Trivia: Paul Newman won his only Oscar for his performance as Fast Eddie Felson in this movie.
Trivia: In one scene, Eddie comments that it's been 25 years since he played pool professionally. Paul Newman last played Felson in The Hustler, 25 years earlier.
Answer: Because it wasn't about the money or a personal issue with Vincent. Eddie had a sudden realization about his own integrity and what he was doing (helping to rig games' outcome to skew betting odds). He wanted to win legitimately against Vincent. Earlier, he had become rather fed up with Vincent's egotistical nature and arrogance, which led to them parting ways.
raywest ★