Pros that work?

poolplayer2093

poolplayer2093

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi i've recently had a conversation with a guy i know and he insists that the only reasson pro players are as good as they are is because they do that and only that for a living. in my opinion there's a lot of knowledge and skill that seperate them from your average player and that's what gives them the ability to do what they do at such a high level full time. i was wondering if there were any pros that did have other jobs? i know melissa herndon is or was a travel agent.

basicaly i'm tired of this guy using the excuse "Well i work!!" i work too but to say that it would distract my game that much is really reaching for straws. i'm not better because i lack either knowlege or ability and i don't like making excuses about it.
 
poolplayer2093 said:
Hi i've recently had a conversation with a guy i know and he insists that the only reasson pro players are as good as they are is because they do that and only that for a living. in my opinion there's a lot of knowledge and skill that seperate them from your average player and that's what gives them the ability to do what they do at such a high level full time. i was wondering if there were any pros that did have other jobs? i know melissa herndon is or was a travel agent.

basicaly i'm tired of this guy using the excuse "Well i work!!" i work too but to say that it would distract my game that much is really reaching for straws. i'm not better because i lack either knowlege or ability and i don't like making excuses about it.
Click to expand...


If I am not mistaken, I believe Steve Mizerak was a school teacher.
 
poolplayer2093 said:
Hi i've recently had a conversation with a guy i know and he insists that the only reasson pro players are as good as they are is because they do that and only that for a living. in my opinion there's a lot of knowledge and skill that seperate them from your average player and that's what gives them the ability to do what they do at such a high level full time. i was wondering if there were any pros that did have other jobs? i know melissa herndon is or was a travel agent.

basicaly i'm tired of this guy using the excuse "Well i work!!" i work too but to say that it would distract my game that much is really reaching for straws. i'm not better because i lack either knowlege or ability and i don't like making excuses about it.
Click to expand...

There are certainly a number of professional players who work full-time. Present day examples that immediately come to mind are Ernesto Dominguez (table mechanic) and George Breedlove (owns a landscaping business I believe?). Louis Vieras in central Florida is respected and feared throughout the state, and Buddy Hall once called him "the best working pool player in America". No mention of employed poolplayers would be complete, however, without mentioning the great Arthur "Babe Cranfield, the only man to win the U.S. Junior, U.S. Amateur, and Professional World Championship. He was employed by the Muzak company for over thirty years. Irving Crane, another great World Champion and one of the top five straight pool players ever, made a living as a Cadillac salesman.

All this being said, however, there is no doubt that anyone who plays at the professional level has devoted an inordinate amount of time and effort to develop their game, and I suspect that for most players, the hours and the schedule required to play world-class pool seriously conflict with the demands of the workaday lifestyle.
 
Last edited:
Bob Vanover used to sell furniture full time. Cisco Martinez (from Albuquerque) was a police officer.
 
poolplayer2093 said:
thanks for the info, anymore would be great.
Click to expand...

If you do a search, you could probably find a lot more. I remember a few threads about best working pool player. Besides the ones mentioned already, I also remember Billy Palmer and Mike Bandy as both working full time jobs. As far as top tier pros, I believe that Neils F. is a DJ.
 
Last edited:
If you read the bio's of most top pro pool players you'll find they started playing early, table in house or father owned a poolroom. Most never worked. (I said MOST) I don't count house pro as working. Johnnyt
 
Plus's and minus's

One thing for sure about not having a job and playing pool full time is you're going to stay in dead stroke and bust about anybody that plays your speed that works or maybe even plays better. The great players are constantly staying in action and can do so without having to worry about being to work on time. Somebody mentioned George Breedlove and I happen to know him very well, and he loves using the "i work 40+ hours a week" excuse. He once said that he would play anybody in the world if they did what he did for 30 days and never hit a ball like him. Having experienced pool as a nonworker and worker, I definitely feel that I have alot of input on this subject. Gotta go cookout, more to come later if this thread stays hot and I don't have to search through thousands of others!!
 
On May 20, there was a thread entitled "How do the pros support themselves". It had 76 replies, but a majority of them were of the "hee-haw" variety. There was some good info on some of them though.

I'm sorry that I don't know how to link the thread I described to this one for you. Just look back several pages in the archives until you find it.
 
Terry Ardeno said:
On May 20, there was a thread entitled "How do the pros support themselves". It had 76 replies, but a majority of them were of the "hee-haw" variety. There was some good info on some of them though.

I'm sorry that I don't know how to link the thread I described to this one for you. Just look back several pages in the archives until you find it.
Click to expand...

Thanks man i'll find it
 
I agree with Johnnyt about not counting house pros. I would go one step further, and not "completely" count anyone whose full-time job involves pool. In my opinion, to be 100% in the full-time outside job category, one must:

1) Work a fairly regular week
2) Not have a job involving pool

There is a difference between a job outside the poolroom and one inside the poolroom. I am not saying one is better than the other; just that part of playing at your best involves being immersed in the pool environment for a good portion of each day.

It's just different commuting home from your day job, winding down, and driving to the poolroom before you even have pool on your mind - as opposed to finishing your last lesson/tip change/league rollout, going to the back of the room to get your cue, and starting your practice.

Another way to express it: I don't have the option of learning a new shot or seeing a nice out during my 11am staff meeting.

