Why is gambling so popular in pool?

SamLambert

SamLambert

Daydreaming about pool
Silver Member
I have been wondering about this for a while, it seems gambling is a major part in pool. I've heard it's common for Filipinos to not even play if there's no money on the table. "Hustling pool" seems to be very common. I've had some offers to play for $$$ when practicing at some places. It seems very prevalent!

I can't find many comparisons, but I don't think betting 50$ on a set is common in table tennis, or tennis itself. Or playing chess, or checkers.

I might be wrong, I don't know much about the sports/games I listed, but I'd bet (:p) gambling is not as common in them as it is for pool.

Why is it like that? Is it because it's most often played in bars and such?
 
I don't know, but it's also fairly common in golf. So it's not just pool, golf is a close corollary, which I think is important to consider because it happens in such a distinctly different venue than pool that you can't put much weight on the importance of place. There has to be some other reason. No idea what that is though.
 
slide13 said:
I don't know, but it's also fairly common in golf. So it's not just pool, golf is a close corollary, which I think is important to consider because it happens in such a distinctly different venue than pool that you can't put much weight on the importance of place. There has to be some other reason. No idea what that is though.
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I didn't know about golf! Interesting indeed considering how different it is.

Also, that's a beautiful playing cue you got there.
 
SamLambert said:
I have been wondering about this for a while, it seems gambling is a major part in pool. I've heard it's common for Filipinos to not even play if there's no money on the table. "Hustling pool" seems to be very common. I've had some offers to play for $$$ when practicing at some places. It seems very prevalent!

I can't find many comparisons, but I don't think betting 50$ on a set is common in table tennis, or tennis itself. Or playing chess, or checkers.

I might be wrong, I don't know much about the sports/games I listed, but I'd bet (:p) gambling is not as common in them as it is for pool.

Why is it like that? Is it because it's most often played in bars and such?
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Because playing for fun can be quite boring. It's also common in golf and bowling - actually much more prevalent in golf. Nothing wrong with it between willing parties who can afford to wager. Greed, for lack of a better term, is good.
 
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I have heard, although never experienced this myself of course, that every so often people will also bet on basketball, football, and even baseball too! It's probably VERY uncommon though.
 
billiardthought said:
I have heard, although never experienced this myself of course, that every so often people will also bet on basketball, football, and even baseball too! It's probably VERY uncommon though.
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Those are team sports where the fans bet though, different. Although I guess some players of the team themself could bet on their own team? But they don't just go "hey let's play a game for 100$" (or more like 100,000$ in the case of those sports).
 
billiardthought said:
I have heard, although never experienced this myself of course, that every so often people will also bet on basketball, football, and even baseball too! It's probably VERY uncommon though.
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I understood the OP to be talking about betting while partaking. Yes, sports betting is super common, but when people are playing a regular game of basketball at the YMCA or local outdoor court I don't know that they're betting on the outcome of the game they're playing. Or are they? Maybe I'm wrong, I don't play basketball.

Pool and golf seem unique in that the people playing are putting up money.
 
SamLambert said:
That's a very simple answer that I didn't think about at all.
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My advice is, for most of us, just play pool cheap and enjoy it with people you get along with and like. Adjust the game to keep it fair. It's fun to play for small amounts at times. It can lead to hard feelings between friends, arguments, pettiness, etc, no fun at all, especially with larger amounts, so it's better to keep it light.
 
Once you hit that bottleneck and stop improving drastically, your game will stay constant for a while. Having something on the line can serve as a catalyst for you to learn and grow, both mentally and physically. As long as you are responsible and keeping a friendly atmosphere, I don't think it'll be a problem. If you are very competitive and just absolutely hate the feeling of losing even the smallest amount of money, then just don't do it. You are better off just straight up paying for lessons from a reputable instructor.

I view gambling as if I am paying for lessons, if I win I win; if I lose I think about what aspect of game I am lacking, and how I can improve, what my opponent does better than me. Sometimes I'll play against a player who I have no chance of beating just to get some experience and observe the way he plays.
 
SamLambert said:
I have been wondering about this for a while, it seems gambling is a major part in pool. I've heard it's common for Filipinos to not even play if there's no money on the table. "Hustling pool" seems to be very common. I've had some offers to play for $$$ when practicing at some places. It seems very prevalent!

I can't find many comparisons, but I don't think betting 50$ on a set is common in table tennis, or tennis itself. Or playing chess, or checkers.

I might be wrong, I don't know much about the sports/games I listed, but I'd bet (:p) gambling is not as common in them as it is for pool.

Why is it like that? Is it because it's most often played in bars and such?
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I believe you have it backwards. Pool is very popular among gamblers. Most likely because it is quite easy to hustle weaker players into believing a skilled player is 'lucky'. I used to watch Vernon Elliot do this and it was hilarious to see the show he would put on when he got 'lucky' and just happened to bump the nine in after missing a fairly simple shot. Notice too that practically all pool gamblers also gamble on other things.
 
spktur said:
I pool is very popular among gamblers. Notice too that practically all pool gamblers also gamble on other things.
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I agree with this, seems to me like many learn pool just to gamble

almost seems to me that there are more pool playing gamblers than those that just play for the joy of the game
 
SamLambert said:
I didn't know about golf! Interesting indeed considering how different it is.

Also, that's a beautiful playing cue you got there.
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You hit a stationary ball into a hole with a stick. What's so different? It's outdoors, and there's no real strategic thinking, but other than that there are many similarities.



The term "pool" came about from betting houses that provided services for gambling on horse racing. They would often have billiard tables there as an activity while waiting on the races. Naturally gambling became associated with billiards in these "Pool Halls" where money was collected (pooled) and paid off...

There's your fun fact of the day!
 
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Why? Because it can be a fun and enjoyable thing to do. It's certainly not a requirement that you must gamble on pool games.

The question really should be, "Why is gambling so popular?"

The answer still would probably be because people enjoy it. Nobody is forcing anybody to make wagers.
 
slide13 said:
I understood the OP to be talking about betting while partaking. Yes, sports betting is super common, but when people are playing a regular game of basketball at the YMCA or local outdoor court I don't know that they're betting on the outcome of the game they're playing. Or are they? Maybe I'm wrong, I don't play basketball.

Pool and golf seem unique in that the people playing are putting up money.
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I feel pool is conducive to betting simply because of the nature of the sport--it's a one-man/woman endeavor.
It's easy to "play some" for the money because the only one responsible for the win/loss is the participant.
I certainly wouldn't want to make a bet on a basketball game in which I have to depend on the other players. No way!

If I bet on something, I want the (team) results to rest solely in my own hands.
Now golf, tennis and pool allow for that dynamic.
 
Its a game of skill. I spent a million dollars hitting balls. I want to be rewarded for my effort.

I think all skill games should be wagered upon.

Ill gamble on Hungry, Hungry Hippo or Chutes and Ladders.

BIG MONEY gets bet on Golf every day. And Chess as well.
 
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