What's the deal with pool players? A sport for angry and shitty people it seems

[Bbutler]

I remember once a guy in the pool room I grew up in missed a shot for all the money and got really pissed off and had his really expensive custom cue bent over his shoulders like he was about to break it.

Then he stopped, put the cue down very gently on the table, and went up to the guy at the counter and asked him how much rack cues cost if you break one.

The counter guy tells him that breaking a rack cue is $5.

So he goes in his wallet and hands the counter guy a $100 bill, then breaks twenty!


Pool is not a game for normal people.

 

[nataddrho]

I was brought up with the emotion was no emotion, in any sport.

Drives your opponent mad, when you react the same no matter the outcome.

For those of you young enough, I tried to model my behavior to emulate Jack Nicklaus.

Some people are born differently, and some are jerks.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[nataddrho]

Pool is full of mentally ill people because of a man named Thomas Midgley Jr. He is responsible for inventing tetraethyl leaded gasoline in the early 1920s, a solution to the knocking of internal combustion engines in cars. For thousands of years it was already known that lead was highly toxic, but the stance he and his company took was purely profits over environmental health concerns. He himself could not be near to his own product due to acute lead poisoning, and many workers at the manufacturing plants experienced hallucinations, pain, insanity and death as a result. Throughout the next few decades leaded gasoline was used until it was banned due to public health concerns. Scientists studying the concentration levels in the atmosphere drilled out ice cores from regions in Scandinavia to measure the history, and created the plot below. The first hump arounf year 0 was due to industrial activity in Rome, afterwards, another increase worldwide as Medieval metal production increased. Then a sudden jump in the industrial revolution and a huge spike during the leaded gas decades. Once it was banned the concentrations suddenly dropped.

There is a direct correspondence between this spike in lead exposure, and violent crime 20 years after infants had been exposed to high lead concentrations, right around the time when pool was in its heyday:

The following is quoted from the Wikipedia page in the lead-crime hypothesis:

"Medical analysis of the role of lead exposure in the brain note increases in impulsive actions and social aggression as well as the possibility of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Those conditions likely influence personality traits and behavioral choices, with examples including having poor job performance, beginning a pattern of substance abuse, and undergoing teenage pregnancy. Evidence that lead exposure contributes to lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores goes back to a seminal 1979 study in Nature, with later analysis finding the link particularly robust."

There is no longer a large lead pollution problem, but the legacy of misbehavior of the "mentally-ill generation" designed by a man-made epidemic has culturally stuck in places like pool halls, populated by those who couldn't hold a steady job or support a family.

By the way, Midgley went on to later invent Freon, the first chlorofluorocarbons, cementing his legacy as "having had more adverse impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history."

Literally stupid crazy people playing an insane game.

 

[fjk]

Pool is full of mentally ill people because of a man named Thomas Midgley Jr. He is responsible for inventing tetraethyl leaded gasoline in the early 1920s, a solution to the knocking of internal combustion engines in cars. For thousands of years it was already known that lead was highly toxic, but the stance he and his company took was purely profits over environmental health concerns. He himself could not be near to his own product due to acute lead poisoning, and many workers at the manufacturing plants experienced hallucinations, pain, insanity and death as a result. Throughout the next few decades leaded gasoline was used until it was banned due to public health concerns. Scientists studying the concentration levels in the atmosphere drilled out ice cores from regions in Scandinavia to measure the history, and created the plot below. The first hump arounf year 0 was due to industrial activity in Rome, and then another increase in worldwide as Mideval metal production increased. Then a sudden jump in the industrial revolution and a huge spike during the leaded gas decades. Once it was banned the concentrations suddenly dropped.

View attachment 747084
There is a direct correspondence between this spike in lead exposure, and violent crime 20 years after infants had been exposed to high lead concentrations, right around the time when pool was in its heyday:
View attachment 747085

The following is quoted from the Wikipedia page in the lead-crime hypothesis:


There is no longer a large lead pollution problem, but the legacy of misbehavior of the "mentally-ill generation" designed by a man-made epidemic has culturally stuck in places like pool halls, populated by those who couldn't hold a steady job or support a family.

By the way, Midgley went on to later invent Freon, the first chlorofluorocarbons, cementing his legacy as "having had more adverse impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history."

Literally stupid crazy people playing an insane game.

