Why is Pool So Addictive?

Mr. J said:
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. ;-)
Click to expand...

MR. J.
Now:D "thats" :D what I'm talking about. I was at the US Open when Tommy Kennedy beat Archer like a step child.....you could tell the balls were as big as grapefruits and TKO gave me goose bumps just watchin' em that day, if St. Peter wanted action, he had no chance against Tommy that day. ;)
 
pool is adicting, because u never can stop to learn.

im a learning adict, ive got a math brain, and ive got special skills in spacial visualisation, so hard to find a better sport, but the main thing is the learning skill.

it seems like every day i can learn something. it just never stops. once u are perfect in one thing, there are a thousand other things u can practise. it just NEVER ever gets boring, and u can push you goal further everytime uve achieved something. its a pritty cheap sport. u dont need anything if u dont mind playing with a house cue.

its game that reflects life as close as it can get. its all about stabilty, focus, concentration, solving problems and making life easyer, finding your own way and style, u can release anger, sadness, emotions when you are playing. pool is the solution to everything in my life. thats why i love this lifestyle so much.

solly, a happy poolplayer
 
Here is some proof of how addictive pool is...It took me one try to quit smoking.....I have tried taking two weeks off and then quitting pool over 100 times.........I can't ever get past the two weeks part....;)

Part of the problem is...I am just barely good enough at this game to make me think I can actually be really good....If I totally sucked at the game, it may be a lot easier to quit......

Go figure...Too good to quit....not good enough to beat the champions......stuck in no man's land...
 
Last edited:
BRKNRUN said:
Here is some proof of how addictive pool is...It took me one try to quit smoking.....I have tried taking two weeks off and then quitting pool over 100 times.........I can't ever get past the two weeks part....;)

Part of the problem is...I am just barely good enough at this game to make me think I can actually be really good....If I totally sucked at the game, it may be a lot easier to quit......

Go figure...Too good to quit....not good enough to beat the champions......stuck in no man's land...
Click to expand...


We've all been there and done it.
 
Cuebacca said:
I can't really see getting into marbles, but no offense to any marble enthusiasts present. :D
Click to expand...

You jerk! Marbles is the most beautiful game in the world. Haven't you ever
seen 3rd Rock from the Sun, marbles runs the universe! ;-)

I can't stop playing. I love precision movement. Knowing that you have
to do something _just_this_way_ to make it work. It's the same reason
I loved rock climbing. You look at the problem, analyze and solve it
in your head, and then execute as best you can. Repeat...

Ummm yeah...the second paragraph was about pool, not marbles.;-)
 
I love it mostly because it's a one person game in which that you can really only beat yourself. When it's your turn at the table you are the one that determines the outcome of the game (win or lose), there is no team behind you to thank or blame for whatever happens. :)

The reason pool is not a great spectator sport is that it's a lot like baseball. Nobody really wants to play right field, they want to pitch or bat.

But...I'm not addicted.........I can stop anytime I want to......I can.....I really can.....(but not in this lifetime).

;)
 
Before I met my wife, I would work 12-14 hr days then go to my friends poolhall and shoot til 3-4 in the morning and he would just look at me like "What are you doing to yourself???" But I was honestly never tired when I shot pool, and I would wake up in time in the morning. Then my wife and daughter brought routine and immense joy into my life and now I barely get 10 hours of pool a week, but those 10 hours are sure fun. Can't wait to get my table set up in my house.....................
Paul
 
Pool is addictive to me because

I have an addictive personality. When I play pool sometimes someone has to literally pry me of the table because I'm always saying, one more rack...ok this is the last rack...three more racks and thats it...it is time to stop...4 hours later I'm still at the able. Maybe if I gamled I'd have to leave the table earlier because I'd run out of money but that would lead to another life altering adiction. That is why I avoid Casinos like the plague. Did I mention it took me 32 years to kick the smoking habit and 25 years to kick the alchohol habit. Fortunately drugs were avoide like the plague as well.
When I played pin balll as a teenager and college student I would play forever until I ran out of money. When I play cards or a game boy I can play hours non-stop...thank God we play low stakes nickle ante poker, hearts, spades, euchre etc. When I go to the driving range I can hit golf balls until my arms are sore...2+ large buckets at the very least..
Lets face it. Those who are addicted have a compulsive/obsessive disorder. Thiose who play it for a living must have an addictive /compulsive disorder to play at that level...
My diagnosis will cost you $50...pay up...:D
ruk
 
Last edited:
Truer words were never written than these:

Page 4 of Dr. Bob Fancher's book, Pleasures of Small Motions:

"Play is the enjoyment at leisure of abilities that originated in our struggle for survival. When our ancestors ran after buffalo, throwing rocks and swinging clubs, they were not playing; they were surviving."

"We evolved the capacity to play because play hones skills that matter to our survival."

Page 5: "This helps us understand why we take interest in games that depend on skills for which our bodies are not particularly well suited."

"When we play pool, we hone and enjoy our capacities for small motions. We immerse ourselves in the pleasures of precision."

"Precision matters, for our survival, and is precisely because it does not come automatically to humans that we can play at it."
 
I pretty much agree with everyone's thoughts so far, especially mthornto's and rukiddingme's.

Let me add a little extra insight; a lot of the attraction of pool (and golf for that matter) is the SELF-DELUSION involved. When you make an even slightly difficult shot (or sequence of shots), you know in your heart that the best player in the world could not have done any better. It's kind of nice knowing deep down that you are as good as the best player in the world; even if its only for a short while.

P.S. - this observation, of course, applies to everyone EXCEPT breakup; who has obviously never made a shot of even slight difficulty.
 
For me, it goes back to the opening line of Poolhall Junkies:
"The poolhall is the great equalizer. In the poolhall, no one cares how old you are, how young you are, what color your skin is, or how much money you have in your pocket. Its about how you move."

I can't think of many other sports (besides Golf) where someone the size of me could beat a 275lb man one on one.
 
I joined an APA league as a favor for mt stepson. His team lost a player in the second week of the session and he asked me to filll in. After about 2 weeks I knew I was hooked.
I love golf and use to be an avid bowler. I Love the individual challenge as well as the team effort. It's better than bowling because of the diverse challenges you face EVERY game.
I love the fact that pool is a game you never really lose until the opponent sinks the 8 ball. When bowling you can be mathematically eliminated before the match is over, and in many other sports you can be realistically be beat before the game is over, i.e. like golf with 1 hole to play you're 8 strokes down.
I've been playing about 2 years now. I've read numerous books and love watching the other players in an effort to learn and improve my game. As you all know, you don't have to be strong,big, small, or athletic. Hell, you don't even have to be as good a shot as your opponent to defeat him if you imploy a good strategy.
I will be playing this game until I can't stand up anymore. Come to think of it, it's a game you can even play if you're on oxygen.
 
Island Drive said:
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?
Click to expand...

Because it's every game imaginable, right here, right now, in living 3D color, and you don't get smashed doing it.

Pool is the bomb. Rack 'em!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top