Hustling


Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence trick and match fixing. It is most commonly associated with, and originated in pocket billiards, but also can be performed with regard to other sports and gambling activities. Hustlers may also engage in ""—distracting, disheartening, enraging, or even threatening their opponents—to throw them off. Hustlers are thus often called "pool sharks". Professional and semi-pro hustlers sometimes work with a ""—a person who provides the money for the hustler to bet with —in exchange for a substantial portion of all winnings. Another form of hustling is challenging "" to bet on trick shots that seem nearly impossible but at which the hustler is exceptionally skilled.
Chess hustlers are quite common in urban areas in the United States and elsewhere, often offering speed chess against any takers. Unlike most hustlers, chess hustlers are often assumed to be skilled and are seen as a challenge.

Pool hustling techniques

Pool hustlers use deception and misdirection in order to win cash from inexperienced players. A skilled hustler:
  • will usually play with a low-quality "house" cue stick provided by the pool hall, or an unadorned but high-quality personal cue that looks like one, known as a "" ;
  • will typically play a game or two for "fun" or for low bets in order to check out the opponent and give the impression that money can easily be won, often losing on purpose - with the intent of winning a much larger wager later against a predictably overconfident opponent;
  • will pocket some difficult and impressive shots or make surprisingly secure safety shots, while missing many simple ones, thus making early victories appear to be sheer luck ;
  • may pretend to be intoxicated, unintelligent, or otherwise impaired.
  • when betting on trick shots, may intentionally miss the first or several times and lose a small amount, then raise the bet to an amount well beyond the loss and succeed at the well-practiced feat.
Many of these ploys can easily be mistaken for the honest faults of a less-than-exceptional player. The engendered doubt and uncertainty is what allows hustling to succeed, with the "faults" being dropped when a significant amount of money is at stake.

In popular culture

Pool hustling is the subject of numerous works of popular culture. In Damon Runyon's short stories "Dream Street Rose" and "Madame La Gimp", the fictional characters Frank and Judge Henry G. Blake respectively are pool hustlers. Other examples include films such as The Hustler and The Color of Money , among others . An examplar in music is Jim Croce's 1972 song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", in which the character Slim teaches a lesson to Big Jim about pool hustling. Pool hustling is also the principal subject of episodes of various television programs, including The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Hustling the Hustler", the Quantum Leap episode "Pool Hall Blues", The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Banks Shot", The Steve Harvey Show episodes "Pool Sharks Git Bit" followed up with "What You Won't Cue for Love", and the Drake & Josh episode "Pool Shark". Additionally, the main characters of the TV series Supernatural, Dean and Sam Winchester, are also pool hustlers as one of their sources of income.

Notable real-life hustlers

;In a similar vein, but about other sports:

  • Notable films about hustlers and hustling

  • The Hustler
  • The Color of Money
  • Stickmen
  • Poolhall Junkies
  • Turn the River
In a similar vein, but about other sports:
  • White Men Can't Jump - about basketball hustling
  • Searching for Bobby Fischer - film about chess and hustlers in chess
  • Kingpin - comedy about a bowling hustler
  • Duets - features a karaoke bar hustler
  • Striker - Bollywood drama about hustling in carrom, a billiards-related table game
  • Marty Supreme - the titular character is a table tennis hustler

    Notable fictional hustlers

  • "Cue Ball' Carl" and "Jericho Hudson" in Shooting Gallery
  • "Johnny Doyle" and "Brad" in Poolhall Junkies.
  • "Minnesota Fats" in The Hustler - the smooth character whose moniker Rudolf Wanderone lifted after publication of Tevis's novel
  • "Edward 'Fast Eddie' Felson" in The Hustler and The Color of Money
  • "Vincent Lauria" in The Color of Money
  • "Grady Seasons", said to be "the best money player in the world", in The Color of Money
  • "Charlie 'Black Magic' Walters" in the Emmy Award-winning Quantum Leap episode "Pool Hall Blues"