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List of pro players who stick to wood as their playing shaft

L
I highly doubt that wood will go away either for amateurs or pros. There are too many elite players using wood, including young ones like Seo Seoa (just won the women's 9 ball championship) and the Ko Brothers. And what's interesting about their cues in particular is that they appear to be old school shafts with 13mm or so tip diameter and long ferrules. Kinda shows me that the equipment stuff is very unimportant relative to skill.

As for amateurs, I'm only 30 and most of my buddies play with either wood or a hybrid shaft. On league night, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the playing cues I see are carbon. I play with a Meucci Pro shaft and have no desire to switch to Carbon.

I am big on using a glove though, that's one of the new school habits I personally prefer.
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Gold Crown 7 Revealed

bradsh98
iusedtoberich said:
Here is the new barbox. Looks like it might be the one used in the Ultimate Pool (I was mistaken earlier). From what I gathered on FB there might be 2 or 3 of these floating around right now, but they have not been offered for general sale yet.

Tournament Elite (brand new model from 2025/26). Similar design language to GC7.
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The 2 tables are completely different, yet also seem quite similar. It doesn't look like a single piece of the visible portions of the table is carried over from the GCcoin to the Tournament Elite. It looks to me like Global is still the manufacturer, because the bill collector mechanism is exactly the same. The article below from BW states that bill collector is Global's own. I find it quite interesting that BW developed a new barbox to be similar design language to the GC7, when the GCcoin was still so new. That means to me they are really behind the GC7, and might be looking to make a big push in the commercial space.

Here is the article from Brunswick when the GCcoin was released. It's a long read, but has a lot of the recent company history if you are interested, and how Nick from the GC7 videos came on board. It also verifies from the horse's mouth that the GCcoin was made by Global.

www.brunswickbilliards.com

Brunswick Billiards’ New Gold Crown coin Table

Brunswick is Back Gold Crown coin Table Returns Storied Brand to the CoinBiz When America’s longest-running billiard table maker decides to re-enter the coin-op market, the industry pays attention. Brunswick Billiards, the 178-year-old brand that bills itself as “The Most Storied Brand in...
www.brunswickbilliards.com www.brunswickbilliards.com
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The Global version has been around for a while:

The new version is made in China.... Or, at least the prototypes were...
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Solid vs layered tips

Rusty in Montana
I must admit that I've used more old stock Le Pro tips back in the day when we didn't have all the choices we do today , since I came back to playing fairly regularly I've tried milk duds , and Techno duds and enjoyed them on the check installed them on .

However I've since learned about the G2 medium tips and they on my main playing cue which is what was on it even Mike Gulyassy has good things to say about them for whatever its worth .
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Predator's WPA Women's World 9 Ball

L
markjames said:
the shootout of spotshots is an awful way to determine a winner, but i don’t really like anything about predator🤷🏽

tables, cues, the slug rack triangle, the cat on every ball

but i’m not a predator, maybe their products are made for predators and all the predators in the world will gladly celebrate their champion predator
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I am critical of Predator's ostentacious logo being all over the place, but I will say that I actually like their match formats.

It's personally more exciting to me than the standard race to 9 or whatever.
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Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?

L
For what it's worth, I'm 30 and really appreciate the aesthetics of cues. I find the sea of plain looking Predators to be pretty boring.

That being said, the custom cues I see usually don't look more interesting than the higher end production cues from companies like Meucci, Joss, Jacoby, etc. I would still probably get one if I had the money, but I don't and likely won't for a long time.

I treated myself to one of the "budget" Meuccis and I love it, the ANW-1 in rainbow finish. My next reward to myself (maybe if/when I become an APA 6) will likely be one of the flashier Josses.
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Childress, Ussery and Kennedy split top prizes on TOP Tour Championship in NC

S
"General-public gear" seems pretty clear to me. Breaktime was in 'tournament' mode on Saturday, and when the four competitors that remained, returned on Sunday, needing only two tables, the room switched to a new 'gear' that allowed the general public to come into the room and play some pool as the tournament's last four (potential) matches got underway. The 'room' didn't pull the plug. The three competitors left, at the conclusion of the hot seat match and quarterfinal, at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the digitalpool bracket time stamp. As far as ‘honoring the tourney’ goes, I doubt that turning away paying customers would be part of any successful business plan and, of course, there’s no way of predicting whether you’ve inadvertently put assholes on tables near where the tournament matches are being played. One expects common courtesy to prevail, though in this case, it apparently did not. Don’t see the room owner being at fault in this situation. Pretty much the players’ decision, and knowing the three of them (more or less), I doubt seriously that it was related to any demand, implicit or stated, that there be total silence and no other tables in use in their immediate vicinity. Though I have not spoken to any of them about it, I made the assumption that it was a mutual decision based, at least in part, on the level of distraction that they encountered at the table as the final four played the first two of their potential four matches. It might have been a conflicting appointment that required one of them to be elsewhere at a time frame that conflicted with the next two matches, but I got the sense, speaking with the tour director, that it was a mutual decision not to compete under the prevailing conditions at the time of the decision.
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comparing top pro pay

Dan White
kollegedave said:
I think the key word here is "olde".

