Playing pool to beat poverty

from Channel 4 News

In the UK it is consigned to the pub, but in the Philippines pool is becoming both a national sport and a way out of poverty.

Young teenage boys, some from Manila's slums, are practising the game for hours on end in a bid to become champions and reap the financial benefits.

With almost half of Filipinos living on £1 a day or less, Dindo Tarayo, 14, has his own manager and sometimes wins 3,000 to 5,000 pesos (£34-£57) from each betting competition.

Meanwhile, Edgar Castillo, a 16-year-old boy who lives in a slum area in Manila, shuttles his time between college classes and the pool hall.

He makes his earnings by winning bets and hands over the profits to his parents. He said: "I'm hoping one day I will win games like the professional players and world pool champions."

Alex Pagulayan, three times world champion, says it is not just competitiveness which drives the pool players. "Most of the players here, they do this for a living. So if they don't play good, they don't eat."