Ok I'm going to apologize again as I wanted to use a bunch of quotes to respond to everybody since I've received such an overwhelming amount of help and support. So I'll answer some of the things generically since I can't figure that out (so much for a computer science degree huh? lol).
Yeah I know it's weird I don't have a stick yet or have never really gotten one. I guess I just never figured I needed it. I could get what I needed done with whatever cues we had gotten with our table and set. I rarely lost to anybody I ever played really. They were decent for house cues, much better than the crud I'm having to use right now. Probably 14mm tip and shaped like a silver dollar. I'm not entirely sold as to just how much I'll stay involved or push myself to get better. But I will say getting beat has kinda lit a fire under my ass. I've never had to stomach losses as much as I already have in just the last couple of weeks. lol.
Anyways, thank you so much, I'm in disbelief at how much help I've gotten on here. Thank you all for your replies.
Some things I will add here... Preferences I have at this point in my game is that I know that I do NOT like hard tips, though I don't know exactly how hard "hard" is. I'm sure medium is as firm as I want. One thing that I DID like about the pure-x was that it came with the Kamui soft tip on it which was nice since they say those are a little closer to a soft medium. I agree with sticking with pro taper and standard length. I know I don't like WIDE tips so I figured that 12.75 is a good starting point. I also do know that I like the Irish Linen wrap so I'm going to try to stick with that as well.
Can anybody maybe explain to me more about the quality increases from going from pure-x to going to a schmelke or Mcdermott or the Pechauer? Is it all in the designing or is it actually in the quality and feel of the stick? It seems like if I pop over the 200 dollar mark I can get a cue that isn't sticker and has real inlays I guess? I see maybe down the road if I wanted I could then instead just upgrade the shaft to a LD or something down the road instead of getting an entirely different stick? If that is the case that would be an argument I could get myself behind for paying more upfront because something with lower quality design I wouldn't necessarily be looking to go put a multi hundred dollar shaft on to, I'd want a whole new stick. Does that make sense?
That Pechauer JP-06 is beautiful. I really like that look.
Oh and one more thing. Also looking for a cheap break cue. I don't know much about it. I don't want to break with those garbage house cues and I don't want to break with whatever new stick (or used) stick I get. Whats the deal with weights on those? I know if I go too heavy I can actually hurt myself on speed. I'm a 6'00 190 lbs guy that works out daily and pitches in the 80 mph range so I typically have a solid break speed I would guess. I don't know at what weight my speed would be limited. Any input on that front would be more than appreciated as well. Though I'm definitely looking more to pay the money into the primary stick.