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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 (or gambling for higher than current stakes) 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 (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 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 hustlers use deception and misdirection in order to win cash from inexperienced players (or skilled players inexperienced with the world of hustling). A skilled hustler:
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. In Damon 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 as The Hustler (1961) and The 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, including The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Hustling the Hustler" (season 2, episode 5, 1962), the Quantum 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 the Drake & Josh episode "Pool Shark" (sn. 2, ep. 5, 2004). Additionally, the main characters of the TV series Supernatural, Dean and Sam Winchester, are also pool hustlers as one of their sources of income (various episodes, 2005–2020).
In a similar vein, but about other sports:
