On The Sport of Billiards

Pool cue sticks come at a wide variety of price ranges. A cue within the price range of $30 even up to $130 will come at approximately the same level of craftsmanship. These are known as the economy cues. These billiard cue sticks were manufactured outside of the U.S. with very small exception. Beyond that price you get into the next tier of cues. Often, these cues are made in the U.S. and have been manufactured with a greater amount of precision craftsmanship. These may include a better warranty as well. Of course, much of this premium is likely little more than perception as well, though, as a rule, you will get a better product for having spent a bit more.

As a mediocre pocket billiard player, the ideal price point I would generally shoot for a cue sticks if I were intending on playing a round at least 1-2 per month would probably be around the $200-300 price. Anything above that price point, I believe, most often you will be actually investing in the elaborate inlays. As you climb that price range ladder you will find pool cue sticks with more points in the forearm, and more elaborate inlays and scrimshaw that are technically complicated to produce, as well as more exotic woods such as cocobolo.

There is more than one style of billiards as well, and this might play a role in your choice of pool cue style. Pocket billiards is the most common form of billiards found in U.S. or Canada, for example. Snooker while played on a pocketed billiard table as well is, in fact, actually widely considered a unique table sport from pocket billiards. Snooker cues may be a little bit customized for the uniqueness of their specific sport. Carom is an entirely different pocket-less table sport, which I won’t get into here.

Interestingly enough, many professional players billiards are paid to specifically play with and endorse certain billiard cue brands. Some of the best advice a new player in the sport could receive would be to make it a priority to find a billiard league to play with where more qualified opinions on the performance of various billiard equipment can be found.

Many billiard meeting areas also exist on the world wide web. In these various forums people generally discuss the rules, style tips, game related product feedback (where to buy), and gaming events related to the sport of pocket billiards.

Check out these other helpful pages: Dale Perry Cues, and meucci.