Your playing cue vs playing off the wall?

Might be where I choose to play

strmanglr scott said:

Problem is today, the cues on the wall are literally the same ones you played with back then.

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Buffalo sent a gross of cues to my shop in one batch. Most got new quality ferrules, all got new decent tips, most Triangle, a few Le Pro and Elkmasters just for variety. The shaft area of all got cleaned and buffed. Some pretty nice playing cues while they lasted.

Reminds me, that is probably the biggest change using one piece house cues, those soft plastic ferrules make a big difference in play. Of course the slipover tips so common on cues in bars are an acquired taste too.

I won many a cue during my gambling years, some never figured they were busted until they lost their cue. Never toted any because it marked me as a bit more serious than a bar room banger and also as a bit of a dude player. Only rarely was someone toting a stick a real monster. Dozens of people that thought they were good for every good player. Some of them were decent quality sticks. Looking back on the seventies and early eighties I wonder sometimes what some of the sticks were that I gave away.

Different times now and with the leagues a lot of amateurs own their own cue. Doesn't mean the same thing. Although I did get a chuckle out of a youngster I played. He had every patch and decal known to man on his case! He proudly told me he was a member of half the alphabet. Briefly considered it might be a hustle but when things got serious he didn't have anything.

Hu

Shooter08 said:

If you match up but don’t have your cue but have a good tip and straight one piece off the wall what do you need to feel even, all things being equal?

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I need a ton of weight in that circumstance. I'm sure the opponent would understand. It's possible I could get lucky and win but doesn't mean I didn't need the weight.

megatron69 said:

Nowadays, about 3-4 racks.

For most of my money game days, around 30 years ago, mostly only marks brought their own cues to gamble. Bringing your own cue was like wearing a big sign that said, "hey look, I have money I want to give away, and here's the stick to prove it!"

Sharps played with house cues. I used to let my marks pick the cue I had to shoot with.

Nowadays, marks seem to like to wear gloves.

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You are right in one respect, coming in with a cue may get you some action. That is exactly what I wanted. I at one time for a few years carried a $40.00 Palmer. It played great but was not a Balabushka ( that I did have, still do) but a cue that said I can play a little and may bet something. Usually only took a few minutes to be asked to play.

Really made it easier then standing around asking if anybody wanted to play. If you blankly ask to play they will get on the phone and call the local champ. Not that I cared but I wanted to work my way through their players for a day or two. In most cases off the bat you got asked to play by local would be hustlers cheap who were average at best. Actually a cheap bet in their minds classified your skill as say a $2.00 player. Once you had your foot in the door the rest was easy.

Getting back to the house cue thing. I owned a pool room back in those days and yes many very good players did not have a custom two piece cues. However their house cues were not random. Almost every pool room had a locking case/cases that held maybe a few dozen cues. http://www.bargainjohn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/W613CBrunswick1894-Catalog.jpg
Local players had their own cues that were well taken care of. They had good tips and the players would retaper the shaft end to their liking. Maybe tape the butt or scuff it up for a better feel. So when older players talk about playing with house cues they are not talking about the average bar cue with a slip on tip.

couldnthinkof01 said:

I would be comfortable giving my house cue self
the 7.

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:withstupid::joyful::withstupid:

alstl said:

I need a ton of weight in that circumstance. I'm sure the opponent would understand. It's possible I could get lucky and win but doesn't mean I didn't need the weight.

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I've certainly to people they have to play off the wall or find a decent cue for me to borrow.

Not too many people go for that.

I'm not even gonna stand up.

Shooter08 said:

If you match up but don’t have your cue but have a good tip and straight one piece off the wall what do you need to feel even, all things being equal?

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The tip is much more important than a perfectly straight cue stick.

ShootingArts said:

I did start carrying chalk too. Usually just left it in the truck but I went into some places that didn't even have chalk! I have to admit my expectations are much higher today, and usually met.

After I got married I still kept chalk in my truck. Sometimes when I would disappear for a few hours in the days before cell phones I would carefully take the top of the chalk and make a few marks on my shirt just over waist high like I had leaned over a piece of chalk on a rail.

"Where the hell have you been?!?

"Girl, I can't lie to you. I have been making mad passionate love to a beautiful blond for hours!"

"Like hell, I see the chalk on your shirt. You have been down at the pool hall with those bums!"

"Can't fool you girl."

Hu

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Hahahahaha!

9ball5032 said:

Keep reminding myself to keep it simple. Use centerball and speed to get position, and lay off the english on longer shots since I am used to LD shafts.

