What is a "Professional" Pool Player? (Your Definition)

A "professional" is based on whatever the person views themselves to be. Just ask the person if they, Savannah in this case, considers herself to be a professional. Though you may hold a specific title that includes that term, such as PGA members, whom are called "PGA Professionals".

I make my money as an architect and identify as such, lets say I snap off the WSOP main event for $10m and quit my job. Because I now forever live my life paid for by Poker winnings does that make me a professional poker player?

Whether you have credibility when you call yourself a professional is based on the perception of others on you and your accolades. You win championships and people will call you legitimate, you always lose and you will be know as a fraud professional. If there is no professional governing body that has a specific definition then there is no basis for who is and who isn't. And even in that case (see PGA above) there are people who are not on the PGA that call themselves professionals.

Savannah may consider herself a social media influencers who plays pool really well. Do you think if she if she had no social media pages, would she still have the same amount of sponsors and generate the same amount of income?
 
iusedtoberich said:
In pool, it's 100000% ability, not income. If someone can run out the set of 9 ball, or the game of straight pool, he's a pro. (Or if he used to be able to do that before he got really old). That's it.
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hahahahahah oh man. bro I dont know why, but every time I see you post anywhere, you're 99% wrong...its incredible

no its always money. If a player doesn't make enough money from pool, then he's an amateur...ability has nothing to do with being professional... a Profession is your job.
 
smoochie said:
hahahahahah oh man. bro I dont know why, but every time I see you post anywhere, you're 99% wrong...its incredible

no its always money. If a player doesn't make enough money from pool, then he's an amateur...ability has nothing to do with being professional... a Profession is your job.
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I like those odds:):):):)
 
Is Mike Deschaine a pro? What did he win this year? A big fat donut?

Is the sandbagging winner of the 599 capped, $1000 entry event in Vegas, that won $40k in that single event, a pro?

Asking for a friend.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Is Mike Deschaine a pro? What did he win this year? A big fat donut?

Is the sandbagging winner of the 599 capped, $1000 entry event in Vegas, that won $40k in that single event, a pro?

Asking for a friend.
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The person you describe fails many of the criteria that I set forth. So to me this person is a winner of a big pool event but is certainly not a professional pool player.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Pool is a parlor game, not a sport so calling pool players athletes is akin to called WSOP competitors also athletes.
The fact that the Olympics has gone bonkers labeling some competitions as athletic, like break dancing, is absurd.

Yeah, pool involves eye & hand coordination and stamina but so does throwing darts and can be also argued about
shooting marbles. None of the aforementioned are sports & are just games just like pool is but some argue otherwise.

I have been playing pool since the summer of 1960 and in lots of cities over the last six decades. I’ve observed athletes playing fantastic pool but here’s the rub. Their athleticism actually involved other individual & team sports competitions.

Playing pool is a game, not a sport but pool players prefer to elevate their prowess rather than diminish it by referring to
pool as merely a game, let alone a parlor game. But that’s what it was and still is but now it’s simply on a bigger stage.
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Play a 10-24 hour session and tell me how you feel the next day, and that it’s not a sport.
 
Architect said:
A "professional" is based on whatever the person views themselves to be.

I make my money as an architect and identify as such, lets say I snap off the WSOP main event for $10m and quit my job. Because I now forever live my life paid for by Poker winnings does that make me a professional poker player?
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First, great post.

Second, to address the question you pose, no you are not yet a professional poker player. If you entered on a lark, as an amateur or low-stakes casino player and happened to win, you might now have some money and qualification to BECOME a professional poker player, but you were not one when you won.

Chris Moneymaker would be the obvious example. Winning allowed him to continue to travel and play tournaments, gave him sponsorships/endorsement deals, and so on. But on the day he won, he was not yet a pro. He went on to earn over $8m with at least 137 cash finishes (16 at the WSOP, 3 on the WPT, and 4 on the European Tour). Even as recently as 2023 and 2024 he has earnings in single tournaments from $500,000 to $2,030,000.

I think we agree on this, from the rest of your post.
 
