Sneaky Petes

The Piper

The Piper

Get Ugly...
Silver Member
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays? If you do have a sneaky pete, and you don't gamble, and you don't hustle, what was your primary purpose for seeking out one? and the answer cannot be for their distinctive one of a kind look. :p
 
Yes, barroom players and hack gamblers/shooters still fall for sneaky-pete cues...

Your other questions are good ones... I really wanted a non-fancy bang-around cue to take to the bar on league nights....

I lucked into an old Showcase sneaky that is just a real gem and I certainly don't treat it like a bang around cue! Haha! It would be the cue to go to the bar with me (if I still played leagues), but I would still worry about it.
 
Sp

The Piper said:
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays? If you do have a sneaky pete, and you don't gamble, and you don't hustle, what was your primary purpose for seeking out one? and the answer cannot be for their distinctive one of a kind look. :p
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I think they play the best. I've always played my best pool with a sneaky pete. Probably for many it is a way to get a big name cue makers cue without having to blow thousands. For me I just think they hit the best and most solid. I don't think many buy them for the hustle factor. If I was going to try to hustle I'd just bring a tip scuffer for a house cue.
 
Ok as a follow up question. Who makes the best sneaky pete;s? (btw i love these very opiniated questions, most people tend to respond with passion and with full answers.) I played with a Tim Scruggs, hit beautiful, and also a mike webb very solid. What does everyone else play with?

Also, The reason I ask, i think a perfectly clean no ding dent shiny house cue is kind of a tip of, as well has the fact that i have seen several petes that use a ring right were joint is. As in a big black ebony ring. Just didn't know who it was supposed to fool.
 
The Piper said:
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays? If you do have a sneaky pete, and you don't gamble, and you don't hustle, what was your primary purpose for seeking out one? and the answer cannot be for their distinctive one of a kind look. :p
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Frugality ! I paid $65 CAD (perhaps $50 US at the time) for my Dufferin SP. It is a very solid cue and breaks a ton ... unfortunately I do not, but that's another story. It might be the best hitting cue under $100, not that I've done a survey.

I also like the look of a standard spliced house cue (I hate it when bars get fibreglass cues 'cause they think they won't break). Some day I would like to have a rack of 'house cues', a set of sneaky petes with a rosewood, purple heart, cocobolo, and baccote cue.

Dave
 
CamposCues said:
Probably for many it is a way to get a big name cue makers cue without having to blow thousands.
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Amen! I couldn't afford a TS other than my sneaky, but it plays good. I got one after borrowing one (actually a Frey, nee of Scruggs). Also, at relatively low dollars, a good investment, I think. This one though, is completely plain jane, no joint collars, butt rings, etc. - which are a dead giveaway, I agree, but I'm not using it to hustle with. The only problem with a plain jane sneaky is you have to watch it like a hawk or some banger picks it up and walks off with it! :mad:
 
It's been a peeve of mine that a cue with a ring at the joint should not be allowed to be classified as a SP. Anymore, it seems like about 90% of the makers do this - apparently, for some, ill-conceived, structural integrity reason. I've had several with no collars, broke with 'em, and, never had an issue. No collars, no butt-caps for me. (plus as good an effort as possible to match the coloration of the shaft with the forearm). I have a Diveny (has collar, unfortunately) and the forearm maple is real "white" and new looking, and, the shaft is the old, darker, lakewood stuff - overall, looks like crap.
 
The Piper said:
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays? If you do have a sneaky pete, and you don't gamble, and you don't hustle, what was your primary purpose for seeking out one? and the answer cannot be for their distinctive one of a kind look. :p
Click to expand...

Here is I think a not uncommon progression. People can, of course, get stuck for life at any one of these levels.

stage 1.

You dabble in the game and hit with a bar cue. Perhaps it seems to come a little easier to you than it does to some of your friends. You beat a lot of your friends.

stage 2.

You buy a cue. You've heard k-mart cues are crap and you decide to splurge on a high-quality custom two-piece cue. You buy a McDermott with your favorite football team's logo on it--or you buy a cuetec. You learn to twirl your cue. Forty percent of your shots have draw on them. Another forty percent are stop shots intended to have draw. You jack up for many shots. You choose a 20 oz, because you once heard a cool guy ask for a 20 oz cue. You sometimes can hold the table in the bar for a while. You sometimes win some drinks or cheap sets with your friends. You might play in a league. You tell people you're good at pool whenever you can get away with it.

stage 3.

You've gotten more serious about the game. You play in local tournaments and run a table now and then. You feel you've outgrown your McDermott and start making payments on a Schon with fancy ivory inlays or such or some other fancy cue that's popular in your area and labels you a player to be reckoned with. You gamble cheap stuff regularly with people you know. You've learned that it's fashionable to put your own game down. You woof with your friends a lot and point out you haven't played in weeks and you need weight and so forth. You know and they know that you know that it's an act. You secretly hope they see you as a good player. You may actually become a pretty good player. You may gamble some with strangers or for some larger amounts with people you know.

stage 4.

You're a seasoned player. You may gamble regularly. You've lost the Schon or sold it. You're now into function over form. You might hit with a sneaky pete from a good cuemaker or you might hit with any butt and a predator shaft. It could be that you just want to look like you're into function over form. Or you may actually see beauty in simplicity. You're hardly fooling anybody with your sneaky pete. You don't even intend to. In fact, your sneaky pete says to people you could be very good. You could be someone hiding in the weeds. And you like that.

mike page
fargo
 
Plain jane Jensen. Does not look very pretty but does the job. Cost more than most production cues and looks cheap.

