All these pool stories. OK Here's mine.
First of all, although I enjoy the game, I suck at it.
But when I was 19, there were a number of pool halls in the neighborhood. Also at that time I was part of a new, experimental program of "mainlining" deaf students into the community colleges. These kids have spent their entire lives institutionalized in deaf programs and schools throughout the country. I was their age, had a hearing problem, so was immediately accepted by them. They did not trust almost any adult and most hearing people. I became the liaison between the deaf kids and the staff there.
Two blocks from the school was a large pool hall. I was asked to "chaperone" a group of deaf kids for a pool hall visit. There was an older deaf guy who hustled there and met them there. What unfolded before my eyes was amazing and soon became local folklore.
It turns out that these kids were raised in environments where there was and abundance of pool tables. They have been practicing since they were children. And since most people think of deaf kids as being "slow" they made the perfect hustlers. My part in this scheme was to orient these budding hustlers to this new, garish pool hall environment. It took a little while for them to get there interaction with hearing people down. And they were not permitted outside of the dormitories at night at first.
But over about three months, they learned to blend in, And they started to let them out at night. They went to school during the day. The hustled pool at night. After awhile, they started hitting all the pool halls in town. And the average pool player in town soon was poorer for the experience. Some of those kids, who never help a regular job in their life, were buying cars with their earnings. They were taking cabs everywhere, eating in nice restaurants and wearing nice clothes.
They called me in to ask if I knew anything about it. I did not know how extensive it had become. After a few polite inquires, I told them to tone it down and not buy anything that would draw attention to themselves. Since I was "one of them", they took my advice. After all, I wasn't telling them to stop. Just cool it a little. I ran into some of those kids years later. They were still hustling pool. And it was a big portion of their income.
And they were grateful to me. They were kind enough to give me a few lessons. But I never had the eyesight or physical coordination for it. But I still like to play a game now and then.