David in FL said:

I hear that a lot, but then it seems like every time an open tournament is held, nobody shows.

If I were a TD, I don't know that I'd spend much time on them either.

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why would anyone show up for an open tournament where they haven't a chance to win unless they are one of the top three players?

suckers are only suckers for so long. hit someone over the head with a frying pan often enough and eventually they will learn to duck.
although enough seem to come to keep the tournament trail alive. and have lots of scars to prove it.

Logandgriff said:

Is it my imagination or do the younger (say under 40) pool players in general not care about custom or high end cues? My experience in Atlanta is that most anyone under 40 has no idea of Szamboti, Balabushka, Joss West etc. etc. or handmade custom cues in general. Most seem delighted to have any cue that comes in two parts. Decal points? No problem. Valhalla or Lucky etc. etc. cues no problem. The high end of their aspirations may be a painted Predator with a rubber grip.

If custom and high end cues were stocks on the NYSE, I'd short them.

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Speaking as someone under 40, I’m actually interested enough to know of many of those cues, especially Southwest, and plenty of other one-man-shop, handmade custom cues. That said, there’s no way I’m spending $5,000 - $8,000 on a custom cue, Southwest or not, hell not even $3,000.

Southwest was popular largely because a lot of pros used them back in the day, so fans saw them on TV and associated them with top-level play, they look nothing special. That exposure mattered. Today, most people simply don’t know these makers. Among my under-40 peers, there’s very little interest, no stories attached, no shared history, and nothing that really sparks conversation.

Ironically, I would absolutely buy a limited or special-edition Predator for $3,000 . At least I know the brand, the tech, and that it’ll likely hold value. Also, half of the pool room are under 40 so I'm holding a head turning cue then

However, there is an exception: Asian market (China and Southeast Asian) - they would spend $10,000+ and wait 2+ years for a high-end custom cues. The re-sell market is huge other there too.

Bavafongoul said:

Dean Campbell is a friend and he turned me into 2 cue makers 15 years ago.
Both are people I became friends with. One has since retired and the other
has gone on to become one of the most heralded names in cue making today.

Deanoc is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cue making & personally
knew the top named cue makers. I think he has done a lot to promote pool. I
know there will be naysayers that like to bring shit up. Screw ‘em……Dean was
always straight and true in all my dealings and I was involved helping him on the
Bushka I and Bushka II special projects that was lots of fun and some great cue
designs emerged from those projects. I know since I got to view every cue made.

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I have never had a bad deal with Dean.

will do a lot of good for the 99% which cant run out anyway after the break if they make a ball.

if you can hit a straight in shot hard you can break hard.

**what you need to know is how hard to hit on the table you are playing on, and where to hit the head ball, and where to place the cue ball..

that contraption cannot do that for you.

Texas Carom Club said:

It would have been faster correct

But then you dont get an understanding of what balls you can try to make off the break
Different speeds that give different reactions
What their paths can be which is valuable to know I feel

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Without KNOWLEDGE & a Straight Stroke, taming the Break Shot ain't gonna happen. Van Boening, Fuller, Gorst, Yapp & many others prove that weekly...

Oh one more thing . Don't take photos with a flash

DrCue'sProtege said:

I don't need the loosest table possible.

I don't need one that gives up balls on the break.

For the 10,000th time - I NEED A TABLE THAT WILL GIVE ME A RUNNABLE SPREAD AFTER THE BREAK! A TABLE THAT ISN'T JINXED!!!

For whatever the reason my GCIV just never seems to do that. And it's been a problem for the most part for 23 years now as it was delivered in the early part of January of 2003.

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Maybe gaining some knowledge of the "Break Shot" would help you with your dilemma...

Hello, FishKnife.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through the entire thread and offer such kind words.

I also received your many generous feedback responses during the past few days… and they were all sincerely appreciated.

Best wishes and thank you again.

RC.

garczar said:

I must live in pool nirvana: my local room has ten nice GC4's for 5/hr during the day. tournaments are around 20-30 weekly and 50-60 for bigger monthly deals. There's a sen.ctr about 20min away that's 50/year for all the play you want. There's a couple bars that do free pool on certain days. I'm far from rich but pool around me is more than affordable.

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Similar here around Austin. Most are like $5-6/hr or $10-13 to play open to 6pm and $6-8/hr after that. Nearly all of the better rooms here have either 8 or 9 foot Diamonds. A couple of the Fast Eddie's/Eddie's Taverns here will let you play for free certain days if you wear one of their t-shirts.

I'm not a senior yet so I can't speak to that part.