For the 2006 single by Rick Ross, seeHustlin'. For the 2000 album by Kardinal Offishall, seeHusslin'. For the 1975 film, seeHustling (film). For the 1964 album by Stanley Turrentine, seeHustlin' (album).
Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in asport orgame with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill intogambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both aconfidence trick andmatch fixing. It is most commonly associated with, and originated inpocket billiards (pool), but also can be performed with regard to other sports and gambling activities. Hustlers may also engage in "sharking"—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 "stakehorse"—a person who provides the money for the hustler to bet with (and who may assist in the hustling)—in exchange for a substantial portion of all winnings. Another form of hustling (often engaged in by the same hustlers who use the skill-disguising technique) is challenging "marks" (swindle targets) to bet ontrick 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 offeringspeed chess against any takers. Unlike most hustlers, chess hustlers are often assumed to be skilled and are seen as a challenge.
Pool hustlers usedeception andmisdirection in order to win cash from inexperienced players (or skilled players inexperienced with the world of hustling). A skilled hustler:
will usually play with a low-quality "house"cue stick provided by thepool hall, or an unadorned but high-quality personal cue that looks like one, known as a "sneaky pete" (or, with the nascence of local competitive league play in recent years, may play with a flashy-looking but evidently low-end personal cue, to give the impression that the hustler is a beginning league player);
will typically play a game or two for "fun" or for low bets (a beer or equivalent amount of cash, for example) in order to check out the opponent and give the impression that money can easily be won, often losing on purpose (known as "sandbagging" or "dumping") – 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 (ones crucial for winning), while missing many simple ones, thus making early victories appear to be sheerluck (a variant being the theatrical almost-making of shots that inexperienced players may think of as crucial mistakes, but which really give away very little advantage);
may pretend to be intoxicated, unintelligent, or otherwise impaired (that is, until it is time to run the table or make a game-winning shot).
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.
Pool hustling is the subject of numerous works of popular culture. InDamon Runyon's short stories "Dream Street Rose" (More Than Somewhat, 1937) and "Madame La Gimp" (Furthermore, 1938), the fictional characters Frank and Judge Henry G. Blake respectively are pool hustlers.[1] Other examples include films such asThe Hustler (1961) andThe Color of Money (1986) (both adapted from earlier novels,see "Books", below), among others(see "Films", below). 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, includingThe Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Hustling the Hustler" (season 2, episode 5, 1962), theQuantum Leap episode "Pool Hall Blues" (sn. 2, ep. 18, 1990),The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Banks Shot" (sn. 1, ep. 22, 1991),The Steve Harvey Show episodes "Pool Sharks Git Bit" (sn. 1, ep. 12, 1996) followed up with "What You Won't Cue for Love" (sn. 3, ep. 6, 1998), and theDrake & Josh episode "Pool Shark" (sn. 2, ep. 5, 2004). Additionally, the main characters of the TV seriesSupernatural,Dean andSam Winchester, are also pool hustlers as one of their sources of income (various episodes, 2005–2020).
Efren Reyes, a Filipino pool player who hustled in the United States under the fake name "Cesar Morales" in the 1980s. Later won many international pool tournaments, and by acclamation considered to be the best pool player of all-time
Byrne, Robert; McGoorty, Danny.McGoorty: A Billiard Hustler's Life, also published asMcGoorty: A Pool Room Hustler. (nonfiction; published in 1984/2003)
"Minnesota Fats" inThe Hustler (played byJackie Gleason in the film version) – the smooth character whose moniker Rudolf Wanderone(above) lifted after publication of Tevis's novel
"Edward 'Fast Eddie' Felson" inThe Hustler andThe Color of Money (played byPaul Newman in the film versions)
"Vincent (Vince) Lauria" inThe Color of Money (played byTom Cruise in the film version)
"Grady Seasons", said to be "the best money player in the world", inThe Color of Money (played by Keith McCready,above, in the film version)
"Charlie 'Black Magic' Walters" (played by Robert "Rags" Woods &Scott Bakula) in theEmmy Award-winningQuantum Leap episode "Pool Hall Blues"
