working for a living and pool

Fact

gpeezy said:
i'm usually the drunkest guy in the building.
Click to expand...


gpeezy - 1st - can you line up another lock for me - your end is in the mail................................................ Just kidding

- 2nd - I would recommend scheduling your time. We're at most of the same events and since I had started scheduling a month in advance it has become a little easier.

-3rd- Only practice during the week - that way your not matched up until 4am. Friday and Saturday - Action or Tournament or Both - Every weekend
 
eagleshot

good to see you made it from memphis ok.yeah brian got over it.i still think thats the game between you two.hell when people play an even game it doesn't mean its a hill hill thriller everytime.he just hates to lose like anyone else.good to see you fire him in though.just made me look a little bad there ass.you can just buy me a beer in chattanooga next time.
 
It's pretty tough to excel at both the workplace and in pool. The path I chose was the workplace and it paid off. When I am making more than Allison, probably even with endorsements, well, it doesn't justify making pool my priority. I get my wins every once in awhile, but I am usually not in stroke until the tournament is over, lol.

When I played on the WPBA, I looked at the top 64 players and there were only about 10 people on there who had kids at home, and they had a husband to relieve them to go practice. And none of them except me had a fulltime job that did not involve pool. None of them had 2 kids to raise as the primary breadwinner.

I do wonder sometimes just how good I might have become if I had dedicated my life to pool, instead of it being just a sidelight to family and work. I wore so many hats than just those 3 too. So, I was never much good in the WPBA tournaments..I froze up and hardly ever played my game....just way too intimidated and not confident at all. I feel privileged to even have been able to attend, especially given the extra-curricular stuff I did.

Yes, spending a bazillion hours honing your game will get you into the Hall of Fame, but I wouldn't trade it for the security and love a job and kids give you.
 
a short story

i've posted before in a way askin peopel what pool was worth to them.i thought when i was 18 all i wanted to do was play pool.i then had a best friend of mine die in a car wreck and i started spending more time with my friends with a mixture of pool in my other time.girls came and went with the wind.i still spent as much time as possible around the game but between hangin out partying with friends or late night in poolhalls i didn't treat my job like i should have.(like i've said i got there 2 21/2 hours late all the time)well they would not give me a raise of course due to me being undependable.i was the best at my job but i only worked 28-35 hrs a week.so i quit there and get a job building privacy fences making more money but i hurt my back.my backs not bad but it isn't good either.when i hurt my back it took a lot of time away from playin (at least three months without playin a full rack of 9 ball).but now i have an easy job that pays pretty good money,super easy,but,i find it boring.all i think about all day is getting off work and maybe going to hit a few balls around.or i look online and see a tournament and i started looking to see what i can do to go to it.the only thing that keeps me from just taking off and playin everyday is the simple fact that a george thats 35,40 years old(by the way i'm george)might have regret that he didn;t take care of life in general.so i'm finding the happy medium.i might not reach my potenial now but maybe i'll run into some wealth where that will all change and i can play all the time.i just hope my heart to play doesn't leave.
 
TommyT said:
You know the old saying." Time flies when your having fun." :)
Click to expand...

And you are correct about that. When I was staying out till 2-4 in the morning, it was because the hall was alive with action or characters or just plenty of friends hanging out. That could be the other part of why I don't stay out late anymore, the friends and the good times are no longer there anymore.

You are very correct!
ez
 
I didn't read the whole post but, from experience, I can tell you that playing and working is tough action if you want to play well. In my opinion, if you do work and you still want to play well, one of the best things you can do is buy your own table. I don't know how I'd be playing right now if I didn't own a table. It's just too difficult to find the time to practice often enough when you work full-time. You have to be able to hit balls when it's convenient for you. Before I bought a table, I'd get off work, come home, take a shower, run out and get something to eat, then go to the pool room and, if I was lucky, I wouldn't have to wait around for a table. The whole ordeal was a pain in the ass. Not to mention, it isn't like I'd have a lot of time to hit balls anyway because I couldn't be at the pool room all night because I'd have to work the next morning. I started playing so bad that I ended up just completely quitting pool for over 3 years. I didn't so much as put my cue together for 3 years. Finally, I started to get the urge to play again and, when that happened, I came to the conclusion that I could get in enough practice to at least be competitive if I had a table at home. I'm not saying that I play 100% all of the time now, but at least I don't feel like I'm picking up a cue for the first time every time I flip the coin. When I am playing all the time I can pretty much always find an hour or two each day to hit some balls ... and I am married, have kids and have another on the way. :) It doesn't make up for the fact that I don't get to actually play anyone very often, but it does make up for never being able to hit balls on top of not competing very often.
 
funniest dammnest thing thing I heard from an Australian Master commenting on his friend was that he said "Luke plays better when he's working" From that and it suprised me because logically you think if all your time is free the best player you'll be but I don't think that anymore really. And its just not pratical for everyone else. Maybe pool can too boring. What are you going to do today? Play pool, oh yeah. Who would want that for a job. Just the super-freaks in my opinion. But work, the pressure of it, the torment of it gives you the need to unwind, hang out and have fun and thats what most players do. Most players don't run rack after rack like a brilliant machine. :cool:
You have to something on the side. Can you imagine pro pool players needing a hobby. Well perhaps they do and it aren't pool. Reyes plays chess....For most of us, its a hobby, recreation. I like it like that.
 
Last edited:
I don't know how much time you need to play pool but I thought I played a lot. I work full time and taking 12 credits at school (working on my Bachelor's) but I still have time to play 4-5 hours a night without losing sleep or showing up late to work.

You need to scale down the pool. 7-8 hours a night might be overkill.
 
Gerry said:
I was in your shoes in my more formative years, and I was lucky enough to work 1 mile from a great action room. Eventually I took on a part time job at the room to save on table time and play while I worked and did cue repairs.

Now I have a plumbing company, and can do what i want to some extent.

I just wish our great SPORT! would let more folks make a good living and realize their dreams...

Gerry
Click to expand...

PLUMBING? Sure, come on down to the Katrina wasteland and replumb my gutted fishing camp and we'll hit the pool halls and tournaments in stride. :D :D
JoeyA
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top