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Yes, this is one of my issues, even the difference between LD shafts. Imagine a ball 7 inches from the corner up the long rail and and 1 1/2-2" off the rail. You have the cue 1/2 between the center pocket and the center of the table. It's world of difference in how to hit the ball to rail draw it up past the side pocket between a LD and a standard shaft. You could draw the ball into the opposite corner or into the side pocket depending on the cue with pretty much the same hit. It's also easy to hit balls into walls without hitting balls for a while with a cue, if switching shafts.

I always tell beginning and moderate players who are trying to improve to QUIT SWITCHING CUES!!! Play with the same cue every day.

maha said:

five minutes of practice with it.

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I doubt there is any 1 piece house cue that is straight

Brookeland Bill said:

The tip is much more important than a perfectly straight cue stick.

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You are wrong, imparting spin unintentionally is a disaster

Kind of off topic, but I have a bar stick which has a lot of history, and it was used in the South and Southwest to be put in a bar ahead of time so when the "player" came in he could grab it like he was playing off the wall, but he had a custom stick.

Shooter08 said:

If you match up but don’t have your cue but have a good tip and straight one piece off the wall what do you need to feel even, all things being equal?

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one bar

u12armresl said:

Kind of off topic, but I have a bar stick which has a lot of history, and it was used in the South and Southwest to be put in a bar ahead of time so when the "player" came in he could grab it like he was playing off the wall, but he had a custom stick.

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I kept a one piece at a friend's bar, everywhere else was strictly off the wall. However, I had scouted the wall pretty carefully at the places I played regularly and could select a cue as I walked up to the rack so I appeared to just snatch a cue out of the rack at random. When some jerk would damage or destroy one of my favorite sticks I was always annoyed.

The other trick was to grab a crooked stick. Everybody rolled sticks on the tables, including me. Most wanted a straight stick, I wanted a good tip and halfway smooth shaft area so that usually meant a crooked stick that saw little use. When the tip jumped up and down an inch and I said "straight enough" it marked me as a pigeon.

Hu

Brookeland Bill said:

The tip is much more important than a perfectly straight cue stick.

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This.

When I'm looking for a cue I browse the tips, when I see one I like I look at the weight, if the weight is good I pick it up and get a feel for it. I only check for straightness at the end, if it's got a little wobble I will try to mark it so the tip goes down (wobble up?). You can usually just mark it with your fingernail or quarter. Think Meucci x-dot shafts.

I prefer a lighter bar cue because they aren't as balanced as a 2-piece and the weight is more towards the back, by grabbing a lighter cue it feels the same in my hand.

If I find the right cue I like to hit a few balls (3-5) and then I'm ready to go.

Our little 29 Table Community Pool Room open next Tuesday, people will be crying. No House Cue, because of Covid -19.

No more then 2 people per table, on 1/2 tables will be used, because of Covid - 19.:angry:

No personal Cue, guess you can not play.

All House Cue have been sent to Covid - 19 Jail.

I know only one pool player who can play perfectly off the wall. He's a freak and a natural, hardly human. EVERYONE else I know play worse to some extent. The most important part is the tip. Most housecues have beaten to death single layer tips, whereas most people have mushy layered tips on their cues. There is also the deflection, taper and weight distribution differences to consider. Also, shocker, house cues are not all the same..

That being said, I can run out with a house cue. I just can't do it as well as with my own cue. I would be very sceptical of anyone who claims they run out exactly the same with a house cue as with their own, it's a rare skill to have.

maha said:

five minutes of practice with it.

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Exactly...........

I saw this posted on here in the past and thought it funny as shit.
Now is a perfect time to repeat it;
"I play too good to use a house cue,
that be like Fred Astaire dancing in flip-flops"

I saw a guy come into a pool hall with a shopping cart full of 2-piece cues and a few more under his arm. He looked a lot like Tom C. but I'm not sure. He played for a few hours changing cues every few minutes. Said he was trying to find the ones that suited his style. Takes all kinds, but pool is a democratic sport, let each and every player do as he/she pleases. I once saw a one-armed player who racked 28 balls, he used his other elbow as a bridge and used an off the wall cue. God bless him!

i will always have my cue if i decide to match up,
i went cf and im not looking back

good point here

Texas Carom Club said:

i will always have my cue if i decide to match up,
i went cf and im not looking back

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A good point here. While pretty much all of the older players spent a good bit of time playing off the wall if they rambled and gambled, shooting off the wall occasionally is tough if you have adjusted to low deflection shafts. When I bounced between my cue and off the wall, I was playing with a standard deflection cue, or a moochie which would hardly qualify as low deflection today.

Hu