The life of a pro

I

I rack balls

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am wondering how most "touring" pros make a living. Can you make a living playing pool? I am ready for the negative answers so let me have em :D I am thinking of throwing my life away............ :D :D

Eric.A.
 
My guesstimate: Think about how hard it is to make it as any professional athlete, now add the fact that pool has one-millionth of the money of other major sports.
 
There's no right answer. Everyone is allowed to chase their dream, whatever it is.

As for the financial side of it, you must weigh what opportunities you have outside of pool, or what other things you might do with your time, and if the possibilities are greater for you outside of pool, you must decide whether the sacrifice is worth it.

In the end, it's about how much the pursuit of your goals in pool mean to you. Even if you try to become a pro player, though, you should have a Plan B, a path you'll follow if it doesn't work out.

Wishing you good luck whatever path you choose.
 
When I get my Social Security statement, the years I spent playing pool really show up. Those $0 of taxable income really hurt the long-run payout.

Yeah, I might've been walking around with a couple of $K in my pocket, but when I went bust, it was BUSTED. Thank God I had parents who stuck by me and pushed me through college...paid for it too!

Pool for income is a short term proposition at best, IMO.
 
go for it, maybe

I rack balls said:
I am wondering how most "touring" pros make a living. Can you make a living playing pool? I am ready for the negative answers so let me have em :D I am thinking of throwing my life away............ :D :D

Eric.A.
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Eric,

If you have no commitments to other people then I say go for it. A plan "B" is good as others have mentioned but so is going out there and flying without a net. Some people respond to pressure by giving their best, some people crumble. There is never more pressure than knowing that you need to win to survive.

Get yourself totally debt free with a decent vehicle and give it a shot, if as I said earlier you haven't already made life commitments to others. The odds aren't great but if you are good and smart you can make money. You will have to be smart enough to cherry pick which tournaments you play and you will have to pick a hotbed of pool where there are plenty of tournaments to play. The downside it that you will be tackling some of the best every time you go to a weekly or monthly tourney but that is also a good thing. Nothing hones your abilities like competing against the best.

I set myself a deadline of until I turned twenty-five to chase my dream. I didn't marry or have any serious commitments until after that. When you battle long odds it isn't right to take others along on the trip, or that is my opinion.

If you make it or if you fail at least you never have a lifetime of regret because you never tried. Looking back, I regret many things I didn't do, I regret very few things I did. Win or lose, just be sure you can hold your head up after your race is ran. If you already have commitments to others, your yondering days are behind you, forget about it. You can play pool for a lifetime as a hobby but the odds of being a success as a pro while holding down a fulltime job are a hundred times slimmer and those odds weren't good to begin with. You will probably make more money working for minimum wage for forty hours a week most years than shooting pool if money is what you seek.

Hu
 
Seeing as in my day job I make more than being the teens of the top 20 playing pool...I'll stick with the day job. Of course playing pool all day, every day would be a heck of alot funner that sitting at work, but what can you do? Like someone else said it depends on what you want to get out of pool and if you believe you have the talent to get there and STAY there. Alot of the top players the I see around are phenominal players but barely have a pot to p!$$ in. Personally I would rather work my day job to get a house, install my table, practice, play my leagues and regional tourneys (and Vegas once in a while) and be happy that I have for the most part mastered this game to a degree and leave it at that.

On a side note: I will still continue to play golf as to one day play on the LPGA tour when someone successfully sues them to allow males to enter their events. I will even follow their dress code and wear a skirt. :D :D :D
 
In my home room we have a touring pro as our house pro. He plays major and local tournaments, gambles, occasionally goes on non-tournament road trips, and backs other players both on the road and at home.

We also have a VERY good local pro who is not a touring pro. He plays just one notch, one small notch, under the touring pro. He gives frequent lessons @ $35 per hour, plays a tough schedule of local tournaments, and of course gambles a bit. This guy has a new baby at home, and I suspect that it must be hard to match up tough knowing that you cannot afford to go off ! I like this guy very much and while I don't know his whole personal financial situation it can't be easy. Takes a lot of heart...Tom
 
sleeping in their cars
between hustling in the bars
stealing from the sub-pars
and playing their guitars

not a future in sight
living night to night
with the occasional fight
until they see the light
 
Look at the numbers. Go grab any pool mag. and start looking at the tourn. payouts. You now know that you have to win one tourny every week to break even with expenses. The more tournys you win, the less easy money games you are going to get. The mags. and the internet will make you 'famous'. So don't play the tournys. Now you just hustle. The only way to make money until you have a BIG name. But now you don't have the seasoning playing the better players. So you get to lose to them for a while to get that seasoning. You better have a big bankroll. Starting to see the problems yet?
 
