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Those bowtie tools. Just not great for English pool or snooker cues in general. The scuffer side is way too gritty. The only good thing about it is the aerator for helping with the compacted chalk on the tip.

I think a benefit of the snooker chalk is that you're looking at the tip at the same time as you're chalking, so you can see if you're getting an even coating and not missing any spots.

I've always wondered how much chalk dust accumulates in the palm with that method of chalking. Usually see a lot of American pool player do it. Must be a nightmare if the chalk is as messy as hell. I do the typical English pool/snooker chalk. Cue held in the bridge hand just below the ferrule...

Ronnie tends to flip-flop between Triangle and Master, from what I've seen. But Triangle's definitely the chalk of choice for professionals and amateurs across the UK and Ireland.

Green Triangle the most common chalk here in Ireland for both snooker and English pool players. Master is rarely, if at all, seen being used. I use Master on my break cue because I find it a little pastier than Triangle, but I use Taom 2.0 on my playing cue. I have no complaints about green...

I used to use green Triangle for both English pool and snooker. Picked up a piece of Taom 2.0 green for my English pool cue recently enough. Clean, adheres well, comfortable in the hand and fits snugly in my aluminium case. What I didn't like was how it adhered to the laminated tip on my break...

The occasional handwashing and a scrunched up sheet of printer paper for getting grime and skin oil off cues works wonders for me.

No room for a table at home and with many snooker and pool halls still closed due to restrictions here in Ireland, it'll be a while before I knock balls around a table again.

Always loved the Shootout. I remember in one of the events, the audience encouraged one of the players to only go for yellows after reds and booed them whenever any other colour was potted. Pretty funny stuff. Bonus points for Dominic Dale in the comms booth.

He even breaks off one-handed from time to time. Also tends to close his eyes on long pots or even takes his eyes off the cue ball entirely when he played that shot up to baulk to pot the green.

Mark's known for playing a lot of one-handed shots. Not sure why. Maybe he finds it fun or challenging?

The IPA are a professional English pool association. Here's one of their channel videos with some frames in the 2016 final between Ronan McCarthy and Jordan Shepherd as a visual guide. Games are played using WPA blackball rules. The two main rulesets are WEPF world rules, and WPA blackball...

As far as I know, the cue ball is both smaller and lighter.

An English pool cue ball is smaller and lighter than a snooker cue ball.

Hand splicing is still traditionally the preferable method, yeah, but I think machine-spliced cues are becoming popular for both snooker and English pool - just from what I've observed.

I see. Cheers for the correction.

Not sure. I think most hand planes used for cue production have straight blades. Mike Wooldridge sometimes uses an electric plane for his cues, and his are regarded by some as the best in the world, so he must be doing something right. I know the videos below show shaft preparation rather than...

Honestly, plain, full-spliced, one-piece house cues are my favourite look for any American pool cues, especially if the butt is made out of something nice, like cocobolo or padauk. I hate inlays on cues. I think they look tacky. I don't think it matters which way they fit, but, again, I could...

Nope, I think both styles are machine spliced through CNC - certainly the one shown in the first pic, anyway. The butt and shaft are joined together. Hand spliced cues would have rounded splice points through planing and would have the shaft wood running all the way down the cue to the butt...

Tipp-Ex pens are often used on napped English pool and snooker cloth, but I'm not sure how effective it would be on worsted American cloth. Worth looking into, though. They look phenomenal when done properly.