So my 1949 WHP that Brunswick sold for $13.95 in 1949 must be also be painted because "$13.95 in 1949 has the same buying power as approximately $188 to $190 today (late 2025)"?

You might be correct, but I, for one, will require better evidence.

Well 2025 has been a year for finding pleasure in small things. The fun part was finding a local $5 eight ball tournament. The funny part was first place money didn't cover my bar tab. Meeting and making new friends made it fun.
Happy holidays.

Rusty in Montana said:

As always Hu great story ! We went to Minot nd for a funeral and on the way there we stopped in Williston ND which was the hot spot in the Bakken oil boom . Granted its not as crazy as it was a few years ago there's still signs of truck drivers wanted and help wanted all over as you drive through the vacant shops and warehouses and yards with parked semi trucks and trailers .

It was an eye opening experience just driving past and wondering what it was like when there were more trucks on the road than cars or pickups and to drive past farm and ranches with all new equipment and vehicles parked in the driveway.

Sadly I didn't bring a pool cue on this trip but didn't have any time for it .

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I'll tell a story sad but true. The Tuscaloosa trend was found running through here a few years back. I had over fifteen acres. Not much but I know people that became wealthy on smaller pieces. There were nice producing wells all around my family piece of low hundreds of acres. There was oil under our land too, a huge lake. The problem was there was a chunk of rock holding the oil deeper than they could drill! After doing my research and watching drilling companies damned near go over that land inch by inch trying to find where they could sneak a well through that rock I finally sold that land for surface value!

Everybody laughed at my cousin. They bought twenty acres 99 feet wide for the frontage to build a business on. In a few years the news of the trend became known and they had full mineral rights. Two gas wells pulling off that spot now. They didn't have time to build a house so when somebody built apartments joining onto their land they just bought the back building. Four nice four bedroom apartments, four kitchens, eight bathrooms. The hop scotching might have gotten confusing but I liked the idea of a kitchen get dirty you just left it for housekeeping and moved over. Holiday cooking was a treat with four kitchens too!

Hu

This is exactly what is wrong with American pool culture.

Criminals being aggrandized and put in the limelight, simply because they are popular or can make a ball.

Is the youth expected to look up to people like this and be inspired to greatness? Greatness in what? Stiffing, stealing, and dealing?
I've seen plenty of drug dealers who play or stake pool, come and go through Philly.
Gil, Julio, Darren, etc etc.
On the one hand, part of me can kinda understand where people come from.
They are just "another one of the guys" if you don't focus on how they make their money. But they all get locked up eventually.

But should the drug dealers, and drug using pool players who steal money, stiff people, and OD at tournaments, really be held in high esteem, simply because they can make a ball, or run a good calcutta, or are a character? Should the pool masses turn a blind eye like they seem to do and make them THE FOCUS?

I don't understand the purpose of putting the attention on people like that in terms of helping pools image.

Id rather see an interview with the grill guy in the kitchen.

Hail Mary Shot said:

exactly. not sure why some still think that custom cues from well-established cuemakers think that the cues would play differently or look better than the high-end or even mid-tier production cue. it's not like it's a hidden secret or had that secret recipe of making cues. that kind of stuff is now long gone and there is no more monopoly in terms of cue-making in general. what people pay for with regards to the high-end customs has to do more of a prestige of owning a cue from a certain cuemaker, not because he/they are the only ones that can make those customs. also, I'm buying custom for the prestige, not for the belief that it would turn me magically into the greatest pool player by holding a stick and shouting SHAZAM ! a good pool cue is more than enough.

