I use to think it was a two piece cue made to look like a house cue. Now I see cues with stainless steel joints, wraps, and butt caps called sneaky petes. Could someone please shed some light on this for me? Thanks.
What's the definition of a sneaky pete ?
- Thread starter JUSTABANGER 2
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Anyone ?
Maybe I posted this in the wrong forum.
Maybe I posted this in the wrong forum.
You have the right idea. The term itself is generic and has been used to describe the full splice house cue style. The correct term for fancy sneeky pete's would be conversion cue or something along those lines, like Fancy Sneeky Pete, Sleeper, or Hustler cue . I personally like them dressed up a little, so they have a little flare and so you dont end up looking through the racks for your cue when someone less knowing puts it there or even picks it up and uses it. Also phenolic on the collors and on the butt plate is a very good idea from a durrability stand point.
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Yes, things evolve.......... and they will continue to evolve.........
If you do a search, you will find threads telling you much more
than anybody would care to know about what is or is not a sneaky pete.
Personally, in casual conversation, I use the term in a generic fashion to
describe any cue that I build starting with either a house cue or
house-cue-looking-blank.
Realistically, it's unlikely you're going to sneak up on anyone these days
just because your cue doesn't have an obvious joint.
Dale
For a 100 years 99.9% of pool players played off of the wall. Only the really good players, or, those with lots of money had a personal cue and the majority of players kept an eye out for those players. The "Sneaky Pete" term has been around for a number of years to define a house cue that was jointed for portability and had a good tip and shaft taper that the owner preferred and could be used to sneak up on non pro or casual players, so the term. Now-a-days with the plethora of man. and custom cue makers they have fallen into the cheap cue category. The fact is, they should never have come into existence in the first place. They are cheap, very poorly designed cues with little advantage as the owner is not sneaking up on anyone with them. At the turn of the 20th century Brunswick was building many very fancy one piece pool cues. If someone wanted a 2-piece to carry along Brunswick, for a small fee. would cut one of these house cues in half, install a joint, shaft ring, butt cap and a pin. This is how they were sold. They came with no ferrule. That was an option. The joint and butt cap wasn't. Moisture enters wood through end grain so Brunswick determined that although a ferrule wasn't necessary for a cue, a joint and butt cap was.
Every cue maker has his own parameters that he uses when building his cues. One of mine is that I refuse to build a cue that doesn't have a joint or butt cap. I do build "not so sneaky petes" however. They are simple full spliced house type cues like a normal sneaky pete but they have a joint and butt cap with deco-rings, a matching shaft ring, a 1" piece of maple in the bottom of the cue so that The points can be a little closer to the joint and I put small ivory circles at the bottom of each point so as to clean up the squared bottoms of the points plus a good finish.
Dick
Every cue maker has his own parameters that he uses when building his cues. One of mine is that I refuse to build a cue that doesn't have a joint or butt cap. I do build "not so sneaky petes" however. They are simple full spliced house type cues like a normal sneaky pete but they have a joint and butt cap with deco-rings, a matching shaft ring, a 1" piece of maple in the bottom of the cue so that The points can be a little closer to the joint and I put small ivory circles at the bottom of each point so as to clean up the squared bottoms of the points plus a good finish.
Dick
I use to think it was a two piece cue made to look like a house cue.
Dick, Thanks for the info. I heard the name came from a hustler named Pete. Who was the first to have his favorite house cue made into a two piece so he could sneak it in to a game without it standing out.
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The term Sneaky Pete has some origin and/or history information on file. Peter Anthony Crisafi or sneaky pete was born in 1919 in New york and was a billiard player. He traveled around playing for money. He did this because he was no good at playing cards and he was to lazy to work hard. He stole his favorite billiard cue from Flambonis in New York and had it made into two pieces that screwed together so he could take it with him.
Google search
The term Sneaky Pete has some origin and/or history information on file. Peter Anthony Crisafi or sneaky pete was born in 1919 in New york and was a billiard player. He traveled around playing for money. He did this because he was no good at playing cards and he was to lazy to work hard. He stole his favorite billiard cue from Flambonis in New York and had it made into two pieces that screwed together so he could take it with him.
Can you give me a reference for where this info can be confirmed. This is a piece of history that should be preserved and verified.
sneakys have changed
back in the olden days a sneaky was a cue made to look like a house cue. they were made to fool drunks into believing you were using a house cue as they were. if you came in the door with a 2 piece cue then you were a hustler and no one wanted to play with you.
now builders are making them with ss joints, veneers on the points, fancy rings, leather wraps, etc etc. and still trying to call them sneakys. i guess i am just too old to understand.
these photos are of old school sneakys, uneven points, the original brunswick bumpers, no rings, old style ferrules.
chuck starkey
back in the olden days a sneaky was a cue made to look like a house cue. they were made to fool drunks into believing you were using a house cue as they were. if you came in the door with a 2 piece cue then you were a hustler and no one wanted to play with you.
now builders are making them with ss joints, veneers on the points, fancy rings, leather wraps, etc etc. and still trying to call them sneakys. i guess i am just too old to understand.
these photos are of old school sneakys, uneven points, the original brunswick bumpers, no rings, old style ferrules.
chuck starkey
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My thoughts exactly I dont see anything sneaky about todays sneaky Pete's. Its just a little confusing when people call a cue a sneaky Pete and its got so much detailed work done to it. It really makes them stand out. Which was just the opposite of what a sneaky was originally made for.
Things change - attitudes change.
Once upon a time there was no such thing as ball-in-hand 9 ball.
No 1 foul - no 2 foul - there wasn't such a thing as a foul in 9 ball.
Dale
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What's the definition
Looks like some one entered that definition in 2006. No provenance, yup, I'll take that to the bank. The real definition or who coined it will probably never be known or confirmed. It's become a legend or folk lore.
Looks like some one entered that definition in 2006. No provenance, yup, I'll take that to the bank. The real definition or who coined it will probably never be known or confirmed. It's become a legend or folk lore.