The cost of our addiction

TheThaiger

TheThaiger

Banned
Few would argue pool is an addiction. Everyone who makes money out of the game knows their customers are addicts.

So, how much is your average spend per year on your addiction? That's cues, cases, balls, chalk, booze, gambling, petrol, entrance fees, tips, tip tools, lessons, table time - the whole works.
 
I'm just about finished with equipment (tables, cues, access, etc). I don't gamble so that's a "0".
Bought a ball cleaner last year for my home table($500). Add $1000 to this years maintenance for table repair and cue refinish.
I did spend $19,000 on a Nissan Cube so I could park it for hours where I play and not worry about it. It's too frickn ugly to be tampered with. I could not relax if I left my other car in the parking lot.
I intend to spend a few dollars on earplugs soon because of a few people in the room at our clubhouse. I think I'm done for now haha if the Predator shaft would stop calling me.
 
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I honestly don't even want to consider thinking about it.

I will say that every two years I seem to get a new cue. I more or less attain a new cue, one year later I start thinking about a new one and then the next year I order it. That model may change because I just got a new one and was thinking about another one before I even got the new one.
 
If pool is an addiction, then AzBilliards is the crack house! I learn about new equipment and see cool stuff I don't really need on this site. Then I go buy it. But hey, there are worse addictions from a financial perspective... golf, bass fishing, motorcycles, RVs etc...

I spent more on my RV than I will ever spend on pool.
 
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I don't spend anything on pool. I take broken cues out of the garbage and fix them so I'll have a cue to play with. I find tips on the floor that pop off people's cues, but they work great for me. I hustle high school kids for $5 a game for pocket money. I'm always broke, so I whine about being hungry and if you do that long enough, somebody will buy you a burger. Hey, you got an extra smoke? When you can limp like I do, somebody will always offer you a ride home, where my 91 year old Mom will have supper ready and clean clothes for tomorrow.
 
Buckzapper said:
I don't spend anything on pool. I take broken cues out of the garbage and fix them so I'll have a cue to play with. I find tips on the floor that pop off people's cues, but they work great for me. I hustle high school kids for $5 a game for pocket money. I'm always broke, so I whine about being hungry and if you do that long enough, somebody will buy you a burger. Hey, you got an extra smoke? When you can limp like I do, somebody will always offer you a ride home, where my 91 year old Mom will have supper ready and clean clothes for tomorrow.
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Thanks for the laugh..:smile:
 
JMW said:
If pool is an addiction, then AzBilliards is the crack house!
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AMEN BROTHER!!!

Buckzapper said:
I don't spend anything on pool. I take broken cues out of the garbage and fix them so I'll have a cue to play with. I find tips on the floor that pop off people's cues, but they work great for me. I hustle high school kids for $5 a game for pocket money. I'm always broke, so I whine about being hungry and if you do that long enough, somebody will buy you a burger. Hey, you got an extra smoke? When you can limp like I do, somebody will always offer you a ride home, where my 91 year old Mom will have supper ready and clean clothes for tomorrow.
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Oh my God...tell me you're kidding...


Jason
 
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I don't think of it as a cost or what it costs. It is a form of entertainment or hobby and they all have some costs involved. Compared to other hobbies it is relatively cheap unless you have a gambling addiction and gamblers are gamblers no matter what the avenue.

I think the costs involved is the reason that pool is not that successful for obtaining sponsors. The equipment involved lasts forever and then unlike other sports used equipment can be sold and reused. It very rarely becomes dated or obsolete. The only replaceable items are chalk, tips, cloth, cushions, and balls. All the other accessories are frills that are not really needed.

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I recover my table once a year,play league both eight an nine ball once a week,while there I usually have a meal..steak,burger,ribs,or breakfeast plus a few sodas or drinks.
Over the years I've bought around ten cues...five of which I still have.the cheapest cue I gave away cost 175 dollars,another one was 400..the rest were in between.I have a hard time selling stuff to people I know,that can't afford to put the money out for a cue..if I stopped an thought about the money I have lost while playing this game I would guit..just kidding.:smile:
I hardly gamble anymore..I have no real idea of what I spend on this game anymore.
At one time I use to put out close to 800 month for four or five years..but because of the economy this is just not possible anymore,an I became tried of spending four to five days a week in a bar playing league.I haven't spent a ton on this game,but I have spent some
 
TheThaiger said:
Few would argue pool is an addiction. Everyone who makes money out of the game knows their customers are addicts.

