I am not sure what time frames you are looking to compare but here is my thoughts.
Coming out of the WWII americans had made a little money. Even farmers then were making money. There was alot of cash around and people still remembered tough times. Most would have thought that would make them save money but it did not. Many just wanted to have some fun.
During the fiftys america hit another expansion boom and alot of people
made money and spent it loosely. Entertainment options were still
low. The pool room could offer an escape.
Even the old road hustlers have said that everything was in cycles and most can pick out small gaps of time when action was good and when it was not.
Expenses, not only for the road player, have went sky high with gas, food and rent at all time highs. There are still some professions that made roughly the same now as they did in the early 70s.
Pool movies have really played a part as well as gambling movies in general.
The Hustler and then the Color of Money had big effects on the pool world.
I was around for the COM boom and normal rooms got flooded with players and their hours went to damn near 24/7.
Gambling breeds gambling and most of the time a room needs a few guys to get it going. Most rooms have lost those guys.
Women have become more prominent in the home as well. Men before mostly ruled the home and spent their money how they felt. Its not the same today.
Not only have casinos hurt but entertainment in general. Right now theres
tons of fun and cool things to do. Sea-Doos, boats, skydiving, amusement parks, golf, movies, plays, concerts, bars and much more are way more prevalient than even 20 years ago and are ten fold greater than
30+ years ago. TV is better and the computer/internet usage is not even comparable.
My father used to go to the movies with a quarter to a dollar depending on
the time. Now its 7-10 dollars just to get in and then another 7 or so for
a popcorn and beverage. Movies are better and people flock there for
their entertainment and escape.
Also I think the age of information killed alot of it. Guys know other pool players and even when players are b-c level players they are known or a line can be gotten. In the old days the locals all had a local champion and
they were willing to put their money up on him. A road player merely had to lay it down enough to keep the guy going and clean up. The locals were entertained and where happy to back their local guy. The only info that got out was among the road guys and big bettors.
In todays world there are 10 times the amount of very good players as there was then. The fish in todays world started getting hit even before they could regroup and reload. Even inside the local pool room there are more players.
I do believe that there is a little resurgence going on right now in gambling.
The reason could be more exposure or that there are a few people out there making money and the means of entertainment have gotten old. Pool is now a little more in the spot light. If the IPT kicks off and gets major exposure I think we could see new faces and some old ones resurface into the pool world. 8 ball would most likely be the game and it would almost be a "new" game as 9 ball was back in the day. 8 ball seems easier to the average joe and might be more appealing.
I grew up around Junior Goff and his stories about gambling and hustling
always had the same theme. They always had a time line. In parts
the road players really had alot of action and other times they almost
dried up. Its probably the same now but with all the other entertainment
and gambling choices there are just too many avenues for the sucker.
Coming out of the WWII americans had made a little money. Even farmers then were making money. There was alot of cash around and people still remembered tough times. Most would have thought that would make them save money but it did not. Many just wanted to have some fun.
During the fiftys america hit another expansion boom and alot of people
made money and spent it loosely. Entertainment options were still
low. The pool room could offer an escape.
Even the old road hustlers have said that everything was in cycles and most can pick out small gaps of time when action was good and when it was not.
Expenses, not only for the road player, have went sky high with gas, food and rent at all time highs. There are still some professions that made roughly the same now as they did in the early 70s.
Pool movies have really played a part as well as gambling movies in general.
The Hustler and then the Color of Money had big effects on the pool world.
I was around for the COM boom and normal rooms got flooded with players and their hours went to damn near 24/7.
Gambling breeds gambling and most of the time a room needs a few guys to get it going. Most rooms have lost those guys.
Women have become more prominent in the home as well. Men before mostly ruled the home and spent their money how they felt. Its not the same today.
Not only have casinos hurt but entertainment in general. Right now theres
tons of fun and cool things to do. Sea-Doos, boats, skydiving, amusement parks, golf, movies, plays, concerts, bars and much more are way more prevalient than even 20 years ago and are ten fold greater than
30+ years ago. TV is better and the computer/internet usage is not even comparable.
My father used to go to the movies with a quarter to a dollar depending on
the time. Now its 7-10 dollars just to get in and then another 7 or so for
a popcorn and beverage. Movies are better and people flock there for
their entertainment and escape.
Also I think the age of information killed alot of it. Guys know other pool players and even when players are b-c level players they are known or a line can be gotten. In the old days the locals all had a local champion and
they were willing to put their money up on him. A road player merely had to lay it down enough to keep the guy going and clean up. The locals were entertained and where happy to back their local guy. The only info that got out was among the road guys and big bettors.
In todays world there are 10 times the amount of very good players as there was then. The fish in todays world started getting hit even before they could regroup and reload. Even inside the local pool room there are more players.
I do believe that there is a little resurgence going on right now in gambling.
The reason could be more exposure or that there are a few people out there making money and the means of entertainment have gotten old. Pool is now a little more in the spot light. If the IPT kicks off and gets major exposure I think we could see new faces and some old ones resurface into the pool world. 8 ball would most likely be the game and it would almost be a "new" game as 9 ball was back in the day. 8 ball seems easier to the average joe and might be more appealing.
I grew up around Junior Goff and his stories about gambling and hustling
always had the same theme. They always had a time line. In parts
the road players really had alot of action and other times they almost
dried up. Its probably the same now but with all the other entertainment
and gambling choices there are just too many avenues for the sucker.
