Cue for pool and snooker?

[Sentionaut22]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum, so I apologise if these are silly questions about buying a new cue.

My father and I recently acquired a nice old snooker table that measures 9' x 4'6".

We're in Australia, and at the moment we only play english 8 ball pool. So I have a few questions:

1. Given that we are playing with 2" english size 8 ball balls, should I get an english pool cue with an 8.5mm tip, or thereabouts or given the size of the table we are playing on, would a snooker cue with a 9mm+ tip be more suitable?

2. I've never played snooker before, but I'd like to try it out. Is it not a done thing to play snooker on a table this size?

3. Would a snooker cue of around 9mm be a nice middle ground for both games, or is that a 'master of none' solution?

Thanks for your help!

Simon

[perpetualboredom]

Good question - I thought I knew my answer and then realised I’m not sure now.

Currently I play snooker with a snooker cue (9.5mm) and pool with a pool cue (8.5mm), so natural thought was pick the cue to suit the size and weight of the balls, so go with the latter. But...

Years ago I used to play with a big tip at pool quite successfully.. the reason I stopped was a small tip makes the white more manouverable on very slow, or very quick tables, or on the small 6ft pool tables that we played on every other game. Since you’ve got 9ft to play with and can choose a cloth how you like, that’s not really an issue for you.

I’ll go with option 3, but it’s personal choice of course. A decent player can play well with anything and a poor one can play well with nowt!

[Mark187187]

I use a 9mm cue for english pool. I don't feel limited by not having a smaller tip. If you're mainly playing pool and the occasional snooker game, maybe just buy a 2 inch set of snooker balls as well, then you don't have to buy more cues. 9mm tip is fine for full size balls anyway.

[Sentionaut22]

I use a 9mm cue for english pool. I don't feel limited by not having a smaller tip. If you're mainly playing pool and the occasional snooker game, maybe just buy a 2 inch set of snooker balls as well, then you don't have to buy more cues. 9mm tip is fine for full size balls anyway.

Thats a good thought on getting 2" snooker balls.

I think I will try to find something around the 9mm mark.

Now, a lot of cue makers dont specifically offer an english pool cue, but would I be missing anything by buying a snooker cue that happens to have a 9mm tip?

I've seen a few makers offer a breaking cue as well, with 10mm tips or so, I do worry that if I bought a 8.5mm or lower cue I might end up damaging it, I do like to break with some force.

[Mark187187]

Pool cues tend to be slightly lighter than snooker cues when you look around online. They can also be shorter as standard because you tend to use a slightly shorter bridge with the smaller balls. Lots of 55 inch cues available as standard, but that felt way too short for me after years on the snooker table.

For snooker I use a 9.5mm tip, 58 inches, 18.5 oz. For english pool I use a 9mm tip, 57 inches somewhere between 17 and 18oz. That would be a pretty common and readily available snooker spec, so I look at snooker cues as well as pool cues when I'm shopping for something new.

I use a rack cue to break. Break cues look just like rack cues with a 10mm tip but cost £100. Rack cue would cost next to nothing.

[Ninja.cues]

I use my cue for both and it's 8.8mm.
Have played snooker with smaller but it's hard work and played pool with bigger.
Know plenty of people that play pool with a9.5mm tip, so 9 would be fine.

As for a break cue, some for use a cheap American pool cue.

[22JOHNC]

I have played pool in the past with cues ranging from a 6.5mm to a 10mm tip but truthfully playing pool at a high level has much more do do with a player's ability than the cue tip size, in recent years I haven't used anything smaller than 9mm and those tip sizes are absolutely fine for both games, my current cue is a one piece maximus ultimate (specs are tip size 9.55mm, weight 17.7 oz and length 58") and its equally suited to playing both games although I play more snooker these days.

[the lone wolf]

Go for a 9mm tip. That way you can play on your table and should you fancy getting on a full size table with full size balls you'll also be ok.

[Mark187187]

I mostly play 9 ball, but wanted a cue for english pool and snooker. Went with 9mm, and is great for both.