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To me, a pro player is somebody who chooses pro competition as their primary source of income, whether they make a good living at it or not but that said, any player frequently failing to cover all participation costs of competing is, to me, a hobbyist.

Pro speed, to me, is a more important matter, as it offers a sense of what playing speed is needed to be competitive with the pros, even if only at a regional level. To me, pro speed today starts at about Fargo 750 for the men and about Fargo 650 for the women.
 
DieselPete said:
A thread spun off into whether or not a particular young woman is a professional. So, separate from a specific player, I am curious what people consider the necessary criteria to be a "pro," broadly speaking.

Never before in sports have the amateur/pro lines been so blurred, with the introduction of NIL deals into college and now high school sports. Cross country runners that couldn't take $300 for winning the local Turkey Trot without running afoul of NCAA rules can now have a million-dollar Nike deal. It goes well beyond just the high-profile, revenue sports.

So, apparently income alone does not make one a "professional." Or in the world of pool, does it?

In your opinion, to call oneself a "professional" pool player, one should do what (and is it "all of the following"? or just one or two things)?
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Being able to pay the rent, without gambling and to spend time at home with family and friends.
To commit to developing your core muscles/legs and stamina and to be able to play sets over 12 hours with out tiring and improving as the morning/ sunrise arrives.
Plus learning from your mistakes as they are your teachers.
And to be young to be able to waste away hrs and yrs to achieve the unknown, with out EXPECTATIONS.
 
simple, a professional is one who does it as his profession. it is his career and occupation.

so see where your pool player fits in.

many road players did it as their profession.

and if pool supports you monetarily then you are a professional pool player.

does not equate with the term pro speed. that relates to ability.
 
Frosty said:
Play a 10-24 hour session and tell me how you feel the next day, and that it’s not a sport.
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So endurance is the most important criterion? If that’s the case, ever talking filibuster in the Senate would qualify since
it is a one person competition against the clock and calendar. Nope, I don’t think endurance really should matter much.

How about a chess master playing a dozen or more chess games simultaneously against other chess opponents? Or someone that just tries to perform a physical feat or act setting a new Guinness World Record involving endurance?

Try as I might, I can’t buy into your example wherein you play for a long period of time uninterrupted. That’s more akin
to setting a new world record which doesn’t by itself qualify someone as a athlete but merely some new record holder.
 
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Bavafongoul said:
So endurance is the most important criterion? If that’s the case, ever talking filibuster in the Senate would qualify since
it is a one person competition against the clock and calendar. Nope, I don’t think endurance really should matter much.

How about a chess master playing a dozen or more chess games simultaneously against other chess opponents? Or someone that just tries to perform a physical feat or act setting a new Guinness World Record involving endurance?

Try as I might, I can’t buy into your example wherein you play for a long period of time uninterrupted. That’s more akin
to setting a new world record which doesn’t by itself qualify someone as a athlete but merely some new record holder.
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Well you don’t have to buy anything Matt, you’re entitled to whatever opinions and beliefs you want to hold. I see it differently.

To play this Sport,not only in long sessions, but in any competitive format requires not only physical stamina, but mental stamina as well. If your legs or core muscle groups aren’t in good condition then you aren’t going to excel at this. If you do not put in the time and the work to develop your skills then you aren't going to excel at this. If you don’t train to develop mental toughness, then you aren’t going to excel in competition, be it in the world of tournament play or gambling.

To play and excel at this SPORT, requires training, conditioning of the muscle groups needed to play, and rest and recovery as well. It requires mental training, grit, toughness, to be able to not only participate, but succeed in competition be it in the world of tournament play, but in the world of gambling as well. The fact that you’re alone in the box when in competition makes the mental training side of it paramount, as results will be decided by your abilities, no teammates to rely upon or blame. So given the aforementioned, how can this be called a “parlor game”? Scrabble, Monopoly, Charades, and yes even Chess, are parlor games as they don’t require physical skills to perform them. YMMV
 
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the problem with this "discussion " is there is no consensus which definition below is being used as the criteria
people argue
1)if you make your living at it
2)people argue if you play real good ie skillful
professional definition.png
 
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