Does your local pool hall provide decent house cues?

J

justinb386

Banned
I understand that 100% of you guys have your own cues, and probably do not care about what type of house cues your local pool room offers to the public (free of charge), but just in case you have tried out your local pool rooms house cues from time to time (maybe when you did not bring in your own cue for some reason), and just wanted to shoot a few games with a house cue just for fun, have you seen if they provide decent good quality house cues?

Like the old Valley Supreme house cues for example, they had a very nice thin handle, and a nice long taper in the shaft (they were really great house cues back in the 90's, but I am not sure if they still make a really good house cue today, or if they are any different then the really great ones from the 90's).

Anyways, I am just wondering what the odds are of walking into a pool hall (no matter house nice, or classy of a place it it), that you will find really good quality house cues on the wall?

I remember, in my home town pool room (that ran out of business back in the late 90's), the owner even purchased some really decent quality 1 piece house cues, that he would rent out by the hour (for like $1 an hour, if I remember correctly).

I am just curious if your local home town pool rooms care to provide decent quality house cues, or if they just never or very rarely ever get replaced, and have slip on tips thrown on them, because that is/was the cheapest forever option for a replacement tip?

I can only assume that if the pool room owners cared about offering decent house cues to their customers (who might be beginners for the most part, but might develop a love for the game, if they had a decent quality house cue to use), then this might help the sport of pool, and might also help the business.

Maybe I am just being stupid, and it really does not matter about the quality of the house cue (that the pool halls offer) to the average person who is just playing the game for fun, and would only matter to the serious player (which should own his or her own cue anyways).

I wonder if the pool rooms in Europe offers decent quality house cues to their customers. There must be a good reason why pool is so much bigger over in Europe (with the average Junior players being able to crush any of the Junior players here in the US, on any day of the week, I imagine), but it probably has nothing to do with the quality of house cues that the pool rooms offer.

What about in the Philippines, and other parts of Asia? Do they have very decent house cues to use in most of their pool rooms? I assume they do, but maybe not.

Is it greed, or just a lack of caring (about the quality of house cues being offered, for free, to the customers), about why we do not see decent quality house cues (with at least a good regular tip, like a LePro installed on them) being offered in the average US pool room?

Anyways, back to my original question.

Does your local pool room offer a really good (at least decent) house cue, for those who do not have their own cue to use?

Just curious.

Thanks.
 
Yes, my local poolhall has a guy that does repairs so he keeps the house cues in tip-top shape.
 
Very decent house cues at my local room. Plus they rent out upgraded cues for $10 total. I think one of my pool rooms use valley and the other dufferin. They are in such good shape I don't mind playing a few hours with them.


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One place has selection of old 1 piece cues. Usually decent tips on most and cues vary from good to just okay, nothing terrible. All are thick non-pro taper shafts.

Other place I play actually has a bunch of cheap 2 piece cues. I think they're Action or something like that. These actually play really nice for house cues. Decent balance, good tips, nice pro taper. I love it because I can stop by for a quick beer after work and shoot a few racks and not feel like it's holding me back much. Only problem is I play 12mm and these are 13mm so that takes a little getting used to. If there was a 12mm one I'm pretty sure it wouldn't hold me back a bit.
 
pocketsplitter said:
Very decent house cues at my local room. Plus they rent out upgraded cues for $10 total. I think one of my pool rooms use valley and the other dufferin. They are in such good shape I don't mind playing a few hours with them.


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$10 seems a little high, I hope it's a SW

My home room has a guy that keeps the tips in good condition. I know some good players that do not bring their cues and just use the house cues.
 
The places that are free suck,but the two places that charge $1-2 rental are usually kept up playable consistantly.
 
At Blue Fin Billiards in Fresno, CA, the proprietor Tommy Hilll makes sure the house cues
are in good condition. He maintains a repair shop at the pool hall and regularly replaces
worn or missing cue tips.....why anyone would put a house cue back on the wall rack when
the cue is missing a tip still puzzles me......but Tommy patrols the cue invemtory at Blue Fin.
 
I play at a bar, not a hall, but the house cues there are 'ok.' Which by the standard of cues in other bars within proximity makes them 'good' for the area.

The only pool hall in the area, I have no idea because I brought my own the only time I went.
 
wow

You just moved from a city with great house cues which you neglected to say anything about I see.
Bank Shot in Louisville Ky has old Dufferin cues some valleys and mainly cuetec one piece cues.
The Cuetecs have a thin butt and Brain (owner ) keeps good leather tips on all them, but I guess you wouldn't know. Hell I been going in their since late 90s and never seen u at any tournaments or anything.
I just don't understand y u ask all these dumb ass questions ( that I bet u no the answers too.) Cause you never go out and play.
Do you just like mess with people on this forum?
 
