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Billiards

We had a table growing up and played a lot in college, including some tournaments but I was below average at that level. I did play for money a lot at the bars in my early 20's but rarely for more than $40 per game. I just got a table again with the completion of our new lake house 4 months ago. It's a new Brunswick and it has been a lot of fun teaching my kids how to play.
 
I tell you what is fun is Snooker. There is a small town in central Kansas that I used to play on. That old man taught me a lot in those many afternoons into evenings. And boy, when you play for hours on a Snooker table the holes and balls look HUGE on a regular table. Man, so much fun.

There is actually a website that maps out all the known snooker tables left in your state. Kinda cool, but sad people are taking them away because they are “too hard”
 
2BFAST said:
I tell you what is fun is Snooker. There is a small town in central Kansas that I used to play on. That old man taught me a lot in those many afternoons into evenings. And boy, when you play for hours on a Snooker table the holes and balls look HUGE on a regular table. Man, so much fun.

There is actually a website that maps out all the known snooker tables left in your state. Kinda cool, but sad people are taking them away because they are “too hard”
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They're taking them away because the old timers that play Snooker are dying off, and the new generation of players won't play a game that takes that long. Plain and simple. And, they take up a ton of space. We used to practice 9 ball on a 6x12 snooker table. Crazy good for your accuracy.
 
The whole pool hall demographic is dying off, atleast on the west coast. I used to be able to go somewhere fairly close almost any night of the week and find a game or a tournament. Not so much anymore.
 
kevin81002 said:
The whole pool hall demographic is dying off, atleast on the west coast. I used to be able to go somewhere fairly close almost any night of the week and find a game or a tournament. Not so much anymore.
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This is what stopped me from playing mostly. There just aren't any good pool halls close to me. There are a couple in Tacoma and Seattle but that's not my scene. I am curious to see of there any real players at the place close to my new house. The tables are Antique Brunswick 9' with simonis cloth and they have a snooker table. I asked about tournaments but they don't have any.
 
I used to play around with pool when I was younger, and when I was in college. However, one of my stints in the USAF was at a remote location in Alaska. There were 88 men, a dog, 3 pool tables, and two ping pong tables. I got pretty proficient at both, but that was almost 50 years ago, and I haven't played more than a dozen times since then.
 
Billiards over here is pool? I grew up in a pub back in the UK, I used to absolutely hammer the pool table whenever I could.


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Dustin_J said:
Mosconi Cup starts tomorrow gents - watch it streaming for free on Facebook if you're in the U.S. https://www.facebook.com/mosconicup/

It's a pretty fun event, basically pro pool's version of the Ryder Cup.
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Nice!

On another note, I pick up a new cue tonight after work. My favorite local cuemaker has a few new cues for me to choose from.
 
I am glad this thread popped up.

I am a big pool guy... not that I play competitively, but I just really enjoy going. I have not been nearly as much as I would like lately, so I think a new stick will be the answer to that.

What is a good entry level pool cue? I am not looking to spend a mint or for the best out there.
 
Sanzabar said:
I am glad this thread popped up.

I am a big pool guy... not that I play competitively, but I just really enjoy going. I have not been nearly as much as I would like lately, so I think a new stick will be the answer to that.

What is a good entry level pool cue? I am not looking to spend a mint or for the best out there.
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Action Adventure ADV60 is solid for about $100.
 
Sanzabar said:
I am glad this thread popped up.

I am a big pool guy... not that I play competitively, but I just really enjoy going. I have not been nearly as much as I would like lately, so I think a new stick will be the answer to that.

What is a good entry level pool cue? I am not looking to spend a mint or for the best out there.
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I've actually hit a few of the Pure X cues. For the money, they hit really nice. They're all under 200 bucks.

Kind of funny... some of the better production cues on the market today are what we considered junk 20 years ago. Mainly Viking and Lucasi. Now they're all 400+.

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Schmelke makes really good cues for the money. Lots of choices, which can be a bit overwhelming, but made in the USA and good customer service.
 
