glaze said:
What pool magazine has the best pictures and coverage of high end pool cues and pool cue makers interviews? I'm on Searing and Hercek's pool cue order waiting lists, so I'd like to see a variety of high end pool cue designs to help with what I order in a few years from these two makers.
I've been playing pool for twenty years and have never subscribed to a pool magazine. Today I went into Borders and they did not have one magazine on pool or billiards in the place. When I asked they told me they did not carry any at all. Three years ago they didn't have poker magazines either, but now they carry two.
Mike, there are four pool mags/newsletters which stand out in my mind currently: InsidePOOL
http://www.insidepoolmag.com, Pool and Billiard Magazine
http://www.poolmag.com, Billiards Digest
http://www.billiardsdigest.com, and the National Billiard News. Some of the OLDER issues of several of the above-referenced magazines offer a great deal of interesting details about cue-makers and sticks.
Within the past several years, Fred Agnir, who posts on this forum, has provided in-depth coverage of cue-makers and their wares, past and present, for InsidePOOL magazine.
Cue sticks are of great interest to many pool folk, as reflected by its own designated category on this very forum. I met a fellow from Oklahoma a few years ago who told me he has a mega-million-dollar collection of sticks in his home and is still acquiring rare cues and other odds and ends to add to his already stellar collection.
One of my co-workers plays on an 8-ball league and has a table in her basement. She asked me if there was anywhere she could buy a pool magazine because, like you, she too didn't see anything out there available. I gave her a couple copies of some duplicates I had, and she was tickled pink.
Sometimes it seems like we pool folk must live in an underground society because, in mainstream America, there is absolutely zilch available for pool enthusiasts in the general market. Yet, the majority of the pool-playing public, as we all know, are generally social shooters and league members. Maybe the pool media should be targeting mainstream America by having a stronger presence in the amateur and league arenas since that is where the masses are. I know InsidePOOL is present at most of the high-profile events offering FREE copies of their magazine.
Personally, I think the above-referenced mags offer in-depth coverage of a wide variety of topics, but each is unique in its character. I believe InsidePOOL magazine provides the best coverage of competitive events, targeting not only the high-profile ones, but as well the amateurs, leagues, and regional tours. JMHO, FWIW!
JAM