I love to bowl for money, and the day I can’t make money doing it is the day I’ll retire from it.  That being said....I’m not getting rich from it and I’m not going broke from it, it is though for myself and many others a profitable hobby.  League nights I’ll throw up $50 and it’s a good night as long as I make some.  It’s about the principle to me. 

I just try to keep things in context.

Quote from: Good Times Good Times on April 26, 2018, 06:03:39 PM

I love to bowl for money, and the day I can’t make money doing it is the day I’ll retire from it.  That being said....I’m not getting rich from it and I’m not going broke from it, it is though for myself and many others a profitable hobby.  League nights I’ll throw up $50 and it’s a good night as long as I make some.  It’s about the principle to me. 

I just try to keep things in context.

agreed. I make more than I spend. There aren't many hobbies that I can do once a week and pay for a date night.

Exactly!  I’m just trying to make a buck and enjoy spending some time while I’m on this Earth with good friends.  Make a buck, compete, quality time with friends, a challenge, traveling to tournaments and bowling in different environments....those are reasons i bowl.  Certainly there are issues with USBC I don’t like and other things (wrap 10’s on quality shots  ), but for the most part I enjoy myself and “try” to keep things light-hearted. 

Life is too short to spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on the negative aspects of this game/sport.

Exactly!  I’m just trying to make a buck and enjoy spending some time while I’m on this Earth with good friends.  Make a buck, compete, quality time with friends, a challenge, traveling to tournaments and bowling in different environments....those are reasons i bowl.  Certainly there are issues with USBC I don’t like and other things (wrap 10’s on quality shots  ), but for the most part I enjoy myself and “try” to keep things light-hearted. 

Life is too short to spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on the negative aspects of this game/sport.

 I agree with this, EXCEPT for the money thing. Nothing wrong with it, just not my bag to bowl recreational leagues for money.

 Tournaments, yes.  “Action”, yes.

 But brackets, high pots, strike pot tickets, etc etc etc.....in leagues just don’t do it for me.

 I’m in it (league bowling) for nothing more than the challenge of the game, pure and simple.

 I’ve got friends who feel just like you do about the money thing. I don’t have a problem with it, and I usually end up beating most of them anyway, and they just do not understand why I don’t get in.

 Now, I WILL make personal wagers with them. Couple of bucks, a drink, or maybe a burger and fries, something along those lines. That can be fun, but that’s about my limit.

 Bottom line, bowling should be fun. If brackets and things like that make it fun for you, then more power to you. Winning brackets and pots isn’t where I get my thrill, I get that from beating people I shouldn’t be able to beat.

 I love a good challenge.

Preach my exact feelings exactly 👏👏.  To me money= job, and that TAKES AWAY from the fun, and challenge.


To each their own.

a wise hustler once told me, "never bet more than you can lose." So 20 bucks in brackets and a $10 high game pot can yield 100-250 a night. I can afford to lose 30 to net a profit of 70-220 a night. Doesn't make it a job, just a way to pay for the weekend date night 

worst case, I have a bad night and lose 30 bucks 

I second the above opinion, bowling is a love affair for me>

Quote from: leftybowler70 on April 27, 2018, 11:34:26 AM

Understand that, HOWEVER NOT EVERYONE can afford to put up that kind of money

That's sad.  Like REALLY sad.  They probably shouldn't be bowling if the financial situation is THAT bad.

Quote from: leftybowler70 on April 27, 2018, 11:34:26 AM

or have better ways to spend it as well.

Fair.

Quote from: leftybowler70 on April 27, 2018, 11:34:26 AM

When it comes down to it, more power to you bowlers' who choose to spend, but again, I love the challenge of the game, NO amount of money will ever impede me from the game that I love.

BUT is it really "spending" if you are turning a profit?  This isn't a guarantee you'll make money every individual night....but if you show a long-term profit that's good!  Ever the more reason to get up and perform when needed.  Again, we're talking about small time money.

I get it though, you don't see it that way.  I do however understand your POV, that you just bowl to bowl.  That just seems incredibly...........I don't know.........bland?  I realize you bowl for the challenge or whatever, I DO TOO,  but it's fun when there's a reason (beyond just......like, "doing") to strike out in the 10th.

Like I was saying though, it's a self-funding hobby.  I couldn't see just doing it and it being an expense.  I can afford that expense but why CHOOSE to miss value?

I wasn't posting the numbers to sham anyone. GTGT nailed it for me though.

How about those people who buy 15+ balls a season and don't even attempt to recoup the money they invested on equipment in pots, tournaments, brackets, etc? What a waste.

They get the satisfaction of high scores and accomplishment.........and stuff.   

This a little off topic here, but for way too long I based whether or not I warmed up well and had "the look" on the lanes before I "invested" in myself and bought brackets. 

After some careful introspection I have learned that if I'm striking on every shot during warm-up, chances are that everyone else probably is too.  I'm actually better off to wait for the night when the lanes are tougher and people are already whining about their plight.  It's those nights when a mediocre score may get me through to the next round.  Mediocre I can do!

Physically, I'm not as strong as I was 10 years ago.  Mentally I'm better than ever.  To compete against the young bucks I have to be smarter, and read reaction and adjust faster than they do.  "Grind it out" when the lanes are tough instead of lamenting the difficulty of the condition.   Those nights when I have scored so-so, but was ahead of the majority can be very satisfying (mentally and financially) during the drive home.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.  I hope this helps someone either win some money or keep from losing it.  It's about the same to the bottom line.