So perty!!

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When getting a cue... am I looking for anything to STAY AWAY from?
 
Sanzabar said:
When getting a cue... am I looking for anything to STAY AWAY from?
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It all depends on what you want. Anything will work to play the game. But different materials (the type of woods, makeup of the joint, tip, etc) will drastically change the way a cue feels. I've always found that a steel jointed cue will have a more solid, hard hitting feel to it. While a composite jointed cue (which usually has a larger joint screw) will have more feel to it. The other aspect is what you're willing to spend. Cues like PureX play well and are all under $200. Joss cues play well and start somewhere in the $300 range and cap out around $1k. Schon Cues start in the $500 range and their higher end models go for over $2k. I have bought and sold cues back in my playing days for well over $5k, but I've personally never liked the way Schon cues feel, and I've owned about a dozen of them. It's sort of like putters... the better the reputation and the more craftsmanship that goes in to them will decipher the price. It doesn't always mean it plays better than a lower line cue. I had a Robinson Cue a long time ago we called the Candy Cane Cue. It had a ton of died ivory inlays in it and looked incredible. But at $3500, it was the worst hitting cue I've ever used. No feel to it at all. While one of my favorite playing cues was a sneaky pete (basically a house cue we cut in half and made a new shaft for) that was made by my same guy that made the cue in the pic a couple posts up when he was first starting out. I think I paid $250 for that thing back in the early 90's.
 
Couple examples of what I currently have. The first pic is a new production Joss. I bought when I first set up my table at the house... kind of an impulse buy. It retailed for just under $500, but I paid $320 for it. Awesome playing cue for the money, and one of the softer feeling steel jointed cues I've played with. The second one is a 1 of 1 handmade custom by Myron Cues, a local custom cue maker. This cue was made about 10 years ago, and never saw much playing time. It's worth around $1000, but I didn't pay anywhere near that.The Myron cue feels incredible.

Honestly though, the cheap 2 piece cures that came with my table play just fine. But you can feel the difference when you're putting English on the ball (spin.)
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Appreciate all of this... I did not realize sticks could be this pricey!

Players a good brand? Was doing some research and that name seems to pop up a ton for budget cues.
 
Sanzabar said:
Appreciate all of this... I did not realize sticks could be this pricey!

Players a good brand? Was doing some research and that name seems to pop up a ton for budget cues.
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They're a budget cue and will play just fine. Look at it this way... as long as you never hit a higher end cue, you'll never know the difference. :D

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One other thing... is it worth doing a tip change or shaft turndown? I obviously do not plan to do this big time competitively, but perhaps joining a fun league.
 
Most of the feel is in the shaft and tip. You can use a broomhandle for the butt of the cue and still make it play good with a good shaft. But buying a better shaft will still run you 150-300, so you're better off buying a better cue to begin with.
Sanzabar said:
One other thing... is it worth doing a tip change or shaft turndown? I obviously do not plan to do this big time competitively, but perhaps joining a fun league.
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Sorry, misunderstood. If you're buying a cheaper cue, definitely change out the tip. Shaft turndown... that depends on what you're comfortable with. I prefer more of a pro taper, which remains a little thinner for about the first half.

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Seeing this thread sparked my interest. I don't shoot league any more, but did for about 15 years. This is my cue, it's a Viking model F-11 cue, had it custom ordered with the leather wrap. A couple years back I added the Viking pro shaft and installed a Kamui clear tip. Thats All really, just thought I'd share.

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I converted an unused room into our house to a billiards room. Been shooting a few racks every night since my table got installed in April. Amazing how much my game has improved in that time. I've been playing with the cues that were part of my "package" when I ordered my table. I think I finally have a good idea on what I want for weight and will now look at getting a special cue for my use.
 
Quick question. Play in a league and been using a heavier break stick but want to try s lighter one as I’ve been reading about it and think I will get some good results out of that.
Any advice on some decent ones? For reference my playing cue is a black widow and I love it


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