So, how much is your average spend per year on your addiction? That's cues, cases, balls, chalk, booze, gambling, petrol, entrance fees, tips, tip tools, lessons, table time - the whole works.
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Nothing is free but pool is about as cheap as anything else. I can't own my own golf course or bowling alley. With pool you can get a used table for under a grand and knock yourself out. I do most of my playing at home and may go to the pool room and match up or play some for fun but mostly just to socialize. I do most all of my practice at home.

Although I would be the exception, I almost never go to the pool room and not leave with my case full of other people cues to work on. I would say every year I am ahead, I make much more money going to the pool room then I even spend. Pool by and large is a pretty cheap activity though, try owning a boat. The last one I had cost $12,000 a year just to dock.
 
TheBook said:
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I don't think of it as a cost or what it costs. It is a form of entertainment or hobby and they all have some costs involved. Compared to other hobbies it is relatively cheap unless you have a gambling addiction and gamblers are gamblers no matter what the avenue.

I think the costs involved is the reason that pool is not that successful for obtaining sponsors. The equipment involved lasts forever and then unlike other sports used equipment can be sold and reused. It very rarely becomes dated or obsolete. The only replaceable items are chalk, tips, cloth, cushions, and balls. All the other accessories are frills that are not really needed.

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That's true, but the flip side of that is the *value* we place on our equipment. We add an emotional attachment, which makes second hand or unwanted cues expensive. This deters casual players from taking the game more seriously, which in turn, does nothing to attract sponsors.

I don't know what it's like on your side of the Atlantic, but no one will spend a penny on cues over here. Even the cues I've taken a complete bath over, and tried to sell for a tenth of what I paid, I get looks like I'm trying to rip them off when I suggest a price.

It seems to me there's a two tier pool structure - those that are addicted and will pay anything - ANYTHING - to improve their game, and those that are not prepared to pay a dime. This leads to a distorted market, which is unhealthy for all of us - consumers and producers alike.
 
macguy said:
Nothing is free but pool is about as cheap as anything else. I can't own my own golf course or bowling alley. With pool you can get a used table for under a grand and knock yourself out. I do most of my playing at home and may go to the pool room and match up or play some for fun but mostly just to socialize. I do most all of my practice at home.

Although I would be the exception, I almost never go to the pool room and not leave with my case full of other people cues to work on. I would say every year I am ahead, I make much more money going to the pool room then I even spend. Pool by and large is a pretty cheap activity though, try owning a boat. The last one I had cost $12,000 a year just to dock.
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12 grand? Yikes.
 
My high-school was kitty-corner from a mob-owned pool hall in Denver, and that's where I started paying table time and gambling.

That was, uh, about 50 years ago. By this time I've bought two tables, a dozen cues and can't even calculate the overall cost. However, Mrs.9BP has threatened me with cold dinners unless I break the cue habit, so we'll see....

I'm guessing about 15K in my lifetime. Gambling is a separate issue.
 
Buckzapper said:
I don't spend anything on pool. I take broken cues out of the garbage and fix them so I'll have a cue to play with. I find tips on the floor that pop off people's cues, but they work great for me. I hustle high school kids for $5 a game for pocket money. I'm always broke, so I whine about being hungry and if you do that long enough, somebody will buy you a burger. Hey, you got an extra smoke? When you can limp like I do, somebody will always offer you a ride home, where my 91 year old Mom will have supper ready and clean clothes for tomorrow.
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Walt, Lunch Money Walt, is that you:p
 
I don't thing pool is an addiction as much as an obsession/avocation. I used to switch cues every four years or so and immediately sell the one I had. I played almost every day for about 25 years, sometimes for money, sometimes for table time. Consumed a hell of a lot of coffee. Table time was $.60 an hour and coffee $.35 back when I started and I know the price of both varies greatly depending on where you are.
I haven't a clue how much I spent or won or lost. I've never really cared to give it any thought. Oddly enough, since I moved South it's been a whole lot less, due to not having a decent pool room less than 25 or 30 miles away. Cut my playing time down to, I'd guess, about 20% or less. I bought a table about 10 years ago so don't have to leave home to practice. My physical condition will keep me from six hour money sessions and even local tournaments anymore.
I'm getting another cue in the near future but have played with my current one, the only playing cue I now own, for about 18 years except for short terms with a few others, none of which I now own.
Costs a hell of a lot less than some other activities, I know that.
 
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