Moet.1977 said:
You just moved from a city with great house cues which you neglected to say anything about I see.
Bank Shot in Louisville Ky has old Dufferin cues some valleys and mainly cuetec one piece cues.
The Cuetecs have a thin butt and Brain (owner ) keeps good leather tips on all them, but I guess you wouldn't know. Hell I been going in their since late 90s and never seen u at any tournaments or anything.
I just don't understand y u ask all these dumb ass questions ( that I bet u no the answers too.) Cause you never go out and play.
Do you just like mess with people on this forum?
Click to expand...

I never even thought to check out the house cues at any of the pool rooms (in Louisville), because I just assumed that they offered nothing but junk with slip on tips to their customers (who are mostly bangers for the most part, the ones with out their own cues).

I honestly can't remember seeing a decent house cue since the 90's, at my home town pool hall. Maybe I was just never payed any attention to the house cues, but when ever I did notice them, they looked like junk, with slip on tips.

I really love the game (I honestly do), but going in to these pool rooms, and not seeing any good players around really gets me depressed.

I just been in a really bad depressed funk for many years. If I knew of any good tournaments going on (with a good strong turn out), then I would be going.

If I knew of any places that had some good strong players to watch, and maybe have a chance to compete against, then I would be going to check that place out.

The last time I went in Bank Shot, Brian told me that they no longer held any tournaments (on any night of the week), because they stopped getting any kind of a turn out on any of the tournament nights.

The only tournament in Louisville was the one that I was banned from (after barely winning it), because I had no league handicap, and they only allowed 6 level and under APA handicap players to enter.

Here I am in a new city that has no tournaments going on, other then 1, that is kind of unique, with a round robin type of system. So, not 1 single regular weekly tournament going on here (where the players play actual races against each other).

I am just really depressed.

I would love to hear about something exciting going on, that I could at least go watch, with some really strong players in attendance.

I wish I would have moved to Raleigh. I bet they have a decent pool scene, at the Brass Tap. Maybe I might have a chance to meet Mike Coltrain, if he still hangs out there sometimes.

I been really depressed in Greensboro so far though.

The leagues bore me to death, so I have no interest in them. Maybe BCA though, because it is not handicapped. That might be a good league for me. I just want to be around good strong players.

I never play, but I really miss it, and really want to get back into shooting.

I am without a cue again (can't seem to hold onto one), so that is why I was curious about the house cue question.

I just always assumed that all the pool halls offered nothing but junk, with slip on tips.

I still can't imagine finding anything off the wall that I would really enjoy shooting with.
 
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My local pool hall uses brooms with tips made from scraps of carpet glued to the end of the handle for house cues. If you are on short money they will let you clean up for a few hours of pool playing time.
 
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justinb386 said:
...
Does your local pool room offer a really good (at least decent) house cue, for those who do not have their own cue to use?

Just curious.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I saw the original post, but was too busy to respond at the time. I figured you (Justin) would take the usual "heat" for it - but I thought it a reasonable question.

So - my reply:
I live on the south-west side of Pittsburgh PA., and really there's only one true "pool hall" left here, Breakers. (20-30 years ago - there were maybe a dozen or so). For whatever reason, one of the first things I do when I visit somewhere (or re-visit after time away) is to check the condition of the cues, and the tables.

In general: Pool halls here had/have decent cues. (Jim Marino's place, the Golden Cue, had some exception ones). The many bars usually have really crappy cues in all kinds of disrepair (I really HATE push-on tips). And the "other places" such as clubs, bowling alleys, entertainment establishments, upscale sports bars and such usually tend to have decent, but not exceptional cues - although there's a wide range from crap to not too bad.

Now other than one pool hall in Cleveland Ohio (meh - usable I guess, but not great cues) I haven't traveled to anywhere playing in the last 20 years or so.

Sorry I don't have a more wide ranging current experience to give ya - but that's what I got.

(FWIW - I do often offer to fix up a couple cues if I like the place and people)
 
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You need to get to Denver, you can get anywhere at anytime with their bus system, (RTD), and the fabulous lightrail system. I lived, worked, & played in Denver from '99 - '06, had no drivers license til '04, so I done well with that. Everyone rides bikes also, can you ride a bicycle?
 
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