How Does a Pool Hustler Spend a Workday?

Practice

A pool hustler has to spend much of his day being able to master three different kinds of shots. He has to be able to make shots when the game is on the line, so he should make sure he has all of the fundamentals of his game down: straight shots, combos and banks. You don't want to miss a critical shot when there is a lot of money on the line. Second, he'll want to practice his missed shots--if he's setting someone up to play for bigger amounts of money, he'll want to make it look like he's not very good, but not to do it so obviously that he attracts suspicion. In some cases, he may want to miss in a way that sets up the other player for an easy shot, fueling his confidence. Finally, a little practice on "miracle" shots--very difficult shots that look like they happen by accident--can be useful.

Finding an appropriate spot

Hustlers always need to keep moving around before their customers wise up. So every so often, a successful pool hustler will need to find a new venue to run his racket. During the day, he can scope out potential spots and talk to the manager--find out what kind of players are there, establish a rapport, and find out if any other hustlers are working the area. After all, things get dicey when two guys are trying to hustle each other.

Setting the guy up

A good pool hustler will find his mark and start slowly, playing a few games without betting anything, and trying to lose. This will help build his mark's confidence. The next step is to introduce some gambling to the game, but only in small amounts--and to keep losing. As the mark starts to feel more confident, he'll be more likely to go along with a higher-stakes game.

Getting the Payoff

Finally, a pool hustler will try to goad his mark into a higher-stakes game. This is when the hustler needs to shine and to win the games. Sometimes he can even raise the stakes again if he wins on what looks like the lucky shot of an unskilled player.