Anybody play pool?
 

Way back when dirt was rocks, a friend came to me. He was a pool fanatic, I (then and now) a mere casual player. But, oh what a deal... He was hot for a certain pool cue, a "custom" he called it, dubbed it the best in the world. Actually, the only thing really "custom" was that the buyer could select the weight, the shaft dia. and have his name embossed on a metal foil band displayed under a clear plastic ring, helpful in discouraging theft.
As I said, Tony was really HOT for this cue, but the only way he could get the wholesale price of $150, (This included 2 shafts and a hard case, also with your name embossed.) he had to buy TWO of them. Jeeze, I didn't even know if I was good enough to even have a 2 piece cue, let alone "the best in the world". But to help him out, I relented, gave him the money. In 8 weeks or so, he gave me the cue. When Cindy & I were dating,we'd play now and then. But after marriage, with both of us working, a child to raise, pool got dropped, the cue & case placed in a closet. 30 years later, the child grown & gone, we decided to bring our old cues out of the closet, try our hand at playing again. Gosh, it was embarrassing...neither of us could shoot worth a damn, but we'd draw a crowd whenever I'd uncase my old cue. I figured out why in short order, so I bought a modern cue, an entry level Jacoby, to play with. I placed my old cue back in the closet, not caring for the attention. Today, I discoved a website...here's a link to the page with pics of an old cue like mine: ;)
http://www.palmercollector.com/Model-M-page.html

Sell that old relic and take Cindy for a weekend getaway but hang onto that old car of yours. :)

Reg

Old relic??? Hey, I may represent that remark, but the cue is as nice as when I bought it. Besides, it has my name under the clear plastic ring. Taking Cindy for a getaway is in the works, BTW...the 27th is our 30th anniversary. She hasn't made up her mind where she wants to go, what she wants to do yet...

take her for a run down the coast - hit every pool hall you can for a quick game of 9-ball - make it the "Great Pool Hall Run".

I am nursing about a 3 day/week billiard habit. That is an amazing cue you have, and an even better story to go with it. Also, a Jacoby is a very un-beginner like cue ;) (Calling any of them entry-level is almost impossible)

Good to hear you're getting back into it. Less walking than golf and the bar is *always* much much closer than the clubhouse ;)

My grandfather used to make a living in the 20's hustling pool. He taught all us grandkids how to play. I remember when he was 80 years old, I couldn't beat him at 8-ball unless I ran my side in around 2 turns. He'd usually lay up the 8-ball next to a corner pocket, then on his next turn tap it in with a triple bank shot...

Thanks for that Paul,
 

You are the first person that properly explained the origin of the palmer signiture series "Wavey" cue. I never did understand the clear bit approach. All the ones I have seen had some persons name in there and the current owner had no idea as to whom that was.

They do sell for more than $3K. I have seen it done. Value is all about the inlay materials. I believe that it is about the alibaster (sp) pearl and silver inlay work that is rare. Some shafts do have real ivory ferrules (another spell check) and those are valued like early orange bar hood crests.

Dang Paul, do you have any other low miles Holly Grails parked at your house. My cues have "mother of toilet seat" inlays. They are just tools, yours are art.

Conda Green w/ envy. Shawn. :eek:

edited to add: "I'll Play ya for it!"

I use to have some high dollar Joss cues when I played daily. Did alot of tournies, money games, etc.. Totally out of the game now and haven't done a tourny in 10 years+. One of the guys we played with is now a regular on the Pro-tour. Loved it at the time, burnt out on it now.

pocket billiards ?

Re: Thanks for that Paul,
 

Shawn, I now know that you have a Schon and a Joss East. These are hardly chopped liver cues! I chose the entry level Jacoby because the entry level Schon was too $pendy for my level of play. BTW, we have another guy who posts here on occasion who plays a bit. Evren. A pawn shop near me listed a used Jacoby on ebay, so I went over for a look-see before the auction ended. Evren now has a very nice Jacoby...must have belonged to somebody who really knows the game...it has a moori layered tip, no wrap, a nice wood to wood joint..definitely was a custom order. After playing with it once, it was hard for me to ship it off to Evren. Gawd it has a sweet hit, and with that tip, can deliver some crazy english. Oh well, it pleases me to know that Evren probably has the best Jacoby in all of Istanbul. Of course, he might have the only Jacoby in all of Istanbul. ;)

Similar, adrian...but pool is a faster game. Some of your European top quality women's pocket billiards players came here, they are now making money playing a professional women's 9 ball POOL tournament schedule. Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, and others. These ladies can play! I had the pleasure of watching them last November.

what's pocket billiards? is it like snooker?

