Is it common among hobby-snooker-players to play for money?

Question

Snooker is a very popular game in Great Britain and Ireland. Most Top-Players come from these Isles. Nearly 90% probably. I don't know the history of this sport, on TV it looks a bit elitist, fine dressed players :) I'm asking if it is common to play snooker for money in Britain, because it could somehow explain to me why most Top-Players come from there, more competition, incentive for good players. In Germany it's not really popular and we play mostly for fun and not those several hours lasting matches.

So do many non-Top but good hobby-Players in Great Britain play for substantial money amounts in clubs and pubs? It looks similar to Poker like a Luck&Skill game, where betting money would seem normal when playing longer matches

Answer 1

I cannot really comment on whether or not it's common to play for money, however I presume it would happen occasionally as with pretty much all other pub environment games.

Relating the success of players from the UK and Ireland to gambling however, is rather inaccurate, in my opinion. I think it's more of a culture and audience thing; as in the more people who know, follow and play the game the more "experts" will emerge. Allow me to illustrate this with an example from football. I believe the early dominance of Latin American nations in football is essentially a direct consequence of the central value football has in these countries. The recent shift in dominance towards the European nations came after the establishment of youth academies and years of extensive outreach programs (especially in Germany :)).

Similarly the over-representation of African Americans in NBA or NFL, or Caucasian Americans in NHL (ice hockey) can be similarly attributed to the culture of these sports being deeply rooted in the respective communities. Long story short, think like this: how many kids grow up dreaming to become a snooker champion in Germany vs in the UK. ;)

As for a history of snooker here's a useful link.