Just wanted a "banger" that does not draw much attention. Don't like to tell people how much I paid for it because they would think that I am nuts to pay that much for a cue that doesn't look as fancy as their cue will all the decals.
 
Mike,
I want my diary back, and I'm not happy it was you that took it, and even less happy you published my darkest pool secrets here!
Jeff
 
I like dzuricky and scruggs sneaky's. Own both, have had a couple different scruggs since I've had the dzuricky, and I like the play of the dzuricky more. Cue just suits me better for some reason.
 
mikepage said:
Here is I think a not uncommon progression. People can, of course, get stuck for life at any one of these levels.

stage 2.

You buy a cue. You've heard k-mart cues are crap and you decide to splurge on a high-quality custom two-piece cue. You buy a McDermott with your favorite football team's logo on it--or you buy a cuetec. You learn to twirl your cue. Forty percent of your shots have draw on them. Another forty percent are stop shots intended to have draw. You jack up for many shots. You choose a 20 oz, because you once heard a cool guy ask for a 20 oz cue. You sometimes can hold the table in the bar for a while. You sometimes win some drinks or cheap sets with your friends. You might play in a league. You tell people you're good at pool whenever you can get away with it.

mike page
fargo
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Page-man,
No need to get personal (hey, I thought the moderators were squelching obviously personal attacks like this one on me); my cue has a Harley logo, NOT my favorite football team - you really don't know everything do you???

P.S. - when I break, I can get the cueball to jump up almost to the light every time; how cool is that??
 
ive never owned a cue with any inlays or ringwork, straight plain janes or sneaky's. my reasoning is i'm not buying the cue to look at it, i dont care what other people think of it. the cues sole purpose it to shoot and to do that well it doesnt need veneers or floating points.
 
The NEW Sneaky Pete's

The Piper said:
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays? If you do have a sneaky pete, and you don't gamble, and you don't hustle, what was your primary purpose for seeking out one? and the answer cannot be for their distinctive one of a kind look. :p
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The new Sneaky Petes are the Hot Pink cues..Or cues with Butterflys...or cues that light up! Then they have a cuemaker make a nice shaft or 314 shaft for the hustlers. Anything bought at Sport's Authority or Sears can be converted to blend into the masses in the bar scene. The hot pink Stealth cues are a seller at my place.
 
I think the 4 stages of pool are dead on...I was thinking I was stereotyping pool players. Now I just know I was observant.
 
mikepage said:
Here is I think a not uncommon progression. People can, of course, get stuck for life at any one of these levels.

stage 1.

You dabble in the game and hit with a bar cue. Perhaps it seems to come a little easier to you than it does to some of your friends. You beat a lot of your friends.

stage 2.

You buy a cue. You've heard k-mart cues are crap and you decide to splurge on a high-quality custom two-piece cue. You buy a McDermott with your favorite football team's logo on it--or you buy a cuetec. You learn to twirl your cue. Forty percent of your shots have draw on them. Another forty percent are stop shots intended to have draw. You jack up for many shots. You choose a 20 oz, because you once heard a cool guy ask for a 20 oz cue. You sometimes can hold the table in the bar for a while. You sometimes win some drinks or cheap sets with your friends. You might play in a league. You tell people you're good at pool whenever you can get away with it.

stage 3.

You've gotten more serious about the game. You play in local tournaments and run a table now and then. You feel you've outgrown your McDermott and start making payments on a Schon with fancy ivory inlays or such or some other fancy cue that's popular in your area and labels you a player to be reckoned with. You gamble cheap stuff regularly with people you know. You've learned that it's fashionable to put your own game down. You woof with your friends a lot and point out you haven't played in weeks and you need weight and so forth. You know and they know that you know that it's an act. You secretly hope they see you as a good player. You may actually become a pretty good player. You may gamble some with strangers or for some larger amounts with people you know.

stage 4.

You're a seasoned player. You may gamble regularly. You've lost the Schon or sold it. You're now into function over form. You might hit with a sneaky pete from a good cuemaker or you might hit with any butt and a predator shaft. It could be that you just want to look like you're into function over form. Or you may actually see beauty in simplicity. You're hardly fooling anybody with your sneaky pete. You don't even intend to. In fact, your sneaky pete says to people you could be very good. You could be someone hiding in the weeds. And you like that.

mike page
fargo
Click to expand...





Ok, that was just too spot on man!!!


:D
 
I had a sneaky pete made and got it fairly recently. Went from a Fury DL to sneaky pete so it really was an increase in price. I guess i dont fit the mold of the 4 stages.

Ive always liked the look of sneaky petes which is one of the reasons why i got it. Its nice and simple but not as simple as a cue with a solid color. Mine has joint collars and rings. No i dont expect people to fall for it and it doesnt matter cause i dont exactly gamble. Since so many people can afford cues these days i dont think its a surefire way of measuring skill.

Plus, i had shot with some of the other cues of the maker and liked the hit so i went ahead and got it made instead of buying another production.
 
The Piper said:
Ok I have to ask these questions. Do people really fall for sneaky petes anymore? What purpose does a sneaky pete really have now awadays?
Click to expand...

Do people fall for a Sneaky Pete I would say some where someone will fall for a Sneaky Pete ;)

If I personally wanted to be Sneaky, and was a GREAT PLAYER capable of living off my stick, I would personally go to some place like WAL-MART and purchase one of there Cue with Dragon Decals, etc.,and learn to play with that Cue.:D

Than i think I could create a persona or facade of being an easy mark until i turn my trick on those who were going to hustle me....:eek:
 
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