HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Highlights of the World Cup and other sporting events are shown on big-screen televisions in Ruwa, on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. But all eyes are on the pool table… and the money.
Among them is Levite Chisakarire, 18 years old.
“I have to take the money home… there’s a lot of money today,” he said, holding a pool stick and waiting for his next opponent.
At stake is a top prize of $150, a princely sum in a country where the majority earn just over $100 a month, according to official government figures, and where about half of the 15 million people live in extreme poverty, according to the World Food Programme.
“It can go a long way to paying the bills,” said youngster Chisakarire, the youngest player in contention for the award of the day.
Previously a minority sport played in wealthy areas of Zimbabwe, billiards has grown in popularity over the years, first as a hobby and now as a way of survival for many in a country where full-time jobs are very difficult to find.
Unable to continue his education after graduating from high school with low grades in 2019, Chisakarire struggled to find employment in Zimbabwe’s struggling industries. The COVID-19 outbreak has meant that her father, a truck driver, has lost his regular job. So Chisakarire began hanging out at an illegal tavern where patrons dodged or bribed the police to ignore pandemic restrictions so they could drink beer and play pool.
His hobby turned into a skill and he showed a knack for shooting round balls into pockets. Soon this helped solve his financial problems as he started betting on his games and winning. These days, he makes about $300 in a good month playing pool, he says.
He is not the only one. The majority of Zimbabweans earn their living through informal activities, which include selling tomatoes at roadside stalls and also playing billiards, according to an October labor force survey by the agency. country statistics. About half of young people aged 15 to 34 are unemployed and not in education or training.
Some, like Chisakarire, find their livelihood at the pool tables.
“Snooker has become popular as a form of bar entertainment, but is now proving more popular than football in many places,” said Michael Kariati, a veteran Zimbabwean sports journalist of more than 30 years. “It has become an extremely competitive sport with people betting and surviving.”
In Harare alone, the number of professional players has quadrupled to around 800 in the past five years, according to Keith Goto, spokesman for the Harare Professional Pool Association.
Then there are gambling which has grown exponentially. You find pool tables everywhere you go in the townships,” he said. “He offers some form of employment and he pays through bets.”
Others warn that betting is a dangerous habit that can have disastrous effects on families. But with so many out of work and Zimbabwe’s dire economic outlook, many people are scrambling desperately to make money from a pool cue.
Makeshift pool arches are popping up in bars, verandas in front of shops, and just about any open space. Some enterprising residents have pool tables in their homes where they charge people 50 cents to gamble and place bets in violation of city laws that require such businesses to be properly licensed. Tables are often worn and wobbly, but people don’t seem to care.
In Warren Park, a Harare township, people skipped the country’s biggest local football derby at the country’s biggest stadium nearby to gather around pool tables where money was changing hands rapidly.
For quick money, betting takes ingenious ways. Instead of playing the entire 8-ball game, some bet on the position of the black 8-ball after the game’s first shot, also called the break. Others kick the best of three balls. An expert gambler offered to play with one hand because people were too hesitant to bet against him.
The authorities sometimes carry out so-called clean-up operations to confiscate pool tables scattered everywhere. Often, city bylaws are simply paid off with as little as a $2 bribe to look away. Most bettors in low-income townships place dollar bets on games in which they can win $3 or $4.
In Ruwa, the competition is more organized and the stakes higher. Each club member paid $10 in entry fees, which went to the prize money. Recently, 31 players paid to participate. Dozens more were spectators, cheering and betting on their favorite players.
“Imagine bringing in $150! “That’s more than many people with profitable jobs earn per month,” said spokesperson Goto. “Billiards should now move from bars to schools and community halls like other sports, it has become mainstream after all.”
For Chisakarire, the 18-year-old, billiards has become more than a game. From playing and betting in backyard taverns, he dreams bigger.
“It changed my life,” he said before throwing his next shot to win the tournament and pocket $150. “I can see myself playing in Europe one day.”
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