I play for fun mainly and use the whatever cue stick is around, however I wanted to start picking up the game a little more. Is there anyone that can help me find a decent but relatively cheap price maybe from sports authority or amazon or something and can help explain what makes a good cue stick or other information?!?!
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I used to play A LOT and I really miss it.

Pool cues are like anything else, there are so many to choose from.

I have a McDermott Competition series, MG-21 I believe.

http://www.mcdermottcue.com/Competitor.asp

I played a bunch of cues before I settled. My stepfather who got me into it has a Lucasi, which are really nice but pricey. I like mine quite a bit, it is not fancy looking which is good b/c you aren't shelling out a bunch of cash for inlays and fancy wood. I also really like the "wood to wood" joint since I feel like it makes for a softer feel than a one with a metal piece in between the shaft and the butt.

What is really important is finding the right weight for you. Do you notice when you use house cues what weight you are comfortable with? I'd say 19.5 or 20 oz is probably the middle of the road.

My main recommendation would be NOT to cheap out with a department store cue. Spending 40-50 on one of those is a total waste of money when there are so many good cues between $100-$200. Try ebay. :-)

Once you get yourself a cue make sure you take good care it, watch where you lean it so it doesn't fall and the shaft doesn't get nicked and break with a house cue.

Enjoy your new hobby!
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hmmm I dunno if I want to spend that money quite yet til I perfect my shots...as for weight, if I break I tend to use a heavier cue stick probably aboue 20-21oz...other than that I prefer about 18-19oz...it'll depend on different occasions though...as for finding a cue...what are some specific sticks to try and find?
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Used to play alot..actually took a class when I was at IU. Katie and I are friends with Janette "The Black Widow" Lee...talk about a good pool player lol
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Just one thing I learned in my playing when I was young and single, invest in the nice cue, you can spend months getting good with house cues then go and buy a nice one then spend time getting used to that one. what ever you choose to buy though make sure the darn thing is straight by rolling on a flat surface. about all I can offer.
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AHAH that is pretty awesome to be friends with the black widow
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Viking makes some really nice ones that aren't too expensive. For whatever reason, there seem to be quite a few on ebay for a lot less than regular outlets (at least years ago....) You should be able to find a really nice one for around 200...
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I am starting to sound like the coffee guys here, but like I said, IMO a department store cue (like a Coors Light or Pot leaf cue from Sports Authority or whatever) is not going to be too much of a step up over a house cue maybe even a step down depending on where you are playing.

Some brands to look at:

McDerrmott (I'm baised)
Meucci (very pricey)
Lucasi
Viking
Schon
Predator
CueTech (I had one of the composite shaft ones and hated it, some guys swear by it. They make traditional wooden shafts as well).

Edit - be careful with the cuetechs though, I think they pretty much have two seperate lines, one for department stores and one line for real billiard shops.
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never mind, thanks for the list =P...time to hit up the wtb area before I try ebay and such =P
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Very good point here.
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i'm a dumbass... what i posted before, i was thinking of Lucasi - love them. vikings are definitely nice too but i think a little pricier...
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She is very cool and down to earth, she actually wanted Katie and I to buy her house lol...you should see her pool room :-)
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You can get a good McDermott for $150 or less, as long as you don't want lots of fancy inlays, etc. It'll play the same as one of their $300+ cues. McDermott makes what I consider one of the best "bang for the buck" cues out there.

Don't buy from Sports Authority. Find a local Billiards supply store and talk to them. You'll get good advice and should be able to try out lots of different cues. Yes, you'll pay a little more than you would online, but it's very much worth developing a relationship with your local store. If you don't have a local store to go to, try Poolndarts.com (Mueller), or pooldawg.com. You can get good deals on Ebay, but remember, buyer beware -- there are some fakes out there.
When I got my first cue, I tried a bunch of brands and really liked the soft-feeling hit of the McDermotts. It really allows you to feel whats going on.
I now play with a Predator (original 314) that I bought from a fellow League member. It's a really nice stick, but has a lot harder hit/feel -- even though it's a much better cue, I still miss the softness of the McDermott.

I would recommend a 18-19 oz stick for your regular playing cue. As a general rule you get more finesse with a lighter cue and can control english better.
For a break cue, go buy a cheap 40 or 50 dollar cue like a "Players", have someone put a phenolic tip on it, and go to town. You'll never break with anything else once you've gone phenolic. I did the same as you did with a heavy break stick at first -- I had mine up to 26oz -- but after several months I lightened it way down to 17.5 oz. After you develop a good break stroke, you get a better break with a light cue because you can accelerate the cue faster. Every "pro" I've ever heard of uses a lighter cue to break than to play.

