Playing with a house cue

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Bellhemen

Registered
Earlier today I stopped in a pool hall close to where I work. I've never been in there before. I had no intention of playing pool. I'm just checking it out, if its decent I'll go there some evening and play. As soon as I walked in the door a gentleman asks me to play him a game. I mention I don't have my stick and he points at the wall saying 'theres a wall full of em'. So ok, I'll play him some. I go to the wall and look at the sticks, these sticks are bad. Warped like a candy cane, with tips that just press on so I'm looking at about a 17mm tip in desperate need of a pic to hold any chalk. We play a few games. Cue ball contol is little to none. I can't get any backspin on the cue. About the best I can do is a stop shot, or little bit of english. Draw shots aren't happening. The stick doesn't slide through my hand smoothly. I do my preshot routine, get down on the shot. My biggest thought is 'this pool stick is junk' or 'I wish I had my stick'. I make most shots but miss some shots I should never miss.

In the future, from an instruction standpoint should I always so no to a house cue? Or only play with something good? Or does it not make any difference? Is it all a mental game when playing with something thats substandard?
 
Some house cues are just horrible and anything else would be better so yes a cue does make a difference in that case, but i don't think you always need a good stick. If your going into a new place to check it out and don't wanna bring your nice cue then bring a "junk" one.

I like using a 20 dollar minnesota fats cue with a talisman medium tip on it. The tip is the most important part of the cue so changing that will make it decent enough. You might not be able to get spin as easy as with a custom but it won't drive you crazy like those awful house cues.

It might not affect a pro as much if they can plan out all their runs with center ball, but for those of us who need draw i say putting a good tip on any cue will definately make it play well enough to keep your sanity lol.

Just my thoughts.
 
bare necessities

The bare necessities I travel with any time I am out the house are my brad tool and a piece of sandpaper or scotchbrite. Very seldom that there isn't a stick in the house that I can't make playable with these two things.

I have found that horrible sticks actually played pretty good after a few games. A broom or mop will let you use a little side spin and draw if you don't get carried away. Chalk the "tip" and go to town.

Hu
 
Bellhemen said:
Earlier today I stopped in a pool hall close to where I work. I've never been in there before. I had no intention of playing pool. I'm just checking it out, if its decent I'll go there some evening and play. As soon as I walked in the door a gentleman asks me to play him a game....
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First of all, did you find out if this "gentleman" happens to own the place? If so, I'd say you probably missed a good opportunity to give a little speech on how important decent house cues are to bringing in return customers.:frown:
 
I generally look for the best tipped cue and try to adjust to the cue after that, since I figure the tip matters more to me than anything else.

That said I used to buy the 'slip on' tips from wally world, cut the crappy tip off of them, and put on a decent tip. always kept a pack in my glove box. Anytime I'm somewhere with absolute trash for house sticks I can always slip one of those on and be comfortable with that. For the purpose I needed it for a lepro/elky/triangle works just fine, and I dont mind leaving it behind when I'm done.
 
In the future, from an instruction standpoint should I always so no to a house cue? Or only play with something good? Or does it not make any difference? Is it all a mental game when playing with something thats substandard?
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I think it's probably good practice to play with a bad stick sometimes - it makes you think very practically and fundamentally about your goals and how to accomplish them. Similar practice techniques already exist to jog us out of our mental ruts - playing entirely without sidespin, for instance, or without warmup strokes.

pj
chgo
 
Bellhemen said:
Earlier today I stopped in a pool hall close to where I work. I've never been in there before. I had no intention of playing pool. I'm just checking it out, if its decent I'll go there some evening and play. As soon as I walked in the door a gentleman asks me to play him a game. I mention I don't have my stick and he points at the wall saying 'theres a wall full of em'. So ok, I'll play him some. I go to the wall and look at the sticks, these sticks are bad. Warped like a candy cane, with tips that just press on so I'm looking at about a 17mm tip in desperate need of a pic to hold any chalk. We play a few games. Cue ball contol is little to none. I can't get any backspin on the cue. About the best I can do is a stop shot, or little bit of english. Draw shots aren't happening. The stick doesn't slide through my hand smoothly. I do my preshot routine, get down on the shot. My biggest thought is 'this pool stick is junk' or 'I wish I had my stick'. I make most shots but miss some shots I should never miss.