So we need to bring back leaded gasoline to fill the pool halls again? I'm in.

 

[skiergd011013]

I have seen more drama and arguments on my league this season than the past ten years combined. It legit seems like something happened and changed people.

 

[ngtvd]

Pool is full of mentally ill people because of a man named Thomas Midgley Jr. He is responsible for inventing tetraethyl leaded gasoline in the early 1920s, a solution to the knocking of internal combustion engines in cars. For thousands of years it was already known that lead was highly toxic, but the stance he and his company took was purely profits over environmental health concerns. He himself could not be near to his own product due to acute lead poisoning, and many workers at the manufacturing plants experienced hallucinations, pain, insanity and death as a result. Throughout the next few decades leaded gasoline was used until it was banned due to public health concerns. Scientists studying the concentration levels in the atmosphere drilled out ice cores from regions in Scandinavia to measure the history, and created the plot below. The first hump arounf year 0 was due to industrial activity in Rome, and then another increase in worldwide as Mideval metal production increased. Then a sudden jump in the industrial revolution and a huge spike during the leaded gas decades. Once it was banned the concentrations suddenly dropped.

View attachment 747084
There is a direct correspondence between this spike in lead exposure, and violent crime 20 years after infants had been exposed to high lead concentrations, right around the time when pool was in its heyday:
View attachment 747085

The following is quoted from the Wikipedia page in the lead-crime hypothesis:


There is no longer a large lead pollution problem, but the legacy of misbehavior of the "mentally-ill generation" designed by a man-made epidemic has culturally stuck in places like pool halls, populated by those who couldn't hold a steady job or support a family.

By the way, Midgley went on to later invent Freon, the first chlorofluorocarbons, cementing his legacy as "having had more adverse impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history."

Literally stupid crazy people playing an insane game.

Compared to a lot of things I've seen on this forum, this is a completely plausible and reasonable take and I'm inclined to endorse it

 

[Boseph]

I think pool is just really good at revealing ones character. And there are a lot of shitty people out there...

Playing someone in a serious game you really learn a lot about the guy if you pay attention.


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This...

 

[garczar]

Also full of people who have nothing better to do than dig up TEN yr old threads. Seriously, there is a TON of money wagered on golf all over the country and with a few exceptions its done without people being asswipes. I think a lot of pool gamblers come from lower income upbringings/surroundings. Not saying its an excuse but how you're raised and your econ. situation can have a big effect on your actions.

 

[snookered_again]

alcohol turns adults into children, anytime I see a player acting childish its because he's still on the bottle. The pot smokers might get a bit giddy, forget who's shot it is , things like that but Ive never seen one break their cues or go into the same type of alcohol induced diatribe that is so common with alcoholics. Want to drink , fine, go ahead. I do know players that can handle a bit of booze without loosing their mind. Act like a child who was ignored and starts acting out for attention, Well personally I'm just out of there. These are usually children that had bad childhoods and then grew older, but never did grow up.. Its so very common. A huge number of babies are born as alcoholics and it affects their brains. Personally I'm never very drawn to playing in bars..

 

[pwd72s]

Pool players call this lack of distraction "In the zone". A fight could break out on the next table, but all the "in the zone" player would see is what's on his table..

 

[fjk]

Also full of people who have nothing better to do than dig up TEN yr old threads. Seriously, there is a TON of money wagered on golf all over the country and with a few exceptions its done without people being asswipes. I think a lot of pool gamblers come from lower income upbringings/surroundings. Not saying its an excuse but how you're raised and your econ. situation can have a big effect on your actions.

There's probably something to the lower socio-economic theory. The pool halls where I played a lot had a disproportionate amount of the unemployed. Some retired, some wealthy, most though were lazy bums that didn't want to work regularly or commit to being home with their families. Because they had nothing better to do than play pool and they always needed money, a lot of them ended up being strong players.

Now I'm not saying you need to have money to be a decent human being, but the correlation is most decent people do something responsible with their lives that ends up providing them a livable income. If you're inexplicably unemployed long-term and just hang around the pool hall, there's probably a generalization that could be made about your character.

 

[snookered_again]

There's probably something to the lower socio-economic theory. The pool halls where I played a lot had a disproportionate amount of the unemployed. Some retired, some wealthy, most though were lazy bums that didn't want to work regularly or commit to being home with their families. Because they had nothing better to do than play pool and they always needed money, a lot of them ended up being strong players.