Good luck. Let us know what you end up with.
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A lot of great info here.

I used to play A LOT when I was younger (yes pool was around then) mainly in country bars for beers and/or a few bucks.

One thing that was always clear to me, the guy holding the stick was much more important than the actual stick.

Enjoy, it's a ton of fun if you're good. :-)
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I bought a new pool table a couple of years ago and found some nice cues on eBay. I ended up my several from KC including some house cues and then a bit higher end for the wife and myself. They have been great cues with a real nice feel and he does a nice job with the wood and inlays. I just wouldn't spend a lot of money on a cue until you figure out how much you will be using it. :-)
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I use a plain cuetec that cost about 50 bucks. I have played for 3-4 years maybe 10+ games a week and it is still straight and plays well .. a few cracks have developed in the fiberglass but I use it for breaking too and they don't affect play.
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McDermott makes some nice low-end starter cues and when it comes to value, price and quality, they're right up there...
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I would recommend a Schmelke cue. They provide most of the shaft maple used by most of the major cue manufacturers like Schon and Viking. You can get a Schmelke for 80-150$ direct from the factory and cheaper used on ebay or craigslist. http://www.schmelkecue.com/ I would avoid the fiberglass and graphite cues as well as the one pieces as they aren't very portable. The BR series has a couple that run $105-$125 as does the K, M, R, S, & SP series.

Nice all wood hand crafted nice shaft straight etc... You want one with the "Kiln dried Canadian Maple Shaft with pro taper" which is what they sell to other cuemakers. The cuemakers then add all of the inlays and designs and wraps on the butt which is where the money comes in to play. Schmelke construction, balance and playability are fine they just make some real basic cues as well as fancier.

Oddly enough 4-5 of the major cuemakers are based out of Wisconsin Schon in Milwaukee, Viking is in Madison, Schmelke is north of rice lake in the middle of BFE. At least one other major cuemaker is based in Wi also.
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thanks for all the information...I've been playing for a number of years now, and I think I'm pretty good...I'm just looking for a good stick so I can start practicing some actual "skillful" shots and with all this information seems like I'll be well underway...

Can someone explain to me the difference in stick material such as specific woods vs carbon fiber etc...and also the difference in cute tips?
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As far as wood shafts, all manufacturers of high quality cues us Canadian Maple, or Hard Rock Maple. Taper is a very user specific perception, a thicker taper is going to give you less deflection, and a thinner taper, such as Meuccis, will flex more upon contact and provide more "spring" to the shot, this "spring" is a very difficult thing to control, but when using extreme amounts of english or Masse' shots, can enable a livelier action to the cue ball. I am not aware of the fact that Schmelke makes shafts for many other cue makers. Schmelke makes good entry level cues in my opinion as well as McDermott, and a host of others. McDermotts tapers are typically thicker, but in many cues, you can find anywhere from 8 mm on a snooker cue, to 11 or 12, even 13. A 13 will pretty much feel like hitting bricks for most players.
Joint material can be widely varied, from wood to wood, with phenolic or metal collars of various compositions (brass, stainless, etc) as well as differing pin types and materials, whether metal pin to metal "nut" (ala Schmelke or Viking) or a larger pitched more "lag screw" looking arrangement like McDermott uses. Each will give a certain "feel" to a shot, none is better than the other, with proper construction techniques, other than what you like, much like cigars.
There is a place for graphite, especially when you may leave your cue in the car, or in situations where temperature and humidity may change rapidly or to extreme. Wood cues, (and shafts) absorb and release moisture, (much like cigars, again :-) ) and are sensitive to those changes and will warp slightly sometimes when that happens. They will return to position, or can be flexed by someone that knows what they are doing with some skill. I have tweaked many a $1K cue shaft to true it up a bit.

As far as tips are concerned, The harder the better, with the caveat that softer tips will mushroom out a bit more, but require less overall attention in that they will hold chalk better for a longer period of time. I prefer a very hard tip, and spend more time making sure that I keep it playable with roughenings as necessary. My ex-father-in-law ( the guy I used to work for) owned his own very high end custom cue shop, pool room, and repair facility for many years, being very well known in the pool world. He would put a very hard burnished tip with a phenolic fiber pad underneath it and I enjoyed the way it felt. A well made tip, well installed, will last a very long time, unless you are playing many hours a day, day in and day out. :-). Let me know if I failed to address anything for you.



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