Why is Pool So Addictive?

Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Why is Pool So Dam Addictive?

Its such a difficult game to completely get away from even when the desire to be as good as you 'used to be' wanes, why is that? I have my thoughts, but what do you think is the underlying reason?
 
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I can't explain its addictive properties but I can say why I enjoy it.
I like pool because you're never too old to play. With a lot of sports your joints go bad, your response time slows down... SOMEthing happens that shortens your playing days, and then you reminisce(sp) about the good ol days. In pool you can still hang. There's a 60 year old man in our pool hall who whoops up on noobs regularly. Its things like that that make me smile. Besides, what other sport can you drink a beer while playing? :D
 
There is an old saying ....

God invented Pool, the Devil invented the 'pockets'...
 
Inzombiac said:
I can't explain its addictive properties but I can say why I enjoy it.
I like pool because you're never too old to play. With a lot of sports your joints go bad, your response time slows down... SOMEthing happens that shortens your playing days, and then you reminisce(sp) about the good ol days. In pool you can still hang. There's a 60 year old man in our pool hall who whoops up on noobs regularly. Its things like that that make me smile. Besides, what other sport can you drink a beer while playing? :D
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Bowling:rolleyes: Seriously,had to chime in here. At 56, after 3 back surgeries, a difficult surgery on my shoulder, I was very limited in any sports related activities. It took me about 5 min. to get ingested /hooked on pool! It has truly inspired me to not give up. I have been practicing in home for abour a yr. now and making steady improvements on my game,a lot of which is credited to info gained from this forum (thanks, all) I plan on competing at the highest level for as long as I can- its what I have to do.
 
Most of the people in America (and I realize that all the members on this forum aren't Americans) have the resources to indulge in our rights to the pursuit of happiness. We, as anyone else in any other country, with the proper financial resources, equipment, or place, or tools, etc., will always find a way to partake in an endeavor that will take our minds off the rigors of work/life.
The first time I set a hook on a largemouth bass, I was smitten with fishing. The first time I rode a motorcycle and felt the freedom of the moment, I became a biker. I still remember the first time my Dad put that Colt 1911 .45 caliber pistol in my hand and pointed me toward a target. I was hooked on firearms. Fun is fun, and shooting pool is fun. It doesn't have to be a costly ;) sport/hobby. It can be played by almost anyone of either gender (even the in-between ones), any race, age, or intellect. Even people with physical disabilities can play. You can do it by yourself or as part of a group. You can hit a few balls around for practice or play in a league or in tournaments. I've heard people say how fun it was to simply watch the ball fall into the pocket. I heard someone once say that they got a kick of just hearing the balls clacking together. For me, pool is an ongoing challenge to do better everytime I step to the table than I did the time before. I have the same goal when I shoot hi-powered rifles. With rifles, I am constantly trying to shrink my group sizes. With pool, I am always trying to beat my high string.
Bottom line is, pool is a fun game to almost anybody who gives it a try. We only have one go at life, and don't we like to spend it doing things that are fun. Why not pool?

Maniac
 
It's addictive to me because when I play well I want to do it all day long. When I play bad I want to prove to myself I ain't that bad. There is no middle ground in pool for me, my style is Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde. I like the atmosphere of a pool room too.
 
One thing that I've always thought was interesting about pool was the use of multiple balls. There are very few games where you use more than one. (Well, golf and some others do, but each player only uses one.) Marbles is the only other game I can think of. I can't really see getting into marbles, but no offense to any marble enthusiasts present. :D

Having so many balls on the table adds to the game's complexity, which makes it challenging, and fun when you learn to predit the balls' interactions. Its even fun before you get good, with the randomness making it exciting. Pool is one of those games that you can enjoy at any skill level.

Just one of the many things I love about pool.
 
Well........

Pool is not a sport.
Pool is not a game.
It's not a hobby or a pastime.

It's a lifestyle.
 
Pool is the game that 16 years old (Wu) and 50-something (Reys) can
all be world champions.
 
Cuebacca said:
One thing that I've always thought was interesting about pool was the use of multiple balls. There are very few games where you use more than one. (Well, golf and some others do, but each player only uses one.) Marbles is the only other game I can think of. I can't really see getting into marbles, but no offense to any marble enthusiasts present. :D

Having so many balls on the table adds to the game's complexity, which makes it challenging, and fun when you learn to predit the balls' interactions. Its even fun before you get good, with the randomness making it exciting. Pool is one of those games that you can enjoy at any skill level.

