Of streaks, and custom cues...

Last week I did not play the tournament, but I did go to Buster's to practice for a couple of hours on the night of the tournament.  The practice went pretty well, and I ended up playing a mini-match with Perry (someone from out of state who showed up to play the tournament) before the tournament, beating him 3 games to 2 in eight-ball.

During the past week, I started negotiations to get a new cue made.  I have been using the same two cues (switching back and forth between them over the years) for the past 15+ years, and even though the extension I am using currently is helping a lot, it would be better balance-wise to have a longer cue without the extension on it.  I am hoping that I can get pictures of the cue in its various stages of development and post them here.  What will be the butt of the cue is right now a beautiful piece of unturned spalted maple, with another good-looking piece of bird's-eye or curly maple used as the contrast.  The shaft of the cue will likely be a long low-deflection blank from Predator or a company like that.  

The idea is that, in several months (the cuemaking is a sideline for the man who is doing it, so he works on cues when he has time), I will have a beautiful one-of-a-kind cue that will be long enough and balanced enough to use without the extension.  I will likely need a new case for it, too.  It will not be cheap, but it is not as expensive as I thought it would be.  Part of what keeps the cost down is the fact that I just want the natural wood - no wrap, no points, no inlays.  Part of what drives the cost up is the requirement of a long low-deflection shaft, which is likely to cost me about $200 by itself.

Last night I got back into the tournament, and there were five of us total.  I squeaked past Geoff in the first round (it helped that his handicap is -1 and mine is 8), and then beat Chris (a newcomer) in the second match.  My third match was against Tracy, who beat me in the finals a few weeks ago.  I got my revenge this time, though, beating her by a slim margin to advance to the final for the seventh time in a row.

Tracy beat Geoff in the semi-final, and so (like the last tournament where we played) Tracy and I ended up playing each other for the first (and only) prize.  She needed to beat me twice, but I won the first match and the first prize!  Made $40 and shot pool for almost four hours!

So..thinking of this in Olympic terms, I have SIX golds and a silver in my last seven events!  I have no idea how long this will last, but this is the best streak I have ever had.