Someone asked if I felt that way about raffle cues here, The answer is NO, because raffle cues here have usually been bought. One of the problems with this sport is, it's always a one sided coin where Cue makers are concerned. A little History lesson for some.
The great State of CT. 2 years running, I gave a cue so the proceeds would go to the Bradley children's hospital, Cue brought 6 to 7 hundred for the kids. Calcutta's close to 5 G's, kids got none of that.
Tournament in Mass, few years back, 50/50 raffle with house, you know 50 for me, 50 for them. Cue brought in 1800, house kept everything. NICE JOB @holes. Joss tour, which is a great tour and Dan Janes and his family step up and give a cue for every single tournament. WOW! added incentive to the pool rooms was if they added 3000 they got a 1000 cue from one of the other sponsors, Webb, Cameron, Samsara and Zinzola. Use to be 700 cue but that was changed and not by the Cue makers BTW. We all give (3) cues per season. The economy changes, no more smoking in pool rooms, the rooms add less money, except for Snookers in Prov. R.I. Snookers still finds a way to give. They all still get the incentive cues and some of those are finding their way to eBay by the room owners, WHY! It's your pool room, sell the cue on a layaway plan to someone who plays out of your room and will enjoy it. A couple of so-called open players, Free cues with the agreement, if they sell the cues, Cue maker gets half, WHERE did they end up, Local porn shop from them, Cue maker gets nothing cause the players claimed the cues got stolen, BELIEVABLE, Nice try. That story gets real old. Yup, I'm getting older, with help of glasses, I can still read. and the equation is still the same. If I didn't love this sport, I wouldn't complain. It's not just me.