PKM said:
My guesstimate: Think about how hard it is to make it as any professional athlete, now add the fact that pool has one-millionth of the money of other major sports.
Click to expand...



i ran the numbers and pool dosent have even that much $$$$ and there have only been 5-6 guys I have ever seen make respectable $$$ playing professionally, now if you like a low srandard of living then sure play pool for a living, its sad. I hate the fact there isnt any $$$ in pool.


its worse now that it was 20 years ago. Poker has destroyed what was left of pool, i have been running around the past couple months, I went to Hardtimes the other night and talked to 6-8 guys I havent spoke to in years. Man, nothing has got better, so many rooms in LA have closed, the pay outs in tournments are the same(as 20 years ago and the cost of living, etc is alot more). I didnt see any 20 something guys playing with $400 cues practicing shots, playing their friends, gambling, all I saw was the same guys just all looking older, myself included. I havent seen anyone who is a serious up and comming player anywhere in LA not once. I havent seen a $50 set, when all the guys my age 40 and older die off pool is history unless something happens, I'm sure that there are some hot spots on a local level but to be a pro isnt a plan, sorry even if you can play that good
 
Fatboy said:
[...]Poker has destroyed what was left of pool, i have been running around the past couple months, I went to Hardtimes the other night and talked to 6-8 guys I havent spoke to in years. Man, nothing has got better, so many rooms in LA have closed, the pay outs in tournments are the same(as 20 years ago and the cost of living, etc is alot more).[...]
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Yeh, actually poker is even "infiltrating" pool. Seen the "Texas Hold-Em Billiards"? :)
It's held in the "Basketball Hall of Fame"? Where's the "Pool Hall of Fame"?
 
I heard about that "texas Hold'em Billiards" but dont know a thing about it,

it takes years of practice, action etc to become a good pool player, I had a friend who never play poker in his life win a $5,000 poker tournment in Vegas about 2 years ago. No one can do that ever in a pool tournment, that 12 year old kid I saw playing in the Normandy Casino pool tournmeny was amazing but most guys have to play 12 years to be competitive, in poker you can out run the nuts AKA chris moneymaker and win millions.

He was the best thing that ever happeded to poker and the worst for pool-he is a nice guy, but he proved that anyone has a shot playing poker-at least in the short run, that dosent happen at pool, nobody beats buddy hall for $1500 accidently, but you can flop the nuts in poker
 
whitey2 said:
Yeh, actually poker is even "infiltrating" pool. Seen the "Texas Hold-Em Billiards"? :)
It's held in the "Basketball Hall of Fame"? Where's the "Pool Hall of Fame"?
Click to expand...



Just look at how many successful poker players have pool backgrounds. Nick Schulman and Josh Arieh are two poker players that have won over the million dollar mark for a single tournaments efforts and both have known pool backgrounds.
 
whitey2 said:
sleeping in their cars
between hustling in the bars
stealing from the sub-pars
and playing their guitars

not a future in sight
living night to night
with the occasional fight
until they see the light
Click to expand...

There are quite a few starving poets also ... :)
 
sniper said:
Just look at how many successful poker players have pool backgrounds. Nick Schulman and Josh Arieh are two poker players that have won over the million dollar mark for a single tournaments efforts and both have known pool backgrounds.
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thats my point, but how many top pool players come in from poker? not many, I live in Vegas and sure there are alot of guys who play both but poker is snatching up all the 20 somethings before they set foot into a pool hall.

i remember these 2 poker players were playing 8 ball for $5,000/game they rented both tables next to them so nobody would bother them, they brought 5 dime chips from the Mirage and posted them up in the safe in the office at cue-topia, these guys couldnt make 2 balls in a row, they played about 12 hours, i dont know how the $$ ended up, even I vaguely recall.
 

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I would have thought, playing teaches you to make the right shots, in order at the right time. Same with priorities or deciding what to do 'in life'
Thinking about being a pro. I would have thought that such a player would alreading be raking in the dough here and there from winning games before he *she decided to become a pro.
If youre good enough and few are. But then if youre not good enough at the game, you can always take the bad shot in life too and its not really such a bad shot, just a steep learning curve with a lot of filipino's in the mix, me thinks.
Guess, a 'house pro' is different though..... :cool:
 
I have no idea

I have no idea how he plays, but I'm responding so you know I am not ignoring you! If I won 4 million, I'm not sure what new hobbies I'd take up. I'll probably never know. He looks to me like the type of person that was just in it for the money, so I'd assume he doesn't play pool anymore.
 
I rack balls said:
I am wondering how most "touring" pros make a living. Can you make a living playing pool? I am ready for the negative answers so let me have em :D I am thinking of throwing my life away............ :D :D

Eric.A.
Click to expand...

I agree with SJM that everyone has the right to chase their goals and dreams.

However, if this is what you choose, get after it right now while you are young.

There are a couple of questions,IMO, young players don"t ask themselves.
1. Do I have the big stroke to make it in this game?
2. Do I have the ability to pocket balls it takes to make it in this game.
3. Am I willing to put the work in to dvelope my game and adjust to that level of play.

Without these things in place, this game is will swallow and eventually spit you out. The competition is tougher than it has ever been and the money ain't that great.

I've seen you play on our Tour and you play hard and have seemingly the attitude. Only you can answer the above questions and no other answers really matter. There are going to be good days and bad ones, but you can never, never lose belief in yourself. No matter what.

As SJM also suggests, a good Plan B would be a great idea too. Maybe something you can do simultaneously. It would take a lot of pressure off. Trust me, at some point, the pressure is a big issue. Usually, it has to do with the almighty $$$$$$$$$.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I'll be rooting hard for you.

Lewis
 
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