psql cli tool and connection pooling

I would love to see a feature on psql cli tool where i can point it to a
connection pool provider back end instead of a postgres host. I read that
pgpool2 emulates a postgres server, but i've never tried it myself. I know
that some languages provide connection pooling, but i'm relying heavily on
psql and its features and i think built-in master/slave connection pooling
in psql cli would make my day, and that of any other dirty bash scripters
out there.

Can anyone comment on their experience with pgpool2 in a high activity
production environment?
Are there other tools or suggestions anyone can point me to?
Is there any appetite to support connection pooling natively by either the
postmaster or the psql cli or some other device that could be contrib to
the source tree?
Does it even matter? Is server version 10 ddos-proof, other than
max_connections?

Thanks.