- Steve

P.S. Please don't interpret this post to mean that I do not have enormous respect for those pros that work a full-time shift in a poolroom. I most definitely do.
 
i also think its the type of job you have.
if you have a manual hard labour job your body is knackered and if like myself you have a business type role its hard to stop thinking about the problems of the day which leaves less head space for shot selection ect.

i know this cause last night i played awful but inbetween shots i found myself thinking about end of month accounts ect.

which i am now going to get on with !!!:D
 
poolplayer2093 said:
Hi i've recently had a conversation with a guy i know and he insists that the only reasson pro players are as good as they are is because they do that and only that for a living. in my opinion there's a lot of knowledge and skill that seperate them from your average player and that's what gives them the ability to do what they do at such a high level full time. i was wondering if there were any pros that did have other jobs? i know melissa herndon is or was a travel agent.

basicaly i'm tired of this guy using the excuse "Well i work!!" i work too but to say that it would distract my game that much is really reaching for straws. i'm not better because i lack either knowlege or ability and i don't like making excuses about it.
Click to expand...

you're not being realistic, but rather than get long winded, let me pose you this,,,,,,,,if a pro tennis player, golfer, basketball player, football player et al, ever held down other jobs, do you think they would be able to compete with their peers? like any "job", the only way to perfect a game is to play it full time.
 
Blackjack said:
Bob Vanover used to sell furniture full time. Cisco Martinez (from Albuquerque) was a police officer.
Click to expand...

when history books are written, these guyz won't get ink other than as footnotes. i think what happening here is no one's defining what the standard is to be a competitive pro since pool itself has no criteria....and i suspect no one here can give me a definitive answer to what defines a pro pool player. did vanover raise a family by playing pool.
 
I believe working full time hinders their stroke consistency a little bit, but it doesn't turn them into B players. Their knowledge and touch should still be there. For sure though, players without a regular job should have an edge.
 
bruin70 said:
when history books are written, these guyz won't get ink other than as footnotes. i think what happening here is no one's defining what the standard is to be a competitive pro since pool itself has no criteria....and i suspect no one here can give me a definitive answer to what defines a pro pool player. did vanover raise a family by playing pool.
Click to expand...

Bob Vanover (back in the day) was a professional player that showed up and cashed in most of the events he entered and he entered just about every single one of them while holding down a full time job. He may not meet your criteria as a "pro" but he meets mine. Cisco was a very respectable player in his own right playing out of Albuquerque alongside Louie Roybal, Cowboy Jimmy Moore, Wifred Maestas and others and he held his own quite well no matter where he played. Though they may not have the same place in the history books as Johnny Archer or Mike Sigel, IMO they deserve the same respect. Their paths differ from the top pros only because of personal decisions that were made in relation the opportunities that were available to them at the time. That's life. In most cases they exercised what's know as "responsible behavior". They should not be penalized for that or referred to as "footnotes". They both have my respect.
 
Last edited:
Blackjack said:
Bob Vanover (back in the day) was a professional player that showed up and cashed in most of the events he entered and he entered just about every single one of them while holding down a full time job. He may not meet your criteria as a "pro" but he meets mine. Cisco was a very respectable player in his own right playing out of Albuquerque alongside Louie Roybal, Cowboy Jimmy Moore, Wifred Maestas and others and he held his own quite well no matter where he played. Though they may not have the same place in the history books as Johnny Archer or Mike Sigel, IMO they deserve the same respect. Their paths differ from the top pros only because of personal decisions that were made in relation the opportunities that were available to them at the time. That's life. In most cases they exercised what's know as "responsible behavior". They should not be penalized for that or referred to as "footnotes". They both have my respect.
Click to expand...


Well said, as usual, Dave.
One more thing about Vanover...he won theTexas Open 9 Ball Championship 8 times from 1979-1995.
 
Blackjack said:
Bob Vanover (back in the day) was a professional player that showed up and cashed in most of the events he entered and he entered just about every single one of them while holding down a full time job. He may not meet your criteria as a "pro" but he meets mine. Cisco was a very respectable player in his own right playing out of Albuquerque alongside Louie Roybal, Cowboy Jimmy Moore, Wifred Maestas and others and he held his own quite well no matter where he played. Though they may not have the same place in the history books as Johnny Archer or Mike Sigel, IMO they deserve the same respect. Their paths differ from the top pros only because of personal decisions that were made in relation the opportunities that were available to them at the time. That's life. In most cases they exercised what's know as "responsible behavior". They should not be penalized for that or referred to as "footnotes". They both have my respect.
Click to expand...

blackjack,,,i hate to argue the point, but this is not about respect. we are talking about a subject that's so vague, everyone has a different answer,,,,what is a pro pool player. we know what a pro baseball player is.....

and please don't cloud the issue...well i take that back,,,the issue IS cloudy and will always be,,, but they WILL be footnotes, like the other players you mentioned of whom i've never heard,,, and it has nothing to do with respect, not from my viewpoint anyway. history won't record these guys. they will be remembered in stories and tall tales of pool.

it is what it is. they chose their path,,,you are right. and that is what this is all about.
 
Last edited:
bruin70 said:
blackjack,,,i hate to argue the point, but this is not about respect. we are talking about a subject that's so vague, everyone has a different answer,,,,what is a pro pool player. we know what a pro baseball player is.....

and please don't cloud the issue...well i take that back,,,the issue IS cloudy and will always be,,, but they WILL be footnotes, like the other players you mentioned of whom i've never heard,,, and it has nothing to do with respect, not from my viewpoint anyway. history won't record these guys. they will be remembered in stories and tall tales of pool.

it is what it is. they chose their path,,,you are right. and that is what this is all about.
Click to expand...
Well, there you go David. There's the definition of a pro - if Bruin hasn't heard of him, he's not a pro....

-djb
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top