Expensive shooting cues

Bavafongoul said:
Whichever cue I choose to take to league would generally be considered to be an expensive cue.
But on league nights, I only take 1 cue & a couple of shafts otherwise it's usually a filled 6x12 case.

I don't prop my cue up in the corner or use a claw or anything like that. It's only assembled when I am playing with the cue and if I have to go the bathroom, it either goes with me or I hand my cue to a teammate to guard and they know how important my cues are to me so they watch my cue pretty closely. Rest assured, my cue goes with me to the head if I ever have any reservations about my teammate watching it as carefully as I normally would.
Click to expand...

Too hard for me to break mine down because normally there are three of us on a practice table next to the league table so I'm pretty much shooting all night.
 
I am a bit over protective of my cue and somewhat carefree at the same time (has to do with where I play). I don't have many cues that I play with so my main guy goes everywhere, but my backup is in the same case. My fear with bar leagues would more be it getting knocked over a dozen times than being stolen, so yeah there would be a price limit or "value" that is used in regards to what I take to a bar.
 
I play with mid range cues and all are pretty important to me. I play in a BCA 9 Ball Bar League as well as a BCA 8 Ball in a Hall so I am out and about. Got to have your stuff together and it's all good.

I have seen some crazy crap happen with drunks and balls coming off table. Some of my cues, in particular my older cues could not be replaced without searching and lucking out. I keep my players assembled in cases between matches to eliminate Butt damage.

When I had some larger cues I was pretty paranoid of something happening to one of my cues and did not see much of the bars. For me, kind of took the fun out of the session so they did not see the action they deserved.

Happy Holidays,

-Kat,
 
ibuycues said:
I have a lot of high end cues, most would call me a collector. I have a regular player ($4k+) but have played with a LOT of high dollar cues over the years. As Martin said earlier, if you are playing with an expensive cue, treat it that way. Trips to the restroom, to the bar, etc, are handled with more care and diligence.

At the end of my last BCA league session, on the last night I brought in three high end cues. After the rounds were done, I let anyone in the league play a game with any one they wanted. And I stayed late. I brought in a Gus Szamboti box cue, a Searing box cue and a Ginacue box cue.

Enjoy your cues, that is why they are made.

Will Prout
Click to expand...

A little off topic, but I you had to have only one cue, out of those three, which one would you pick to shoot with?

My fanciest cues are Huebler's, a US Open & the Yin/Yang cue, and I use the both at the bar, but we don't have a pool hall.
 
Last edited:
Never leave your cue where you can't see it unless someone you trust will be watching it. I bring my $300 player to the bathroom with me. Once in a while my buddies make fun of me, but I don't expect anyone else to be responsible for watching my cue other than myself.

Also, I have an inexpensive case that I will use if I am going to a bar to play (which is rare). I am more worried about my case being stolen in that environment and I don't want to take it to the bathroom with me as well.
 
I play my higher end cues for regular 4 1/2 X 9 tournaments, at a pool hall. When I used to play bar box tournaments, I was just too worried about drunks, spilled beer (saw a whole pitcher of beer go over on a guy's Instroke case) thieves.. etc....
TRUST NO ONE... even your buddy isn't going to be watching the whole time... heard too many stories of "I was only gone a second"


Got a 1X1 Porper case and a Pechauer PH1 sneaky... that's the move. I've heard of guys taking their jump/break cue so they could unscrew the butt for those tables with no clearance behind them.
 
pt109 said:
I play with some expensive cues....but I also have a customized Joss sneaky pete.
...no way am I taking a good cue to play on a Valley....
...they are murder on cues.

If there's Diamonds, I may take a good cue.
Click to expand...

I don't get this. The table quality should have nothing to do with cue wear; the cue should only touch a player's hands and the ball, nothing else.

RL
 
Kevin3824 said:
There are a lot of people on this forum that I believe own expensive cues to use not just collect. I am wondering if they only use them at home or during tournaments in safe places and neighborhoods.
Click to expand...

Any cues regardless of price do not leave my sight. I did leave a cue on the table next to me one time....went to bathroom and it was gone. The douche that was assigned to use that table put my Predator Roadline on the wall rack.
 
RED LITE said:
I don't get this. The table quality should have nothing to do with cue wear; the cue should only touch a player's hands and the ball, nothing else.

RL
Click to expand...

if you are shooting as close to level cue as you can in order to achieve optimal results, things like Valley pocket castings can damage your cue.

many shots have us bridging on rail cloth so keeping a level cue will have you riding the formica to a degree as well, or very close to. If, for instance there's a mfg badge, that, too, can get in the way and bite a cue.

in my experience.

best,
brian kc
 
slide13 said:
Around here a lot of leagues travel around to small bars with tables. I wouldn't take a nice cue there. The league I play in is at the same plac every week with the same crowd. I feel safe taking nicer cues there and don't worry about them too much.

I think you need to validate where you play and who is around and go from there. No one answer is right for every situation.
Click to expand...


I'm of the same mindset as slide13 on that one. My 2 homerooms carry all Brunswick and Diamond tables which are all older models but kept in good condition, so I bring my main player which is much less than 1k but a notch better than my backup which is a $100 used McDermott sneaky, with bumps/bruises and appropriately stained blue ferrule - This cue can fall over and I won't have a heart attack!).

p.s. I'd never bring anything I cared much about ( Cue or Lady ;) ) into a place that is focused on achieving maximum innebriation, as that isn't their place and bad things can happen when you do lol!
 
Last edited:
Kickin' Chicken said:
if you are shooting as close to level cue as you can in order to achieve optimal results, things like Valley pocket castings can damage your cue.

many shots have us bridging on rail cloth so keeping a level cue will have you riding the formica to a degree as well, or very close to. If, for instance there's a mfg badge, that, too, can get in the way and bite a cue.

in my experience.

best,
brian kc
Click to expand...

Not to mention the dreaded rail-mounted scoring counters on the foot rail. :grin-square:
 
I think you need to validate where you play and who is around and go from there. No one answer is right for every situation.
Click to expand...

I would say so also. Plus, the OP didn't say what he thought an expensive cue was in his
opinion.

I don't smoke any longer, so I have no need to leave a cue alone to go out doors. No Halls left in our City, so the best that we have to play in is the traveling Panther or Valley League.

My expensive would be the couple of Schons that I have. I have a Predator that was originally listed at $900, and a Predator Sneaky that I use a Players HXT shaft on.

Guess which one plays better and comes with me to the bar.

There are times when I have just unscrewed my cue, put it in the case and asked another group of players close to me, if I could leave the case at their table.
 
I read most of these replies and my reply will be similar. I wanted a Predator P3 for my playing cue and a Predator BK2 for my break cue and those are what I got. The P3 was about $750 and the BK2 about $250. The BK2 came with a free Predator Air jump cue. They don't make those anymore and I like the way it works so it's hard to put a value on that one. I don't usually bring the Air to league because I play APA now and jump cues are not allowed.

Anyway, that's over $1000 of cues and cues do disappear. And when I started playing league in my current location I didn't know anyone which makes it worse. Anyway, I bring those cues and use those cues every week and I don't think it would make sense to leave them at home. It has never caused me any great amount of stress.

I am quite careful to keep them in sight though. I usually break them down and put them away when I won't be using them for a while and I do usually carry them with me when I go to the bathroom. Only time I won't is now that there are a few people I ttrust there I will occasionally ask one of them to watch the cues for a minute wihle I go to the bathroom. Three times someone with a similar cue has picked one of mine up and moved it or started playing with it when I was on the same table or an adjacent table. I am pretty sure it was an honest mistake each time but I was pretty quick to politely let them know it was my cue.

Anyway, that's my opinion. Bring them and use them and don't be afraid to buy exactly what you want, but take care of them and watch out for them. Let's not forget either how cues leaning in a corner can get knocked down or bumped. This adds to what I am saying about being careful where you put them when they are not in use.
 
Maxx said:
A little off topic, but I you had to have only one cue, out of those three, which one would you pick to shoot with?

My fanciest cues are Huebler's, a US Open & the Yin/Yang cue, and I use the both at the bar, but we don't have a pool hall.
Click to expand...

The Searing box cue was my daily player for almost 4 years. :smile:

Will Prout
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
Not to mention the dreaded rail-mounted scoring counters on the foot rail. :grin-square:
Click to expand...

It takes a bit of practice but if you put in the time you can actually adjust scores very stealthly during your practice strokes.

Just make sure you're playing for enough to cover the cue repair. :grin-square:

best,
brian kc
 
I play with my Gus, anywhere I play. :yikes:

But I really dont have that expensive of cues...

Ken
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top