Bob Jewett said:

I've seen reports of players getting a limited amount of spin with no tips prior to Mingaud, and I've done that myself in a rec room where there were no tips on the cues. It seems reasonable that Mingaud figured out how to press or treat the leather so it could last. Tip leather seems a lot harder than most of the other leather I've seen. I don't know of any contemporary sources that discuss tip evolution around 1800.

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You are a trusted source, but I hope you can remember the source regarding players spinning the ball before Mingaud. Maybe it was in the Thurston's translation, I bought a reprint recently so this will give me a reason to read it.
Regarding the hardness of leather, I had to restore an 1800's cue long ago - the type with the bone butt cap which had the half leather bottom. The leather was missing, so the only hardened, worn, beveled leather I could find was on an old dress shoe. It looked exactly like leather on my other similar cues so I used it. It seems logical that Mingaud had limited sources for his leather discovery apart from what every person at the time had on hand - or on foot as the case may have been. Maybe that is why Sherlock Holmes said to doctor Watson - "the game is afoot!"

yes he was/is predictable, and likely still is.

and most that have his operation do fine and he will be back to his old self in no time.

he played to a 714 against 600 players and won. his fargo rating was lower than them but he played much higher, so the higher playing player won just as forgo would predict.

if he played to his rating he would not likely finished in the list.

why or how he played way over his rating needs to be determined.

Hungarian said:

I always liked Le Pros shaved down to about 40% thickness. They got hard pretty quick.

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I ilked Le Pros and preferred them at full height.

Blue Hog ridr said:

Hi folks, I haven't been around for quite a few Moons now. Too long. Last couple of days, I have been doing an inventory on my small collection.
At 68, thinking about Thinning the Herd a bit. I have a couple of custom Sneaky Petes. One is an ordinary Pete, the other is what you might call,
"A not so Sneaky, Sneaky Pete". All fancied up and such. I can't remember the makers name now. We used to chat frequently. I know there is more than one
cue maker that makes Petes. But, if members would toss a few names at me, I know that I would know it as soon as I saw it. I did a few different AZ Search queries which all came up blank, I even tried Face Book. He may or may not still be around. I'd appreciate any help with this. All My Best. Terry.

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Nice to see you again my friend. If I remember correctly, one of your cues might have been a Lee Peppers.
Welcome back!

My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

I fat-fingered the enter button, and you caught it while I was editing.

I have a Andy Gilbert
It’s used cue so has blemishes in butt
Asking 500

What’s your price range?

hunger strike said:

... You are correct, leather was used before Mingaud, but my long-considered guess is that it was used to strike but not to spin the ball. This seems to be the only possibility, that Mingaud invented the cue tip for spin. Because nothing else explains why he was able to mesmerize crowds and make a living with exhibitions. ...

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I've seen reports of players getting a limited amount of spin with no tips prior to Mingaud, and I've done that myself in a rec room where there were no tips on the cues. It seems reasonable that Mingaud figured out how to press or treat the leather so it could last. Tip leather seems a lot harder than most of the other leather I've seen. I don't know of any contemporary sources that discuss tip evolution around 1800.

What’s your price point?

Rocket354 said:

It's between Rita and Chezka for the title of best current female player*.

*who actually plays tournaments regularly. The reclusive Siming Chen remains an enigma.

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Where would you place Jasmin Ouschan and Seo Seoa?

JohnnyOzone said:

Don't know if anybody's been watching any of this, but Savannah Easton's game has taken a quantum leap in this tournament. She's into the Finals after beating Wei 8-3. I've watched her last 4 matches and I haven't seen her play anything close to this level before.

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The fact that she's that good at 16 is incredible.