I'm only aware of 9-ball, 8-ball, straight pool, one pocket, snooker, and billiards (3 balls, no pockets)


BTW, I've been using a Moori medium, coupled w/ a fiber pad for the past 4 years. It's like crack (or Hoosiers), once you try it, you can't go back. :D

In about a month I'll switch to a Moori soft. I'm told throughout its lifespan, once it compresses through play, it continues to play like a new medium to the end.

Dave, the way it was explained to me, "Pocket Billiards", as played in Europe, is played on a HUGE "snooker" table, like 14'! :eek: I'm not all that familiar, so I assume it's what is called "snooker" here? Accuracy and form is king in that game. That's why Karen Corr & Allison Fisher do so well here in the states...their accuracy is simply amazing to watch live...they both play the pocket like I've never seen. Once they learned the strategy of 9 ball, the USA women were in for a very hard time. Thanks for the info on the Moori tip. I'm thinking "layered" when my Jacoby needs to be retipped.

I got a woodie...
 

Adrain and Paul:

Snooker tables (both UK and Canadian) are 6 X 12 ft (which is odd but true...I have repaired, moved, and recovered a few of them.) Canadian snooker tables have wider pockets than their homeland UK airfield landling strip models.

Billiard tables are 5 X 10 ft and have no pockets. I once played three cushion billiards for 8 hours in Dublin IRE with real ivory balls (two white and one red) and I was exhausted. My tip was mushroomed in the first hour...the remaining hours were just "one point for Shawn. click, one point for Bernard. click, one point for Shawn. click, well...you get it. I am pretty certain that billiard play "over the pond" (as Chuck says) is a drinking game. The first player that gets pissed and makes a mistake, pays the more experienced drinker for the game..but, does not have to pay for the "winners round"!

Pocket billiard tables start at 5 x 10, just as above, and scale downward like this:

4 1/2 X 9 ft which is the standard for all USA tournements.
4 X 8 ft
3 1/2 X 7 ft usually called a "Bar Box" No explaination needed.
3 X 6 ft no kidding. They are "cute"

You should understand now, why all the championship UK snooker gals come to the USA to play 9 ball for money. To them, I am certain, our tables seem tiny with giant buckets for pockets. :( Shawn.

Thanks for the education Shawn... I'll admit to being a bit of a table snob once I discovered a hall with 9' tables. 7' Bar boxes are a pain now. Plus, the beer residue sticky balls, the dead rubber...ARRGH! Not to mention the 50 cents. I mean, when I played on bar boxes with my Palmer, it was only two-bits. Shawn & Dave? If either of you make it to this part of Oregon? I'll see to it that you can say you've shot with a "Palmer Supreme", okay? :)

Paul you snob...
 

are you to good for the pool halls that have soo much cigarette smoke that it stings your eyes and sticks on your clothes, hair and cue?

Are you to good for the fights that happen about non paid pool debts. You must be some kind of upitty socialite to not like that sort of "I can't pay you right now....I need bail money...my girlfriend got locked up last night" atmosphere. Dang, you must have a green car.

I prefer regulation 9 feet tables as well. I also prefer 14-1 straight to a hundred. But, here in PHX, it is all about the eight ball game....so I go with the flow.

In what way is a professional pool player like a professional musician? Without a girlfriend, they are both homeless. :D

Shawn.

That's very kind. I will definitely take you up on that offer. Thanks.

I'm watching an auction for a car in Washington state ;)
although I'm pretty sure it'll top out above what I want to pay.

Shawn, thanks for the clarification. Totally agree about the UK advantage for players over here. My old pool hall had a snooker table and just for giggles we played a made up version of 8-ball on it. After going back to regulation it seemed child's play.

As for billiards, watching the game is so amazing to me that I have to wonder. Is it a game that you pick up once you get so good at pocketing balls/position that the game bores you? You need another challenge b/c pocket billiards is 'too easy'?

that is a very good question...
 

Before I forget Dave...nice car you got there. I have recently become quite partial to early cars with green paint.

My common answer is that: Any "good" pool player can make 1, 2, and 3 cushion shots all day. Billiard play requires 4 and 5 cushion shot knowledge to be in the top shelf of your tool box. Those tools must be handy while you also "corner play" the other two balls.

Three cushion billiard play (there are other more difficult versions as well) is all about herding the play ball (the white ball without the little red dot) and the point ball (the red one) into a corner. Once you have done this...you can shoot away for 3,4, and 5 cushion shots and back to both the play, and point ball, for a game point all day long. The ugly guy you are attempting to remove money from can do the same though.

