IMO the rewards pool should be an incentive mechanism for quality / intelligent posts. This is unlikely to emerge from the saloon as it's a hub for general chitchat / shitposting.

In the event that someone has something worthwhile to say, they can take it outside the saloon if they want to be compensated appropriately.

I get that "quality" is somewhat subjective, but I think it's also quite obvious that the saloon is different from other threads and perhaps should not be treated the same when it comes to rewards.

I say all that as a regular poster here who has gamed the rewards system more than most. I don't want that personally so I recycle it all back into the rewards pool. But I'd rather not have to.