Now I'm not saying you need to have money to be a decent human being, but the correlation is most decent people do something responsible with their lives that ends up providing them a livable income. If you're inexplicably unemployed long-term and just hang around the pool hall, there's probably a generalization that could be made about your character.

very general statement, but also very true. the pool hall where I grew up never refused anyone or asked anyone to leave so long as they didn't create a disturbance. I had best friends that were pregnant mothers with no where to go.. I'd say it's similar where I play now. A lot of pool halls actually help people by entertaining them, keeping a roof over their heads and bringing friends about.. Some of the owners are basically playing the role of club leader and drug counselor, trying to set a good example..
try to keep our buddy off heavy street drugs, he's doing OK , Just let him play..
He has no money to his name, BUT hes been living pretty clean so far, Meanwhile everyone around encourages that and puts up with a bit of mental instability.. This situation is common.. Some of those pool hall owners do a lot to help people.. It's their gathering place.

Some really do care about stuff like that. In many cases a little donation towards the hall owner and some thankful gratitude for the work they do can help a lot too.

Not everyone is "reached" by family or a church circle.. A pool hall can function in a very similar way, and many do.

 

[nataddrho]

Also full of people who have nothing better to do than dig up TEN yr old threads. Seriously, there is a TON of money wagered on golf all over the country and with a few exceptions its done without people being asswipes. I think a lot of pool gamblers come from lower income upbringings/surroundings. Not saying its an excuse but how you're raised and your econ. situation can have a big effect on your actions.

Wait a minute, how is that possible. This thread appeared as though it was active, but I seemed to have restarted it. Bizarre mistake on my part.

 

[tomatoshooter]

I think a lot of pool gamblers come from lower income upbringings/surroundings. Not saying its an excuse but how you're raised and your econ. situation can have a big effect on your actions.

Yeah, I think bad tempers, etc. are more normalized at the lower end of the economic spectrum. That and the general difficulty of life when you are poor means you have less emotional headroom to shake off frustrations.

 

[ChrisinNC]

There is definitely something going on with pool players.

Everyone just seem to always be so angry when they are missing a shot or having a bad game. You don't see tennis players throwing their tennis racquet or golf club (well, for that one, at least less often!) or break their hockey stick everytime they miss a shot!

It does happen, yes, but it happens so often with pool players, I am a bit in disbelief. I have only been playing for 3 months and I already saw 2 people break their cue and about 5-7 being thrown on the table/ground. I've seen my share of people hitting forcefully the cueball or the 9 with their hand after missing the shot to win the rack. I've even seen someone do a push at break speed! It hit the 9, it flew off table and hit a player on another table! Needless to say the guy was out of the tournament.

And now, I keep seeing these threads on here about people being ripped off by cuemakers and what not.

What's the deal? Why does pool seem to attract all the shitty people?

You are apparently hanging out in the wrong pool rooms and playing in the wrong tournaments. Any TD or pool room owner / manager would not put up with crap like that. The offenders would be warned, then disqualified and/or asked to leave.

Fortunately, as we have a non-alcohol pool room, we are very lucky to very rarely have to deal with customers who exhibit behavior like that.

 

[ChrisinNC]

Wait a minute, how is that possible. This thread appeared as though it was active, but I seemed to have restarted it. Bizarre mistake on my part.

Not a big deal, I just made the same mistake by posting above. Sometimes old threads get revisited with new perspectives and opinions from those that post, and I don’t see any problem with it.

 

[book collector]

Once someone runs 3 balls at pool , many of them acquire an attitude of superiority, and become the worst version of themselves imaginable, in most cases. It would be a great thesis topic for some psychology major.

 

[a1712]

Once someone runs 3 balls at pool , many of them acquire an attitude of superiority, and become the worst version of themselves imaginable, in most cases. It would be a great thesis topic for some psychology major.

Justnum will be along shortly. Brian.

 

[Black-Balled]

I have seen more drama and arguments on my league this season than the past ten years combined. It legit seems like something happened and changed people.

Something did.

I work in government services and there is a notable uptick in crazy across all agencies...uniformed, social services, the tax counter...you name it.

 

[straightline]

Something did.

I work in government services and there is a notable uptick in crazy across all agencies...uniformed, social services, the tax counter...you name it.

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