Why is gambling so popular in pool?

Well to reach the upper tier of this sport requires an inordinate amount of time being applied to it. A job gets in the way of that, there is no "pro pool tour" so gambling seems like the best option. Are you aware the word "pool" is derived from pooling $ to bet?
 
Some people just like to gamble. For people who can play it is easy money.

When I was a kid living in rural Iowa a day of bailing hay got you $5 dollars - if you were lucky enough to find a farmer who would hire you. I was in a bar with snooker tables and a kid I knew who had cash and couldn't play pool asked me to play a game of snooker for $5 dollars.

Why people who can't play want to gamble is something I can't answer except they must like the excitement of gambling. People go to a casino knowing the house has an advantage but they still go and gamble. For people who can play the answer is it's easy money.
 
from my experience, playing with friends and others..when i see someone just shoot at a low percentage ball and watch it go 2-3 rails in - based on luck, is pretty boring to me. so i ask, would they play that same shot if it was for money? i don't think so. so i like that money most of the time helps dictate certain play and adds some pressure making the game more interesting for me.
 
When I first walked into a pool hall, as a 17 year old, I lost more than a week's pay.
...I'm still trying to get even....:angry:


A lot of people in this world indulge in hyperbole...just like the politicians....
....around gamblers, when the price goes up, the bullshit stops.
 
Why is it like that? (Pool playing gamblers)
Part of what makes the best pool players great is having personality traits akin to sociopaths.

One aspect of being a sociopath is a complete lack of empathy, and this trait shines among the elite.

They also hate losing so much that they'll spend many hours after each game considering what shot options or how to apply them could have garnered victory.

They may guise such traits under ambition or being goal focused, but the best in any sport that in not simply brute strength have a significant degree of sociopathic leanings.

And sociopaths often require stimulus, via risk, and gambling is one way to achieve this.

Colin
 
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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?

Tons of people play the game purely for fun too, far beyond the numbers that actually gamble, so don't lose site of that.

But getting to your question, those who want to play for money probably feel the need to gamble because the money in pool stinks so badly. Tournament payouts are so low to the point of almost being humorous, minuscule compared to other sports because no company with deep pockets has any interest in sponsoring pool. Not enough ROI.

So we're left with the alternative --> the only way to earn decent money is to take it from somebody else via private games. Even tournaments are highly gamblish in their nature because the entry fee is so high relative to the payouts. If people really understood the math behind current pool tournaments, they'd realize that playing them is a bad financial idea unless you're in the top, say, 10% of the field in skill level. If you're not in that 10%, your time is basically being wasted (financially speaking).

The game has always had a gambling mystique to it as well which I'm not really sure where it came from.

I was a former tennis player, and previous posters are right, not much gambling at all there. I think that might be a class/status thing....they don't wanna be viewed by their peers as someone who wagers money. Most people that play year round tennis (indoor) tend to come from wealthy backgrounds (I did not).

This is just a guess on my part, but I bet if the tournament payouts ever became decent, alot of the private gambling would dry up from the sport eventually.
 
Its easy to handicap, used to be easy to hustle, and there is no other way to learn under pressue except short race tournament pool.
 
You hit a stationary ball into a hole with a sick. 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!

Wow, so pool is the root of what today is known as multitasking, works for me.

I have to say though, there is a dilemma here; Sam isn’t a golfer.
 
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?
Pool is a competitive activity. Unless there is a risk and reward outcome, what is the point? Every player almost without exception if they lose playing for nothing will say,

"Well we were not playing for anything".

This is to imply that they were not really trying in an attempt to rob the winner of his victory. A small bet takes that out of the conversation.
 
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?


My best guess is because every pool tournament is for ca$h.
 
Placing a wager on your own game enhances the competitive experience in my opinion. There is more incentive to play your best, and more incentive to play smart and disciplined.

It's not for everyone, especially players early in the learning curve. But once you figure you have "learned the game" and you have competed enough to have developed a realistic knowledge of where your game stands in the pecking order of other players, then I think it becomes a great way to test your mettle against another player that is a good challenge for you, and you become a better player as a result. But not overnight!
 
The Filipino players all gamble with each other all the time that is one reason why they all play so good.
 
My friend said maybe month ago :

"Playing pool without bet is like burning money" Then i asked him to play :p but he does not bet against me :(
 
The sport is called billiards, and our tables are pocket billiard tables. In the 19th century billiard parlors were the everyday meeting places for bachelors. Gambling took place, and organized betting developed with people 'pooling' their money together.
 
My real estate agent plays golf >500 a hole. Gambling is where people make it. Today at our weekly poker game two players left early to gamble on golf. Pool just has the rep because there is no investment in equipment. Just like poker.


Post it up
 
The reason people play for money is simple. The answer is simply to make money. Same thing that drives a lot of endeavors. If one really thinks they can make money doing it, they would be foolish not to. Of course, many along the way find out their thinking was wrong to start with, but many do make money playing pool.

It's also a way to measure ones skill from hard work. One puts enough work into their game, most like to get paid for it. Gambling can do that.
 
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?

It's less about the gambling and more about the atmosphere, environment, and the people who do the gambling. Watch any movies in the past and note the way pool halls have always been portrayed - a veritable "den of iniquity". Under such circumstances, all the bad things that gambling represents is amplified, more than the pleasant grounds of a golf club, the tanned nattily dressed people in their whites playing tennis, and pretty much any other game.

Also, I can't think of another game wherein the concept of getting better by gambling resonates more strongly than amongst the players in pool. It is the de facto way players seem to think you improve. Gambling is often the end to the means, not the means to an end. Lots of players want to improve so that they gamble better
 
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?

Table time. You have to pay to play. A table takes space and money. You can play ping pong for nothing in a garage, tennis courts are free - the same with chess.
 
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