i used to play league pool and snooker for around 15 years or so - just gave it up around two years back
ive used many Riley cues including my first Riley cue which i won in a snooker tournament - then i had a relative coming back from England and he brought me back a John Paris cue which cost the princely sum of R2500 back in the day - i played with that for three years and then traded that in for a hand crafted 3 piece Master Cue with an aluminum case and all the necessary telescopic extensions for the cue - this cue was unfortunately stolen when i was housesitting for MrBean when he went to visit his mom in kimberly - but by then id stopped league anyway so i got myself a cheap machine-spliced Arrow Master cue ....... but im now thinking of getting back into competitive play - so that cheapie will do for now but next time im in England im gonna get myself a hand crafted Glover cue with a Glover case - depending on the number of splices i decide on that could cost anywhere between R6k and R10k at current exchange rates
every cue ive used up to now has been ash - because i used the grain to help keep my cue movement straight - but now my cue action is naturally straight enough so i dont need artificial assistance - so ive decided to try a maple cue and the cue im using now cost only around R400 so its gonna land up being a carry cue to lend everyone else when i dont want to let them use the Glover (when i get it) - in fact the cue is cheaper than the aluminum case i carry it around in ......funny thing when the Master cue got stolen from beanies place the thieves knew what the cue was (probably not how much it cost ie who in their right mind expects a piece of wood to cost R3000) but they opened the case and left that lying on the floor next to my car not realizing that the case was worth another 500 bucks
when i invested in my cues each time i was intending that this would be my last ever cue justifying the expense - and i was reaching a decent level in snooker - hadnt made a century break yet .... but i would have gotten there had i carried on - my highest break in snooker is 68 so far though and in pool ive had numerous break-and-close games - its not anything special anymore
ive also gotten used to playing in top notch conditions since a friend of mine imports in Strachan and Simoni's cloth as well as Aramith balls which is the stuff used in the world championships - he is also the president of Nabsa (natal amateur billiards & snooker association) so i used to play at Nabsa Centre which is basically the headquarters of snooker here in KZN
one other item i might mention is that if you intend your game to get to a serious level ie playing league and competing in tournaments and playing at provincial and maybe finally at international level then you need the right equipment to play with - getting a nice cue is an essential start and using the right tips to assist in cue ball control is also important - i started off with blue diamond - then progressed on to elkmaster - those are decent enough for most players - but the real serious guys will probably want to use something like a Moori tip which is layered leather and costs around 150 bucks a time (casual pub players pay around that much for their cues) but ive got a different cue for snooker and a different cue for pool - and i was going to buy a 9-ball-pool set as well including a break cue and a jump cue since 9-ball is a far easier potting game - the main difficulty is that experienced players normally come out of a snooker by potting a ball either playing off a cushion or jumping the cue ball
BTW the SA snooker championships was held a few weeks back in Capetown at Narans Snooker Club - i wish i could have attended - but i havent played league for the last two years so i wouldnt have been able to play anyway (not to mention id have gotten my ass kicked by most of the players there since most of the guys playing there are capable of making one century break in every 20 frames they play) - but its a fun experience to participate in a tournament like that - the team interprovincial championships is coming up soon too and its also in Cape Town
any serious players who are interested should visit the local cue sport site linkie =
http://cuesportfever.com/ - i know most of the players who visit the site - i dont post there but im always lurking there and its a good place to find out everything about competitive cue sports