The pool hustler is an archetype of American's gritty underbelly. Sadly though, the game seems to be over, at least according to an editorial in today's New York Times. The writer, L. Jon Wertheim, is the author of Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last American Pool Hustler. According to Wertheim, a confluence of factors killed the classic con, from the Internet to the poker boom to fraud king Kevin Trudeau's International Pool Tour. From the essay:
Hustlers who had been traveling incognito for years came out of the woodwork to try to qualify for the (International Pool Tour). Joining meant that their cover would be blown, but the money was too good to pass up.
The first three events were smashing successes. But in keeping with the circadian rhythms of pool, the boom times didn't last. Last year, after a tournament in Reno, Nev., players were informed of an inconvenient detail: the tour couldn't pay the prize money. Mr. Trudeau, once accessible and upbeat, was nowhere to be found.
The tour eventually notified players that the debts would be paid in small, periodic installments. But to date the players have yet to be paid all of the money they are owed. There hasn't been another International Pool Tour event since.
Some players were so demoralized by Mr. Trudeau's hustle that they quit the sport entirely. And the rest had become known quantities to avid amateur players. Unmasked by television and the Internet, these once-stealthy hustlers could no longer lure anyone into believing they were just passing through town, innocently looking to relax at the local poolroom.
Link to the New York Times, Link to buy Running the Table