I agree with SJM. While pool may not quite be there yet, I think the day is fast approaching where a young man who has some ability (even in the U.S.) wouldn't be crazy for making a go at it...provided he chooses to "turn professional". Steven Pressfield wrote a great book called "Turning Pro", and it's about becoming a professional in any discipline. It's a great book.

The players now that are making money are "professionals". They do what needs to be done to succeed...even if they don't want to do those things. They have no glaring weaknesses in their games. They practice every aspect. They travel all over all the time. They understand that part of becoming a professional is curating a life that can support pool now and support them when they cannot play pool anymore. This means they refrain from substance dependency and promote themselves as ambassadors for other businesses and their own businesses...particularly their own businesses. I was watching an accu-stats match where Mark Wilson said that Aloysius Yapp made 20 trips to China to play Chang Jung-Lin even 9-ball sets...and lost them all. Now look at Yapp. That is a professional.

Fedor hired someone to film him and help him with his Youtube channel (in addition to keeping a serious practice routine). This was extremely smart, and I don't know why every other pro with a little bit of change doesn't do the same. The smart ones, to various degrees, are cultivating a youtube / instagram stream of income. (Fedor, Niels, the Fillers, Alex, etc.).

When you consider the opportunity to chase a dream vs. non-dischargeable school loans to work a job that you will lose to A.I., I am not sure pool isn't fast becoming a "non-crazy" option...provided the player is going to be a professional as I have described here.

Finally, I am not going to name names as that seems impolite. However, on occasion at the DCC, I have seen several TOP players with their "lady friends". All of these players...ALL OF THEM...had an 8 or above with them, and none of them (in my estimation) would be with the same company of women, if they were a schoolteacher or accountant. It's good for a guy's love life to be at the top of a male hierarchy with a touch of globetrotting. What's it worth to travel the globe and bag hotties from 25 to 35? It's not nothin'.

I know, it's easy for me to say this as I sit at my desk with health insurance. When I get cancer, I will get treatment...and then I will be gone.

kollegedave
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Globetrotting and bagging hotties? I'm in, where do I sign up? :D
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Solid vs layered tips

E
measureman said:
I know this subject has been beat to death but here is my personal take on it.
I have been using solid tips for many years.
Recently I decided to give a layered tip a try.
I had an Everest installed and can not tell the difference from a solid tip.
The layered tip was $40 installed vs a solid tip at $23 installed.
I'm not going to do this again.
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All tips have a sweet spot, very seldom get one i don't have to work on a few times to find that sweet spot. I shoot with a hard tip Zam Hard Grip I just wanted to try one. I played with triangles for years . I surely won't pay for the expensive anymore Every tip has a sweet spot, they just need to be worked on until they feel right The Zan tip hits great, just too over priced
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comparing top pro pay

S
ShootingArts said:
Pick a game or sport, any of them! It is a longshot to become rich. Players in the NFL have an average two year career the last I knew with a lifetime of pain and minor injuries at best. Maybe one in a million or less that dream of playing in the NFL make it, and that might be your best chance at a pro game or sport career.

The odds suck at being in the top one or few percent in the world or less at anything, and that is what it takes to be a pro. Look at olympic athletes. Technically amateurs but most never had a childhood to get to be world class. The chinese government and others are selecting children, babies, with potential when they are three years old and telling them and their families where they will go to school and what pursuit they will follow to try to be world class in, the best in the world.

It's not easy to be a financially successful pool player, but don't kid yourself it is much easier to be financially successful anything else in the sport or game world. Generally speaking, you have to have a gift, and a hellacious work ethic! If I had a child that wanted to be an athlete I would try to guide them to a noncontact low impact sport with long careers.

It isn't easy in pool and pool may be one of the tougher sports or games to be financially successful in but it is a mistake to think it comes easy for any success at sports or games. There are few sports I would encourage my children and grandchildren to play. Pool is lower than most things on that list. That isn't to say other things are easy though.

Hu
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exactly. and the more money in the sport, the more people will try, and the competition will be harder. in soccer they're picking out 12 year olds to the academies. by the time you're 15, if you haven't been shown interest, the already slim chances are minimal.

at least in pool there is a chance for a 28 year old to shine on the big stage, like ameer ali. or perhaps most famously, tommy kennedy when he beat archer.

then we have all those sports that takes a lot of dedication and effort with almost no reward, like olympic wrestling. 15 years of brutal practice, bronze medal because of politicized refereeing, almost no financial payout.. distance runners, cross country skiiers, pay is dependent on equipment sponsors and instagram likes.. rowing is one of the most physically demanding sports, but their prize money is just bragging rights. these people sacrifice a lot more in terms of quality of life than pool players.
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