Pool Cues Brand Overview

Joss Cues
Perhaps most noted as the cues used in The Color of Money (starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman), Joss Cues are two-piece cues made of fine hardwoods. The cues feature rich, glossy finishes, intricate inlay work, a stainless steel joint, and serial number. All Joss Cues come with an Irish linen wrap; cues are available from around $200 to more than $1,000.

Cuetec Cues
Cuetec offers professional-quality cues at an amateur cost. For under $200, you can get the same cues used by some of the most prominent professional pool players. Cuetec's cues feature a Canadian maple core and bonded fiberglass or graphite outer layer; the cues' ends are sealed with a fiber nylon insert to prevent wear and warping.

Lucasi Cues Lucasi also offers affordable cues, priced between about $60 and $300. Lucasi cues are marked by the use of striking woods, a high-gloss UV finish, milled joints, inlay work and a 15-inch professional taper. McDermott Cues McDermott touts its cues as those most preferred by professional pool players, and most have the prices to prove it. Save for McDermott's Competitor Series, which showcases cues from around or under $200, most of McDermott's cues fall into the $300 to $500 range (while quite a few, for serious players, are available for $1,000 to $3,000). McDermott cues are made with North American hardwoods and all feature the brand's signature wood joint with stainless steel pin.

Predator Cues
Predator cues, $400 to $1,500, are made with a 10-piece construction the company says maintains the cue's shape and flexibility, key in hitting accuracy and spin production - two things Predator cues are supposed to produce more than any other cue. Predator cues' patented ferrule and internal bore reduce the cue shaft's tendency to buckle during use.

Viking Cues
Viking cues come with a lifetime warranty covering material and manufacturing defects and warping; normal wear of small parts aside, Viking will repair damaged cues free of charge. Cue prices range from around $200 to more than $1,000 and feature hardwood construction, inlay work, and graphic designs.

Viper Cues
Viper cues, priced extremely affordably from about $40 to $150, are made from air- and kiln-dried maple. Cue butts are sealed with seven layers of protectant to maintain condition and straightness.

Players Cues
Players Cues, well under or around $100, feature professionally tapered, quadruple-dried maple shafts and exotic wood butts. Players' graphite cue, about $50 to $70, consists of an inner wood core wrapped in five layers of graphite to combat wear and warping.