title could be different.
Yes, it’s a shame that most of the great hustlers and tournament players will and did die broke. It really doesn’t have to be that way for most of them. You would think with all the books on top players and stories about them on the Internet that young players would get it. Do the math. It’s just that simple. Maybe 100 pool players in the world make a decent living, where they have a house, medical insurance, and money saved. None of them makes big money. As far as following the dream goes…you can’t live off a dream. The odds are of someone making the top 100 in the world is probably 100,000 to 1…maybe more.
I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination, and I wasn’t a top player at anytime, but I loved the game and loved the hustle, but I loved money, a nice roof over my head, good food, and a nice car and bike, and a lot more. I met a lot of top players in the North East through my Dad. I saw at a young age how most of them lived. If they had a roof over their head it was a one-room flop or their car. Some had girlfriends supporting them. Girlfriend leaves…no roof. Most that I knew could have saved enough over their years in pool. Most would make a big score and look to put it back in action at the table, track, or casino. Good pool players know their odds of winning on the pool table very well, but don’t have a clue how bad the odds are stacked against them in other gambling. Kids need to finish school, get a good job that they feel they can put up with until retirement.
I didn’t have an education, rarely played for big money, but a good percentage of my winning always went to buy something I could sell at a profit, like the Greyhounds, cars and horses that I bought, would work for me to make money. I never had any dream of becoming the next Mosconi. All I wanted was to be good enough to make a few hundred a week at it and by investing the profits I was making good money and having fun doing it. In over forty years I never missed once giving my wife her the weekly money she needed to run the house, take care of the kids, and buy herself and the kids something they wanted.
Most of the pool players that made money in pool were not great players. They simply got off their ass and found a job or started a business to make money to support their HOBBY of playing pool. Johnnyt
i think the title could say want to be a pro why.not a top pro.
the top pros like archer,mika,busty,efren,ralf etc have made alot of money in their career and live a very envied life whether most want to admit it or not.
i think to play just normal pro speed and not win tourneys not be marketable etc is kinda a waste of time.
one top player i know very well gets 112,000 a year before he hits a ball.
ive seen many comment on here about how they would never want to be him.
lets see he gets 112,000 a year and has for many years. he has girls launch on him every tourney he goes too.
he does nothing but ,travel,wear what he wants,plays golf,signs autographs and even plays pool once in a while.
now before we all go yeah but thats only one guy.
when you say the top pros ,i dont know any top pro that is broke and if he is thats not because he doesnt make good money playing pool. its because he loses it in casinos or is just and idiot at managing his money.
furthermore i know many broke pro golfers,bowlers,etc .
believe me life is short . if the average life span was 200 years i would quit pool.
since life is so short i would much rather make what i make,and have my life than have a career that i dont like and make twice as much.
im sure the top pros agree with me that why they keep at it.
until someone is a top pro at any game and see all the perks that go with that ,i think its hard to say i would never want to go that route.to each his own though.
for some its a way to ease the pain . they say to themselves or other people 'i would never want to be a pro anyway.its because they have tried to become a great player their whole life and couldnt ,so instead they say i didnt want to be a pro anyway.
i wanted to be a pro baseball player.
im not big enough or strong enough and knew it.
instead of saying to myself i never wanted that ,i said hell yes i wanted that but was never going to be able to pull it off.
anyway im not directing what im saying at anyone. im just saying when we talk about not wanting to be a broke top pro ,lets try to remember they are far from broke and wouldnt trade lives with 99.9 percent of people anywhere.
....Jeff Melton....Rempe....Jeff Carter?
