Handbook on the side?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Hustler
HenriettaDemina — 11 years ago(January 19, 2015 12:07 AM)
When Eddie and Charlie are talking in Sarah's apartment, they both mention having a "handbook on the side" when talking about the small pool hall that Charlie might want to have after a couple more years on the road. What does this refer to? Bookmaking? Not that I know much about 50's or 60's lingo for that sort of thing but I've never heard it called that. If they'd just called it "a book", I would have assumed it was bookmaking, but handbook is new to me.
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notorious918 — 10 years ago(May 20, 2015 03:32 PM)
Or maybe he was talking about this handbook?
http://www.deceptology.com/2011/05/handbook-for-pool-hustlers.html -
gary_w_trott — 10 years ago(March 14, 2016 05:08 PM)
It makes sense that a pool hall would have something like that to give rulings on the rules of the games. I'm sure that Charlie would have one of these when he opened his place, but in regards to the movie there is no doubt in my mind that "handbook" referred to taking bets.
from Merriam-Webster.com (definition of handbook):
2. a : a bookmaker's book of bets
b : a place where bookmaking is carried on -
FilioScotia — 10 years ago(July 26, 2015 05:02 PM)
They had to be talking about running a pool hall and doing a little bookmaking on the side. It's the only thing that makes any sense. Small independent bookies were said to be running "a book". I'm guessing "handbook" was another term for small time bookies in the 50s when the novel was written.
People could play some pool and put down bets on whatever was worth betting on and the house got a cut. To think a "handbook" was some kind of guide on how to play pool is just silly. Any pool player who needs a handbook to tell him to play has no business being there.
God's Holy Trousers!! -
kag2-1 — 10 years ago(February 20, 2016 10:03 AM)
Bookmaking on horses, baseball, football, whatever.
Probably not big time, just for regular customers who want some action. The bookie might take 10% off the top. He would also need a place to lay off bets that are out of balance, so if everybody bets on say, San Francisco to win and it does, he has a larger bookmaker to bail him out.
The pool hall might just break even, but the book would make it profitable.