In the future, from an instruction standpoint should I always so no to a house cue? Or only play with something good? Or does it not make any difference? Is it all a mental game when playing with something thats substandard?
Click to expand...
Who knows playing this bad you could have gotten yourself a a game for the next time you go in there
 
Bellhemen...Expert players can play with anything. With a decent stroke, it doesn't make a ton of difference...especially when you're just 'bangin em around'. I've run out with cues that were warped, rough like tree limbs, or had poor tips. Use an open bridge and you can get the job done. That said, from your posts in the instructor forum, I'm still inclined to think your stroke and process need some work. Shooting Arts suggestion of always carrying a little piece of sandpaper or a scotchbrite pad is great advice too!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Bellhemen said:
Earlier today I stopped in a pool hall close to where I work. I've never been in there before. I had no intention of playing pool. I'm just checking it out, if its decent I'll go there some evening and play. As soon as I walked in the door a gentleman asks me to play him a game. I mention I don't have my stick and he points at the wall saying 'theres a wall full of em'. So ok, I'll play him some. I go to the wall and look at the sticks, these sticks are bad. Warped like a candy cane, with tips that just press on so I'm looking at about a 17mm tip in desperate need of a pic to hold any chalk. We play a few games. Cue ball contol is little to none. I can't get any backspin on the cue. About the best I can do is a stop shot, or little bit of english. Draw shots aren't happening. The stick doesn't slide through my hand smoothly. I do my preshot routine, get down on the shot. My biggest thought is 'this pool stick is junk' or 'I wish I had my stick'. I make most shots but miss some shots I should never miss.

In the future, from an instruction standpoint should I always so no to a house cue? Or only play with something good? Or does it not make any difference? Is it all a mental game when playing with something thats substandard?
Click to expand...
 
This happened to me at my local bar, where my friend works as the bartender. I walk in and a regular (Let's call him Biggie) who always bring his own cue to shoot is there with one of his "pool shooting" buddies (Call him 2 Pac). Anyhow. I get there and head to the back room where all the pool tables are.

Biggie automaticly comes up and say hi to me (He has a King's cue and a Scorpion....yuck!) and I say, "can I buy in a game with you guys." giving all the other tables are taken. At this time, there was a small crowd around Biggie and 2pac's table and were just amazed at how these guys were shooting. Right now, 2pac was shooting and heard me say can I buy in a game, and he get's up and say, "You are going down!" and puts a thumbs down on me.

Since the crowd laughed and I felt he embarrassed me, I had to show him who is boss.
Now, it is my turn on the table against 2pac and Biggie, who has played with me a few times knows my level and just starts laughing.

As I get to the table, 2pac has some freaken cue that he bought in, so I said to him, I need something decent to shoot with if I am going to try and beat you. He insisted that since I don't have a cue with me, to use a house cue. So I turn to Biggie and said to him, can I use your cue for one game? So I grabbed the King's cue and beat the pants off of this guy.

I slowed everyone of my shot down so all my shots are hanging at the mouth of the pockets, and let the guy shoot. Until he gets down to his last 2 balls, I get on the table and runs the 4 shots I had left plus kept cutting the 8-ball extra hard so it bounces out of the pocket back to the rail. I didn't want to embarrasse the guy since he was with his g/f. But he saw what I was doing and Biggie also knows what I was doing. I gave Biggie back the cue and said, I'm out of here.

At the end, you can only laugh about it.

What this long drag of a story is trying to say is, if the guy has his own cue and you don't, make the guy wither share his cue with you or wait for you to come back with your own cue when there are nothing but sh!t for sticks.

Chino
 
Like it explains above where I'd have an avatar if I uploaded one...I've spent the last two decades where you were for a few minutes.

Having spent that much time on bar rags with broomsticks with nylon tips I can certainly concur it's center ball all day. Hell, it's taken me about a month to convince myself I can even attempt a draw stroke with a good tip/cue combo.