This is where the "must win by two points" rule enters. And the night becomes a new clear day while you were busy playing with insanity.

Which brings me to my honest answer. "Cause it is stoopid and so am I." Shawn. :o

Shawn & Dave, There is a hall about 30 miles North of my home. Lots of 9' tables, and yes...one each snooker & billiards tables. Non smoking, snacks & soft drinks only, open from 9AM to 1 AM, all day every day. That's where Cindy & I prefer to go for our casual play these days. We're like the old couple at the golf club. We know of the gambling, but don't indulge. We just play because we enjoy the game, despite our low skill level. Boy, it's too geographically difficult, but it sure would be fun if we could all spend a day at "The Cue Ball" in Salem, Oregon. Why do I get the feeling you'd both like the place? Oh yeah, money changes hands there often, but I can honestly say that I've never lost a dime (other than the money spent for cues, cases, gadgets) playing pool. That's because I don't play money games. Hell, Cindy & I worked too hard for what we have to lose it by letting our egos take control. But boy, do I love watching good shooters play! I love it that green felt is still popular in this age of computer games. Shawn, you sure nailed the tavern scene. "Been there, done that", have you? ;)

Right now I'm totaly stuck to my TV. Here in europe Eurosport are broadcasting 6 hours of live snooker (World Championship) everyday, and has been for over a week.

I could not pot 2 balls in a row if my life depended of it, but I love watching it.

Playing pool got me sent to boarding school. Spent 9th grade hustling pool. Parents found my money roll and made me give it to the proprietor of the place to give back to those who had lost it! I'm sure he worked as hard to find them as OJ does to find the 'real killers.' Did my share of sandbagging, riding the bus and running for my life. Still love the game but don't have a table. Most of my friends refuse to play me but love it when I lose on the bar box. Reading this thread brings back some good memories.

Beautiful stick!

My parents bought a house 4 blocks from the local bowling alley when I was 12. For the next 10 years, it was our hang out through most of the 70's (also met my wife there). At age 18, I became a starving pro bowler, but if we weren't bowling it was pool or pinball. And, of course, there was always a small wager on the outcome.

There were two huge snooker tables amongst the 10 brunswick tables. I loved the game and it made shooting pool on anything smaller than 9 feet look like a tap in. :)

Sweet stick.

I play a pretty good game of pool. I used to be in a pool league for 7 years as well.

It is really funny...
 

...that this thread has popped back up again.

Funny to me, since I just purchased a 39 year old Gold Crown regulation (4 1/2 X 9) table for $750 at a garage sale. No kidding.

Four legs, three piece slate, leather corner covers and no ball return. The bumpers are rock hard but the rail tops are real rosewood and still very nice...there is a cigarette burn or three. Has real pearl inlay dots. The leather has not rotted, nor has the pocket nets. Can you tell that I am ecxited?

I had to rent a storage unit to put it in. I cannot afford a home that has a billiard room...but this is one fine piece of furniture. I will restore this table...as soon as I can find a place to put it. The garage is full of Porsche stuff.

I never understood why some people would pay to store stupid stuff...now I am one. :rolleyes:

Paul, hope to meet you in Sonoma. Shawn.

ha! speaking of cues, here's a thread showing my friend's restoration work. it's not really restoration, but when he replaces the tip, he goes through the entire cue just to make it brand new again. amazing work.

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showthread.php?t=8485&highlight=moori

Re: It is really funny...
 

Wow! Good find, Shawn. There are good "table mechanics" out there who can do a proper restoration for you. My problem here..I'd love to have a 9' table, but simply no place to put it.

I'll be skipping Sonoma. I resigned from R Gruppe, so switched my room & registration over to a buddy I'd talked into going. Didn't think it would be right to leave him in the lurch. Personal reasons, but I'm going to be backing off on the car clubs scene.

(edit) Dave, those "before" pics remind me to stay away from red felt tables that force the use of red chalk. ;)

different game but the skill can still be appreciated.
fantastic run in snooker

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I have a group of friends that all have tables. We've come up with this 'league' of sorts and try to play at someones place once a month. Not great play, but in an 8 ball game, you can only expect two turns or three if you're lucky.

I have a generic Viking cue with a predator shaft. I have been trying different tips to see what I like. Right now it's a really firm one and I'm not sure that's the way I want to go.

At my most serious I had a very nice/expensive Joss cue, but one of my favorites for feel was a cheap Viking with a small gauge shaft that I won from a guy. It's all about what feels "right" to you.

