What has pool cost you?

I

ironman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As I feel the end of my playing days nearing I can't help but wonder what it cost me in life. Please don't take this wrong, I have always loved it but had many ups and downs with it.
The good times far outweigh the bad times and I fully understand that there ate regrets in almost every major decision.
I was playing some $40 1 pocket the other day and wanted to beat this guy, but wasn't having my best day. I couldn't get out from anywhere. Suddenly I had a spot shot to win the game and missed it. Of course I lost the game, your supposed to if you miss it.
At that point though, it hit me, How after all these years of playing do you miss shots like these? After 36 years, APP, it just seems impossible to do that. I just don't understand it. If it had been for serious money I might have jumped head first off the top of the building.
BUt, in my years I can't think of one single shot I haven't missed at one time or another. As I have always said, I have missed many shots that were harder to miss than to make.
I have been saying this for all these years, but I'm gonna make a comeback and bust em all.
 
yea

ironman said:
As I feel the end of my playing days nearing I can't help but wonder what it cost me in life. Please don't take this wrong, I have always loved it but had many ups and downs with it.
The good times far outweigh the bad times and I fully understand that there ate regrets in almost every major decision.
I was playing some $40 1 pocket the other day and wanted to beat this guy, but wasn't having my best day. I couldn't get out from anywhere. Suddenly I had a spot shot to win the game and missed it. Of course I lost the game, your supposed to if you miss it.
At that point though, it hit me, How after all these years of playing do you miss shots like these? After 36 years, APP, it just seems impossible to do that. I just don't understand it. If it had been for serious money I might have jumped head first off the top of the building.
BUt, in my years I can't think of one single shot I haven't missed at one time or another. As I have always said, I have missed many shots that were harder to miss than to make.
I have been saying this for all these years, but I'm gonna make a comeback and bust em all.
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YEA, IT TOUGH GETTING OLD !!!I KNOW AS I MISS SOME SHOTS THAT LONG AGO WERE GIMMIES, BUT THANK GOD I STILL HAVE VIGERA!!!!!!:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
what has pool cost me?

alot, too much. relationships, didnt watch a movie for almost 10 years, etc. but not anymore i manage my time smarter than i did when i was a kid, too much pool is destructive.
 
I know pool has cost me several good relationships when I was younger. The smoke full rooms and bars have cost me my health. I know I didn't spend as much time with my wife of over 40 years and my three daughters. Although I have had a lot of nice cash money busineses, I know I could have done a lot better(not Fatboy better, but better) if I weren't in the poolroom or bar most of the time. Pool itself never cost me anything. I made a lot of money playing it for 40 years. I never played anyone much better than me=nit, but a nit with money in the bank. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
I know pool has cost me several good relationships when I was younger. The smoke full rooms and bars have cost me my health. I know I didn't spend as much time with my wife of over 40 years and my three daughters. Although I have had a lot of nice cash money busineses, I know I could have done a lot better(not Fatboy better, but better) if I weren't in the poolroom or bar most of the time. Pool itself never cost me anything. I made a lot of money playing it for 40 years. I never played anyone much better than me=nit, but a nit with money in the bank. Johnnyt
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Oh, I've mde money at it all my life. Made some pretty healthy scores too. That's not what I meant at all. Money is nice, but the older I get, it is not the most important thing in life.

One of my big regrets is that I about always thought about the money instead of the game. That cost me a lot. Sometimes I feel as though I never really wotked at the game.

The best I ever played was for $2500 a game and I came out 24 games winner. The wird thing is that I didn't think much about the money in that session, just making every ball I shot at. It took a while for all that to sink in.
 
Personally, pool hasn't cost me a thing....it's actually the opposite. I met my wife of 14 years at the grand opening of a pool room. My best friends all play, and have been for 20 years. When I was a kid we had a table in our basement that was my get away from being the youngest of 10 kids in a BUSY house. I still go down to MY basement to hit balls and go into a pool coma as I call it....it gets my head clear. Not to mention all the life lessons I learned working in the pool rooms as a kid.

G.
 
pool hasnt cost me; quite the contrary... it has given me a reason to live. no matter how bad a single day has gone, a single rack of whatever on a table brings joy and happiness to my life. i believe this to probably be the same with most in this forum, however, life is what you make of it. if i had nothing left after 70 years but a busted pool table, clay balls and a warped house cue...... life would still be worth living.

lol
scouts out!!!!
 
I always loved the game of pool, but I looked at it as a way to make money. I never really tried to get any better after I leveled off as a B to B+ player on the 9-footers and probably an A- to an A on the boxes. I very rarely played for more than $5, $10 a game. The two dozen times that I played for big money for me ($50- $100 a game or $500- $1500 a set) I was very uncomfortable, or as they say, I was a choker. Oh I won some of the big ones but I did way better money wise with the smaller amounts.

Now that I'm old and can't play anymore I sometimes wonder how good I could have got with lessons and a lot of practice. But back then pool was just a way make money to get and do the things I wanted to. Nice cars, nice bike, nice clothes,and nice girls...well maybe not all that nice. I really didn't take pool any further than my natural talent went. Call me lazy I guess. Johnnyt
 
Gerry said:
Personally, pool hasn't cost me a thing....it's actually the opposite. I met my wife of 14 years at the grand opening of a pool room. My best friends all play, and have been for 20 years. When I was a kid we had a table in our basement that was my get away from being the youngest of 10 kids in a BUSY house. I still go down to MY basement to hit balls and go into a pool coma as I call it....it gets my head clear. Not to mention all the life lessons I learned working in the pool rooms as a kid.