The good that came out of it is this...I rely on speed and angle on the next shot a lot now..don't know what (if there is a way to determine) the percentage of shots/runs that can be made only using 1/2 tip english in any way and speed control but I'd have to say it's the majority.. I always look for the least fancy path to out.

I'm not necessarily a money player in the shape I am now (two months in on the way to recovery) but if you are; some of the things that have been said earlier, to me, make great sense.

Having a "Budweiser" cue or a Sears "Mizerack" in the trunk that has an aftermarket tip on it is a great $30 investment. A scotch brite and tapper or pick is a NECESSITY to always have on hand in my opinion. Shooting a game in a new joint being offered it seconds after walking in can possibly get you a ton of weight.

This is just me spouting my limited experience and thoughts...

Keep on Strokin'

Mattie
 
If your just playing for fun I wouldn't worry too much about it. Though It can be tough to adapt to poor cue if you only ever play with your personal one.

House cues are often an inch or two shorter, so try holding the cue an inch or two closer to the butt. Finally if you find that there are limitations to what you can do with the cue then play within those limitations. Play closer position, make sure your getting the right angle, this stuff can make you a better player in the long run anyways.
 
ShootingArts said:
The bare necessities I travel with any time I am out the house are my brad tool and a piece of sandpaper or scotchbrite. Very seldom that there isn't a stick in the house that I can't make playable with these two things.
Hu
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Hu's right, those two things are usually all you need to make a cue "good enough". Plus tip scuffers like the its george and the brad have a hole in them where u can attach them to your key ring. Youll always have a scuffer
100kbet said:
I generally look for the best tipped cue and try to adjust to the cue after that, since I figure the tip matters more to me than anything else.

That said I used to buy the 'slip on' tips from wally world, cut the crappy tip off of them, and put on a decent tip. always kept a pack in my glove box. Anytime I'm somewhere with absolute trash for house sticks I can always slip one of those on and be comfortable with that. For the purpose I needed it for a lepro/elky/triangle works just fine, and I dont mind leaving it behind when I'm done.
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I like this idea. Id never thoughT of that before but its definitely different and worth a try. I have a 20$ budweiser cue with a custom shaft and sniper tip that I keep in the trunk for these cases. Ive also got two really REALLY cheap sneaky petes for the same purpose.
 
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this may sound a little sad but trust me its worth it.

I play in 3 locations on a regular basis where I might not have my cue with me. The other 2 rooms I would never dream of walking in without a stick that I could win with so they don't count. So what I did was this...

I bought 3 of the same cues for £7.99 each from an Argos store near to where I live. For £7.99 the bundle included the cue, a soft case and 3 blocks of chalk. First thing is to rip off the god awful tips that they come with and stick some blue diamonds on and give the varnished shafts a good sanding to bring it down to my taper and tip size. I put one cue behind the bar in each of the pubs so that I can go out on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday night, have a few hours playing before we move onto the clubs and casino.

This works a treat! Now I know the cues will never win a competition for me but they are great little bangers and I don't have to worry about dragging my nice cue around with me or leaving it somewhere to be stolen. They also hold out a lot longer than a house cue as I'm the only one using them.

The 2nd benefit of doing this is that I appreciate my cue so much more when I play with it and I seem to play better as I have more control and cue power compared to the 3 £7.99 bangers.

I don't know how much a cheap banger costs over there but I find that £25 (including tips) is well worth it for being able to play a half decent game on a night out.

cheers,

Exile
 
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Get used to playing exclusively with a LD shaft on a custom cue with a perfect layered tip and then walk into a pool room and pick a warped, sticky, flat tipped wall cue up and try to run out on a 9' table!

I have a cue lathe and I keep my cues in perfect condition and I couldn't play with a house cue to save me. I'm so used to LD shafts that I can't imagine using a warped house cue.

James
 
The Cube

I think you can play reasonably well with a house cue if it has a good tip. I keep a cube on my key chain for those circumstances. Yes I believe that I play close to or a ball better with my cue but sometimes you have to improvise.

"If you can't play off the wall you can't play at all"
DR
 
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