple nights and stay at a low level for 30+ years and LOVE playing...not pool players. Players who don't ask for help or seek information...not pool players. Thoughts...

Also: Are people that enjoy pool unique that they think asking for help somehow makes them less of a person. SOOOOO many players would rather make the wrong decisions 1,000 times in a row as long as the decision is their own. Is this the same for bowling, golf, darts?

"I can figure this out on my own" is some kind of an odd competitive "disease" for some 'sports'. Weird.
Click to expand...

Growing up on a lake in WI.
I learned from a man that fished our lake when it first settled.
He was Just like a Good pool player from the sixties, he'd Never tell you the good spots :).
 
i once had someone who worked at the pool hall kept wanting to gamble with me
he was better
i had no chance
finally i said to him
look you play all day long
you are a pool PLAYER
i PLAY pool
i cant beat you
after that he left me alone
big difference pool player vs the person who plays pool for fun
the play pool person who is not striving to improve and just wants to have fun actually may enjoy the game more
jmho
 
Watching Robbie Capito, it's easy to see that he has become one of the game's most elite. He is confident and efficient. He's a great story, as he has added some features to his game in 2026. Always a fine runner of the table, he's starting to learn how to beat some of the best to the shot. If this trend continues, he's going to be a top ten player in the world one day.

I recall that in early 2024, I suggested that Neuhausen would be better than Capito down the road. Yes, Moritz has come a long way since, but it looks like I was probably mistaken. The new, improved Robbie Capito is very tough to beat right now. I'm enjoying watching him and wish him continued success.
 
A pool player strives to win even when playing novices and beginners.

Pool players take no prisoners.

Pool players put the game above the social aspect of the game when it comes to leagues, etc.

Pool players can have just as much fun playing as anyone else.

I enjoy teaching people things, but when we are "playing" it is not a teaching session.

Those are separate sessions where the focus is on the person being taught.
 
straightline said:
Lotta things have to be laying just right for a person to achieve their potential. You can't choose your hand. I de-prioritized making a few bucks to around zero and I improved. I like it that way.
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Why do you always make it so hard to understand your comments??
Makes my brain hurty.😂
 
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