money does matter
depends on why you're buying the cue and what your preferences are.
best cue for the money is subjective depending on who you talk to. personally i'd go big or go cheap, the market is a little slow, and there are some good deals out there, for collectability and cues holding their value, middle of the road cues from non HOF cuemakers priced 500-2K seem to be a little to volatile for me, unfortunately i live in a extremely small market, which makes it difficult for me to move product without taking a loss.
if you're buying new, stay away from production cues, you'll lose half your cash as soon as you start hitting balls with it. and your chances of it becoming a collectable is slim to none,
if you're looking for a fancy nice looking and playing cue, best bang for the dollar IMHO would be a JD custom. and his cues play great.
Al Bautista would fall under this category as well, but i've never played with one of his cues, and they're a little pricier.
the nice thing with cues like the above, is that they seem to hold their value fairly well, even in this crappy market due to the fact that you can't get another cue that looks as good, at that low of a price point.
if money is no object, you TRY and place an order with any of the HOF cuemakers, good luck though because you'll be waiting a while, but i'm sure it'll be well worth it.