Just one of the many things I love about pool.
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Which is exactly why I have a disdain for the game of 7-ball!!! IMO, not challenging enough.

Maniac
 
BazookaJoe said:
Pool is not a sport.
Pool is not a game.
It's not a hobby or a pastime.

It's a lifestyle.
Click to expand...

I thought that was surfing.....:rolleyes:

I think the reason the game is so addictive is because they are putting something in the chalk:rolleyes: ......or....for me anyway.....it could be the draw of "Money Won is Sweeter than Money Earned" thing....It has got to be one or the other.......and in recent months I have not been winning much money........;)
 
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chunchin said:
Pool is the game that 16 years old (Wu) and 50-something (Reys) can
all be world champions.
Click to expand...


I don't think Earl would agree with this. I was watching a match with him playing on TV and he looked at the crowd and said I would like to see these young guys play as good when they are in their 40's. I guess Earl is having a problem with aging. It sure doesn't affect Efren.
 
This could be a pretty illusive question. If you compared it to golf you would probably here a lot of the same answers that you see here. What happens if you compare it to some other kind of addiction, let's say alcohol. There is not a person on this earth that I would believe if they said, "I thought Jack Daniels was the best tasting beverage in the world ever since the first time I tasted it." Let's face it, Whiskey, Bourbon, Beer, Scotch, etc, etc. They all taste like shit until you acquire a taste for them. Even then I doubt there are many that drink them because they like the taste. They like what it does for them.

So, what does pool do for you? Things other than playing the game? Let's get away from these auto answers and fess up the real reason your addicted to pool.

OK, I'll start.
Locally (very locally), I'm my teams hero every week. I like it. It is probably why I went back to shooting leagues after taking a season off.
It gets me out of the house. Enough said there.

So there are two non-pool reasons that I'm addicted to pool.
 
I really enjoyed the above posts, here's my avatar;)

I found in my early years, I was able to combine body and mind, and through an incredible amount of time at the table, exercise, competition, learning, losing, and winning it was a powerful feeling to see it happen right before my eyes just as I had hoped it would but never expected it. Nothing else I have done other than my first love has ever equalled the feelings I got during those years.
Bangers will go play pool and if they make one shot, just as they had planned it makes their night, as they get better it happens twice, then three times..................
I know what that's like, when I play golf if I can hit one maybe two shots as I envisioned in 18 holes that makes me enjoy my round. It's when it keeps happening I just can't and won't walk away, nothing else is more important at that point in time, that's why it became and ADDICTION. ;)
 
I think a big reason for the addictiveness of pool is the precision required. Pool, and when I type pool I mean all cue sports, requires more precision than any other game. I hear the expression that football is a game of inches. Well, pool is a game of millimeters. Unlike other games, this level of precision is required on each and every play. Other than a ball being in the jaws, you can’t miss the contact point on the object ball by more than a millimeter or so and make the shot. Position play also requires a high level of precision.

The required precision pushes the perfectionist in us all. The addiction is the drive to strive for the perfection we can never reach. Well, not reach all the time. The game of pool can, to a point, be played “perfectly.” An example of this is a well played break and run – a game played perfectly. So the carrot of perfection is always dangled out in front of us and obtainable for brief periods of time. We get addicted to the perfection.

This is how I see it, anyhow.
 
Pool, by nature, is a social game.

The game itself is fun, but it's the people and the relationships that you have with those people that make the game fun.

In addition, it's a game of infinite shots, positions, and strategy.

The more you learn, the more enjoyable the game can be.
 
You can never quit....

Once you fire in a table length bank at a thousand miles an hour, you can never quit this game. Once you kick in a ball that is impossible to kick in, you can never quit this game. Once you run your first rack of balls, you can never quit this game. Once you have played the game with your friends and had the best of times and then realized that 4 hours has just passed in what seemed like 1/2 an hour, you can never and will never quit this game....You have now FALLEN IN LOVE WITH POOL FOR LIFE....

thanks again, Mr. J. ;-)
 
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