G.
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"Pool coma", I like that one. That's a good way to term it.
I have always been able to escape the stresses of life by simply going downstairs and hitting some balls. All the problems and issues begin to disappear right away.
The problems and issues have changed over the years, but being able to escape them for a while through my "pool coma" has always been there.
I have even found myself mentally trying to put myself there when in stressful situations away from the table, like sitting in a dentist chair and stuff like that.
Being able to feel this way about something is a blessing. Weather it's pool, gardening, working on the car, or whatever, its a blessing.
Feeling this way about pool is not a bad thing. Not being able to feel this way about anything, now that would be a bad thing.
 
Making the low percentage 2 rail bank to get on an easy eight, for all the marbles......PRICELESS!

Brian
 
Cost me a lot of my youth.
Friendships, education, relationships, you name it, pool has probably ruined it at one time or another, but on another note, it's all come full circle.

I have basically everything i want in life.

And sacrificing at this game made me realize just how important other things were, enough to motivate me to get off my ass and straighten myself out.

And of course, there are all the good things i got along the way as a result of pool. We can't forget them.

So it's a wash.
 
Pool hasn't cost me a dime. I did get a divorce in 65, because of too much time spent away from home. The old gal was gonna hurt my feelings, HA when she did, was I lucky. That one was real poison. No loss there...

I played in the 60's & early 70s, & got myself through college. Then I quit for 20 years. I started up again in 1999, not knowing I would really get the bug. I won a state championship in 2001 & haven't looked back, but my edge has gone because of age. Eyes are bad & being a little overweight kills my stamina. When I started up in '99, I started buying books & videos. There is so much to learn. In my younger days, players wouldn't tell you squat. Many thanks to the men & women who try to give us all some knowledge about this game we work at.

Now I am engaged in a Billiards & Pool business & having a great time. I have met some great people in the USA & on other continents around this world. I love this game & all the great people that play this game.

But Pool & Billiards ain't a game, It's a lifelong challenge (53 years so far). Playing the game well is extremely difficult & understanding your opponent & your own emotions is real rigorous. Sometimes I can't go to sleep when I get home at 2-3 in the morning, I am still wound up tighter than an 8 day clock.

What a ride I've had with this game (snooker, pool, one-pocket).... it's more fun & rewarding than my days as a Pro Golfer & my days as an All Star baseball Catcher.
 
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ironman said:
As I feel the end of my playing days nearing I can't help but wonder what it cost me in life. Please don't take this wrong, I have always loved it but had many ups and downs with it.
The good times far outweigh the bad times and I fully understand that there ate regrets in almost every major decision.
I was playing some $40 1 pocket the other day and wanted to beat this guy, but wasn't having my best day. I couldn't get out from anywhere. Suddenly I had a spot shot to win the game and missed it. Of course I lost the game, your supposed to if you miss it.
At that point though, it hit me, How after all these years of playing do you miss shots like these? After 36 years, APP, it just seems impossible to do that. I just don't understand it. If it had been for serious money I might have jumped head first off the top of the building.
BUt, in my years I can't think of one single shot I haven't missed at one time or another. As I have always said, I have missed many shots that were harder to miss than to make.
I have been saying this for all these years, but I'm gonna make a comeback and bust em all.
Click to expand...
What did Lassiter say when thay asked him if he would do it all over again? "I'd rather drive a truck."
 
ironman said:
As I feel the end of my playing days nearing I can't help but wonder what it cost me in life. Please don't take this wrong, I have always loved it but had many ups and downs with it.
The good times far outweigh the bad times and I fully understand that there ate regrets in almost every major decision.
I was playing some $40 1 pocket the other day and wanted to beat this guy, but wasn't having my best day. I couldn't get out from anywhere. Suddenly I had a spot shot to win the game and missed it. Of course I lost the game, your supposed to if you miss it.
At that point though, it hit me, How after all these years of playing do you miss shots like these? After 36 years, APP, it just seems impossible to do that. I just don't understand it. If it had been for serious money I might have jumped head first off the top of the building.
BUt, in my years I can't think of one single shot I haven't missed at one time or another. As I have always said, I have missed many shots that were harder to miss than to make.
I have been saying this for all these years, but I'm gonna make a comeback and bust em all.
Click to expand...
hardest way in the world to make an easy living ! but look at the fun we've had.
PS; you old guys need to toughen up, it doesn't get any easier.
rodney
 
Pool has been a love of my life and it will always be...

What did it cost me?

I love the fact that every pay day (when I was a low rank with a tiny salary) with whatever the remaining money, I could afford to go play pool, spend it in a pool room and maybe even enter a tournament or two...And NO! didn't have a prayer of winning it. I was happy just not to be knocked out in two:)

Among st the druggies, thieves, cheaters and liers, I met the most genuinely down to earth people - whom I would had never met otherwise. Some of my best friends and ones I am proud to say will be my life long friends, I've meet while playing pool or while I was on a trip related to pool.

Later on, I eventually tasted the fruits of my love... my game improved on and the feeling of accomplishment of overcoming a tiniest hurdle in a game is unparalleled to any high.

Most importantly, I met my hubby:) while playing pool.

What did pool cost me? Nothing, but it became my Life.

S.
 
The search for the Holy Grail of cues continues. Other than that pool has not cost me a thing. OUCH!!!:grin: :grin: :grin:
 
androd said:
hardest way in the world to make an easy living ! but look at the fun we've had.
PS; you old guys need to toughen up, it doesn't get any easier.
rodney
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Hell Rodney, you had lotss and lots of talent. Some of us weren't so blessed.

One other thing you had, still have, You are a stubborn, stuborn old SOB.LOL
 
ironman said:
,Suddenly I had a spot shot to win the game and missed it. Of course I lost the game, your supposed to if you miss it.
At that point though, it hit me, How after all these years of playing do you miss shots like these? QUOTE]





Don`t feel bad. I miss those shots 9 out of 10 times.:grin-square:
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