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People do not like the truth. Hell, I don't sometimes. I have been selling cues since the early 90's and I think it is a wonderful hobby. Collecting is a great hobby and IMHO it should be encouraged. BUT truth is the truth. If a custom cue could make a pro win more tournaments a year, give him more confidence gambling, the 5k. would be worth the ROI. The fact is great players, play great, end of story. There is NO truer statement than it is the indian and not the arrow. To further illustrate the lack of connection between a pro player and a custom cue, show me more than 10 pros with high end custom cues. Not Mezz or Excced, I mean traditional custom cues. Again, collect cues because you love cues, that is and should be the goal. Hell, collect cues and play with some LD setup that you feel makes you play good. In fact if you believe in engineering and science I don't know how one could argue against low d technology. I do, because I am a stubborn ass and will always play with maple shafts. But I cannot formulate any more of a reason than, its what I know and like and at 60 I ain't changing. I said the same thing at 30-35 when Predators came out.
That being said, collecting is a fun hobby. No matter what you collect, cues are no different. As someone that sells collectible custom cues all I would say is if you are not collecting a specific maker, or style of cue, diversification is a great way to go. Do you have a Joe Thomas? A Dick Lanz? A Tex? A Don Gaudreau?

JV (-- Owns 4 cues

Kris_b1104 said:

Not at all. I just haven't done my research on how it works when comparing different size tables/pockets.

I wasn't trying to attack Fargorate in any way. If it came off that way, my bad.

Is it true that a 600FR who only plays on a 9ft is the same exact speed as a 600 who only plays on 7ft? If they were to match up on a 9ft table. Equal rating and robustness.

I was assuming the 9ft player has the advantage and would win the majority of sets in the long run.

Only reason I'm asking is I've seen a few 500-600 who 90% of the time play on barboxes, and then when I watch them play on a 9footer, they are shooting below the speed they are currently ranked.

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I think what you are missing is that your “only bar box” player had played against other players who play on both bar boxes and 9 footers, so your only bar box player’s Fargo accounts for this difference already.

Ive never played a Fargo event outside of Kansas City. But some people I played have, so my Fargo accounts for that as well (I’m terrible regardless of the city). Mike has a video on this city example.

I would start by facing off the collar end of the shaft(s).

Baby Huey said:

I was about 19 yrs old and at Norwalk Family Billiards in So Cal. A friend Bob Brown and I were broke when two players asked Brown to hold their stakes 7 ahead 9 ball $50 a piece. Brown put me in action for$100 against a much weaker player. I was afraid to play because of the potential bad outcome. Well I was dogging it. The sets of the other players were coming to conclusion when Brown told me to start riding the 9 ball. I made the 9 ball three times in a row to win out just as those other sets finished up. I was so nervous that night.

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Lee Trevino famously said that pressure wasn't a 3' putt for $50,000. Pressure was a 3' putt for $5, when you only have $3 in your pocket...

gregcantrall said:

He watched me harvest 320 from a gambler and immediately put the bite on me for a loan..

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He was seated next to the deep pockets owner as I was working. The owner thought of my opponent as a house man and favored him against me. Ronnie could have made a sweat bet. He obviously followed the "not in on it don't bet", method.
At the loan request I told him, "I neither borrow or loan". But would gift 40 in appreciation for his catalyst effect......The next day he requested another Loan. That was towards the end and he was staying with his sister in Her home. There was an occasion when we were seated at the bar and he asked me, "what can We do?" My reply of "$10 barbox 8 ball" ended that discussion.

Seems strange but barbox and snooker are closer to each other than barbox and nine foot table. Some of the people known as barbox specialists have tough snooker games too.

I can't make up my mind about which better shows skills, tourney format or gambling. I like the variety of players in tourney play, I don't like the short races. In gambling I like that they play until somebody runs out of money or quits, I don't think it does much to rank overall skills unless you look at results over years.

While they take a long time to play, I think some of the old time round robins and snooker tourneys might be the best to show skill. I think eighteen games of snooker definitely settles who is best at the present time.

I don't have answers because time is the issue. Nobody has the time to play that long and if they did I don't think spectators would watch.

Hu

As always Hu great story ! We went to Minot nd for a funeral and on the way there we stopped in Williston ND which was the hot spot in the Bakken oil boom . Granted its not as crazy as it was a few years ago there's still signs of truck drivers wanted and help wanted all over as you drive through the vacant shops and warehouses and yards with parked semi trucks and trailers .

It was an eye opening experience just driving past and wondering what it was like when there were more trucks on the road than cars or pickups and to drive past farm and ranches with all new equipment and vehicles parked in the driveway.

Sadly I didn't bring a pool cue on this trip but didn't have any time for it .