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Have you ever attempted to play with a very warped pool cue, and did it bother you, and were you able to pot balls with it consistently?

V
Please do not laugh at me for asking this, but have you ever attempted to play with a very warped pool cue, and did it bother you, and were you able to pot balls with it consistently?

I have had this cue (which I received in the mail, from overseas) for a few weeks. The good news was that the butt is perfectly straight. The bad news was that the shaft is warped. No issue with the butt or the joint pin, but the shaft wobbled really bad when rolled together with the shaft. So, I have not even wanted to attempt to shoot with the thing. Been too broke to buy a good quality shaft for it, which is what I would really want.

The surprising thing is, that the shaft does not really look too bad when it is rolled by itself. The tip remains flat on the table when rolled by itself, but you can clearly feel the wobble when rolling it slowly. It will not just sit in place, when leaving it in certain positions, lol, it will wobble over to one side, lol.

And, when rolled together with the perfectly straight butt, it shows a very bad wobble, with the tip completely leaving the table.

My question is, have you ever successfully been able to play with something like what I am describing? Leaving the mental aspect of knowing that you are playing with a warped pool cue, should something like this physically be impossible to shoot straight with?

I just really want to play, but I just figure that I need a straight shaft in order to shoot straight, lol.

Thanks for any thoughts about this.
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WNT, WPA and 2026

V
jbart65 said:
The biggest surprise to me was Predator scheduling a large event in San Antonio in late November that overlaps with the first three days of the Mosconi Cup. Ominous sign of things to come, or just an innocent scheduling conflict? The Mosconi date used to seem sacrosanct.

Not a big deal, one would think, because there are only 10 players at the Mosconi. But this is the second year in a row a Predator event overlapped with Mosconi. Definitely some competition for viewers.
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I suggest that you Google and listen to all the Podcasts Karim Belhaj participated in so you can hear directly from the "horse's mouth."
Predator does not see WNT as a competitor for viewership. In fact, it is in Predator's interest to flood WNT events with all its best players so it can get free commercial for its name brand.

As you rightly stated, Predator does not hold the PBS events to make money - Karim specifically stated this. He stated that his goal is to grow the visibility of the sport and we all know that also means the visibility of Predator products. I have said before that the PBS events are the greatest commercial a product manufacturer can put on.

As far as the prize money, a good portion comes from other advertisers and Predator has to present reports to them to show that its events have wide viewership before they commit to spending money.
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How High Or Low Do You Cue For Maximum Spin And Had Dr. Dave Ever Studied This?

C
Nature Boy said:
How high or low do you cue the ball when attempting maximum spin?

The golfer in me knows that for maximum backspin, you want a downward strike. It would seem to me that physics would say the same would be true in pool, which would mean a slightly elevated butt.

Thanks in advance!
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Difference from the golf comparison is that turf will give but slate doesn’t. A downward strike in pool by elevating the butt will lose accuracy unless the ball is struck and followed through absolutely dead center, which is virtually impossible.
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Buddy Hall talks "Deflection"

GideonF
middleofnowhere said:
A bit off the original subject, I haven't watched a whole lot of this video yet but it's a little surprising how poor their safety play is. They would not like playing one of today's players.
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Parica then Efren really changed the way people played safe. Their kicking skills developed from playing Filipino rotation and carom was just not commonly available to most of the good players at the time (with some exceptions like Varner).

But it didn’t stop there. I remember watching a YouTube video of Appleton explaining that he had to relearn his safety game in light of the increased kicking and jumping skills. My recollection is he said when he started in the game, the smart play was to play a safe that gave you a 100% chance of leaving a blocking ball, even if the safe wasn’t air tight, but now he has to play for the air tight safety even if it means he sells out from time to time, because the simpem bare ball safety is going to hurt you (because the top players of today with jump it in or play a better return safety.
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WNT, WPA and 2026

sjm
JAM said:
I was also one of the small minority with you on this subject.

That said, I really admired the way Joshua and Pia Filler handled the social media cyberbullying by not responding to the Negative Nellies and kept on keeping on their pool journey. Thankfully, that Filler bashing, hopefully, is in the rearview mirror for those two. I admire them both.
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Yes, I recall that we were of one mind on the matter of the punishment dished out to Filler by Matchroom, and I appreciated that you often backed me up as I offered opinions that were very unpopular on the forum at the time.

Perhaps things are headed in the right direction now, as Filler played in the 2025 Mosconi and in the 2026 European Open, the opening event of the WNT year. I'll try to stay optimistic but, as we both know, not every battle scar heals and let's hope both WNT and Filler can move forward without apprehension.

I'm rooting hard for both Filler and Matchroom to enjoy nothing but success from this point forward.
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Castillo leather goods case 2x4

cuetify
I have a lightly used 2x4 Castillo case, used for storage. The case was handmade with crocodile-embossed leather. The case is in great condition, and it's a beautiful and sturdy case to have. The price dropped $450 shipped PP/FF.
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WNT, WPA and 2026

J
Kris_b1104 said:
While I enjoy reading most of your posts as they are informative and unbiased, I do think you are severely underestimating Predator as a brand. They have been in business for over 30 years, and a majority of that time their shafts and cues have been selling like hotcakes, in an already small niche sport. Their sales from their cues/shafts alone dominate the market and probably generate more money than any other cue-making company.

Back in the days, almost every amateur wanted to or played with a Predator cue/shaft, even if they couldn't run 3 balls in a row, due to Predator's marketing and elite shafts like the first generation 314, 314-2 and Z2. It's only been recently that they are getting competition with other brands now making CF. At one point, they had the most amount of sponsored pro players ever, maybe still do. Their hold on the amateur market is very telling as well.

Predator makes A LOT of money in this niche sport. The only other pool company that I can think of that rivals them is Diamond when it comes to revenue. Any APA 3 knows who Predator is. Some have never even heard of Matchroom or WNT or even follow pro pool, but they for sure know Predator.
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I definitely do not underestimate Predator as brand or company, Kris. As I said in one of interminably long posts:

"The biggest mistake Matchroom and Frazer made was to underestimate the influence and power of Predator.

Predator is the most influential company globally in pro pool. It sponsors more top players than any other cuemaker. And it has close ties to the most powerful regional confederations. Make an enemy out of the pope and you might not get to heaven."

However ... the best estimates I could find of Predator's annual revenue is $5 million to $6 million a year. Selling pool equipment is not a huge revenue generator.

Matchroom has annual revenue in the $200 million to $300 million range.
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WNT, WPA and 2026

J
Kris_b1104 said:
While I enjoy reading most of your posts as they are informative and unbiased, I do think you are severely underestimating Predator as a brand. They have been in business for over 30 years, and a majority of that time their shafts and cues have been selling like hotcakes, in an already small niche sport. Their sales from their cues/shafts alone dominate the market and probably generate more money than any other cue-making company.

Back in the days, almost every amateur wanted to or played with a Predator cue/shaft, even if they couldn't run 3 balls in a row, due to Predator's marketing and elite shafts like the first generation 314, 314-2 and Z2. It's only been recently that they are getting competition with other brands now making CF. At one point, they had the most amount of sponsored pro players ever, maybe still do. Their hold on the amateur market is very telling as well.

Predator makes A LOT of money in this niche sport. The only other pool company that I can think of that rivals them is Diamond when it comes to revenue. Any APA 3 knows who Predator is. Some have never even heard of Matchroom or WNT or even follow pro pool, but they for sure know Predator.
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You are correct. Also, I'm no tax lawyer, but I'd be willing to bet that most, if not all of the cost of their events are a tax write off as an advertising expense, which is a huge advantage for them.
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