Pool? Ya Got Trouble, my friend.

Well, ya got trouble, my friend.
Right here, I say trouble right here in River City
Why, sure, I'm a billiard player
Certainly mighty proud to say,
I'm always mighty proud to say it
I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden
Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye
Didja ever take an' try an' give an iron clad leave
to yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?
But just as I say it takes judgement, brains and maturity
to score in a balk-line game
I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket
And I call that sloth,
the first big step on the road to the depths of degreda-
I say, first- medicinal wine from a teaspoon,
then beer from a bottle
And the next thing you know your son is playin'
for money in a pinchback suit
and listenin' to some big out-o'-town jasper
Hear him tell about horserace gamblin'
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no,
but a race where they set down right on the horse
Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch?
Make your blood boil, well I should say
Now, folks, let me show you what I mean
You got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum
With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

And all week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away
I say, your young men'll be fritterin'
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too
Hit the ball in the pocket
Never mind gettin' dandelions pulled or the screen door patched
or the beefsteak pounded
Never mind pumpin' any water 'til your parents are caught
with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble
Oh, ya got lots and lots o' trouble
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers shirttails,
young ones peekin' in the pool hall window after school
Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City
with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

Now I know all you folks are the right kind of parents
I'm gonna be perfectly frank
Would you like to know what kind of conversation goes on
while they're loafin' around that hall
They'll be tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out Cubebs,
tryin' out tailor-mades like cigarette fiends
And braggin' all about how they're gonna cover up
a tell-tale breath with Sen-Sen
Now one fine night they leave the pool hall
headin' for the dance at the Armory
Libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime
Shameless music that'll grab your son, your daughter
into the arms of a jungle animal instinct- massteria!
Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground, trouble!

Oh, we got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here in River City
With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'
That stands for pool
We surely got trouble
We surely got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here

Gotta figure out a way to keep the young ones
moral after school

Spoken:
Mothers of River City,
heed this warning before it's too late
Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption
The minute your son leaves the house
does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?
Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?
A dime novel hidden in the corncrib?
Is he starting to memorize jokes
from Cap'n Billy's Whizbang?
Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like... swell?
And... 'so's your old man'?
Well if so, my friends...

Ya got trouble
Oh, we got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here in River City
With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'
That stands for pool
We've surely got trouble
We surely got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here

Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule?
Oho, we got trouble
We're in terrible, terrible trouble
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is the devil's tool
Devil's tool
Yes, we've got trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, yes, we got trouble here, we got big, big trouble
With a 'T'

With a capital 'T'
And that rhymes with 'P'
That rhymes with 'P'
And that stands for pool
That stands for pool

Remember my friends, listen to me,
because I pass this way but once

I find funny this old thread came up as well. But funny how life turns out sometime, isn't it? I'm looking at the car being trucked to New Jersey soon. There, it will go into a container and shipped to Istanbul.

I'll be hanging on to the old Palmer...it's easier to store & take care of.
:)

dump the...
 

Predator shaft straight away.

Joel. The laminated shafts are for (dedicated) seasoned players. Your game will improve better with a straight grain rock maple shaft. The hot rod shafts will throw your natural hit angle wierd...the angle that you need to learn. Alot.

Leather tips are a personal choice. I use the Le Pro soft. Some say that they are too hard. I reshape every month and replace every 6 months. Cost is...$40 per year.

The best Billiard cue you can buy is this: Your local custom cue maker will take a standard 19 oz. house cue...cut it in half, install a bolt at the new joint, provide a proper 16 inch pro taper on the shaft, and place a 12 - 14 mm leather tip of your choice on there.

Cost is $120 tops. You now have a "Sneaky Pete" that is designed just for you and plays better than your buddies high $ stick.

Proper stance, stay down on your shot, follow through, hit only as hard as needed, then pot a ball.

Paul, I know your pain. Shawn.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1182935572.jpg

Yesterday a guy hocked a Meucci cue. He must have felt the need to convince me of its worth as he brought along a "Blue Book of Pool Cues". Like I wouldn't think it was worth the $30 he wanted to borrow. He left the book also, no doubt my cue IQ will increase with a bit of reading. Feijstead (sp) is the publisher.
Jim

Hey, I'll pay you #15 for the blue book. Don't think I want the Meucci tho..unless it's a very old one.

Shawn? Thanks! I'm all over the map emotionally right now. But really, I do think it's time for me to leave the P-car world...

May the pockets never move for you. They sure do for me, no matter what stick I use! :D