Hi everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my snooker cue and would appreciate some unbiased opinions from players who have experience with these cues.

I've been playing with a John Parris Champion 3/4-jointed cue for around 10 years. I'm now considering moving to a Thai-made cue, ideally a one-piece cue, and have narrowed my options down to:

• Maximus Ultimate
• Ton Praram Limited FS
• Impression Spectre

My main priority is shaft quality and playing performance, rather than the aesthetics of the butt or the brand name.

I'd particularly like to hear your thoughts on:

• Which maker produces better ash shafts in terms of grain, density, straightness and consistency?
• Which has the better combination of stiffness, spring and feedback through the cue ball?
• Coming from a John Parris Champion, which would offer the best upgrade in playing feel and performance?
• If you've owned or played with both, which would you personally choose and why?

I'm interested in honest, first-hand experiences rather than brand loyalty or marketing claims. If you believe another Thai cue maker produces better shafts, I'd be interested in hearing your recommendations too.

P.S: Willing to wait 3-4 months for delivery not more.

Thanks in advance!

I really hope his record is recognized by Guinness, great work.

Hello everyone, here's a new snooker column from me. I focus on Mark Allen's emotional interview and subsequent statements on social media. I also reflect on my time in Belfast.

https://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/news/snooker-column-emotional-mark-allen-interview-puts-snooker-into-perspective/235058

Probably one of the most underwhelming finals of a major* ranking event in recent memory. Not the worst, per se, for me that is still the 2024 Players Championship final where Mark Allen beat Zhang Anda. But just so lackluster.

Jak Jones, as a viewing experience, is already a slow burn at the best of times, and yesterday he was just awful. Kyren did have a short burst of form in the second half of the afternoon session, but otherwise he didn't pull up any trees either, and why would he, when Jones just didn't offer any resistance whatsoever. Plus, Kyren's mannerisms and general aesthetic when playing isn't everyone's cup of tea either.

Add to that that the clear favourite, at least in terms of form during the event, just won easily, there really wasn't any sort of narrative to the whole thing. Just disappointing overall.

^\excluding the Shootout and Championship League)

Hi all

I want to practice more and improve my game, but what’s a good strategy and tactic to beat club players, and win more frames?

I live in Australia so the standard in my league is pretty average, so when I say club players I’m meaning we can barely make 20 breaks

Any advice is appreciated cheers :)

https://c.org/JnqpSr72Zp

Is it smooth ?

​

I'm looking into opening a snooker and pool club and wanted to get some advice from anyone who's run one or knows much about the business.

The plan is to have around 4 to 6 snooker tables, 8 English pool tables and 2 American pool tables.

It'll be an alcohol-free venue, and the unit I'm looking at already has a kitchen, so there's potential to offer food and drinks as well.

I'm looking to make it more of a social place where friends can come, hang out and play a few games rather than a serious competitive club. I'd probably run a few leagues or tournaments here and there, but the main focus would be casual players and groups of friends.

I'm also looking at opening near a couple of busy universities, so hopefully there'll be a decent student crowd as well.

I've been doing some rough calculations, and on paper the numbers look pretty good, but obviously I know running a business is a different story.

Has anyone here owned or managed a snooker/pool club? Is it actually profitable? What sort of challenges should I expect, and is there anything I should be aware of before jumping into it?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated, especially from people with experience in the industry.

Hi all, a work colleague gave me this cue today and I was wondering if anyone could help shed some light on it.

It looks fairly old and it's a one-piece with 17½D written on it, presumably this refers to the weight or the diameter maybe? Other than that I can't see any other distinguishing features other than a 1990 5p coin that's been wedged in the hole where the makers logo I assume once was. 🤣

Hi, I'm very new to snooker but it has always interested me so ive been looking around for somewhere to get started. Does anyone have any recommendations in Cornwall? thanks

Pro shaft or not?

I’m just an average player looking to invest in a good snooker cue. I am currently looking to order a Ton Praram Beyond cue, the main question is, is it worth paying 400€ extra for the pro shaft?

The regular Beyond with extensions is 1.150€, the one with pro shaft is 1575€. There is also a full shaft option somewhere in between, but since I’ll be ordering a 3/4 cue, that doesn’t really add value.

Is it just me or has the general professional player slowed down? It seems that we used to see fluent play more often and when I watch the Northern Ireland open we only got Jack Lisowski who’s got the ronnie flow in his play. I don’t think it’s good for watching. Even David Gilbert plays a lot slower now

Hi all, I've been thinking about a particular business model for snooker clubs that I haven't seen in my experience in various clubs. Some has you booking flat limited time for a table, others allow you to stay at the table for an indefinite amount of time and charge you based on the time you've used it.

But why don't more Snooker Clubs allow customers to buy blocks of time instead? For example, at my local club it costs £12 for 2 hours... But what if I wanted to prepay time that remains on my account? I feel as though there's room for more affordable deals for the customer while also boosting the clubs up front revenue.

For example, let's say I can buy a block of 12 hours for £60. Club's getting £60 up front and I'm effectively getting a discounted price, or a free 2 hours, however you look at it. It would also give regulars an incentive to keep coming back to your club.

They could even create different bands to account for peak-time.

I'll use my own local club as an example. It's effectively £6 per hour. You could have anytime pass for £66... or £5.50 an hour, to minimizes potential losses during peak time.

Or an off-peak package for £54, or £4.50 an hour.

I think this would go some way towards perhaps revitalising the scene in the UK, but I wonder what others opinions on this might be? What do you reckon?

Does anyone know a way of displaying a high break list on a TV or monitor ? So that there is a rolling list of high breaks. Obviously it would need the ability to be edited so as to add new ones etc

Want to get away from the old high break list with push on numbers.

Anyone know if there's a list of the players who will be in the WST trading cards roster to start? If there are around 30ish like I've seen mentioned, I hope more will be released

My girlfriend goes to sleep and she of course wants me next to her in bed. So I join her, get my headphones on and always watch snooker if there's a tournament going on. Everything is peaceful until there is a replay of the shot and the screen goes FULL BLAST WHITE AND lights up the whole room like a flashbang just went off.

I've had a pet project for a couple of years. Back in 2019 a Friend of mine gifted me an original copy of "Joe Davis: How I Play snooker" and over the last number of years I have ammased a number of autographs from the pros including Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Judd Trump, John Virgo etc..

Tonight I added Mark Williams to that list. He signed for me at the NI Open in Belfast. Really nice guy to talk to.

I just need Hendry, Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis to complete it.

The guy just ended his interview with a shout-out to Mark Allen and said that all the players are behind him. I know Allen said he's got a flood of support, but I hope this kind of love really helps him. All of snooker are behind him.

What's the ref's name? I love that he looks like he spent 30 years in prison for mauling someone to death, but has this super soft, gentle voice