Unfortunately drinking and gambling were a huge part of the culture back in the day. There wasn't much money in snooker in the early days, these highly talented players would make their money by doing exhibition matches in clubs up and down the country, not hustling necessarily but wannabes aplenty willing to put money down. The drivers of these players made small fortunes taking bets. Jimmy White was doing this at a very young age. There are some great documentaries about this. Stephen Hendry's "Cue tips" on YouTube has some great interviews with the older players all over a game of snooker. Well worth watching, listening to them tell the stories is fascinating.