>> Billiards legend
Willie Mosconi once said,
"Pool is all luck.
The more you play,
the luckier you get."
* [Big Band Jazz]
But as veteran players
of the game know,
you can also rack up
a little more luck by playing
with just the right cue.
>> That's what it is
most of the time.
It's a mental game,
and it's the only ally you have.
>> A custom-made ally of maple,
born after the wood's other uses
had been fully explored.
>> My dad was working
in the mill full-time.
He had one of the best jobs
in the paper mill.
>> Brandon Jacoby says
his father had 30-plus years in,
was just a few years short
of retiring when he got the bug
to build custom pool cues
full-time.
>> Now, the guys in the
paper mill when they see him
around town, they say that's
probably the best decision
you could have made.
But at that time,
they thought he was a fool.
>> What started as a hobby
in the family basement
back in the early '80s,
turned into a business
called Jacoby Custom Cues,
and grew to include an addition
to their Central Wisconsin
house.
>> That's where we started
to take it to the next level
>> Before expanding
to a two-story factory
on Nekoosa's main drag.
>> We've been focused
on just building custom cues,
one-of-a-kind cues,
cues that you can't get
anywhere but from us.
There's no two cues the same.
>> In an era where we want
what we want when we want it,
Jacoby customers are willing
to wait an average of six months
for their customized cue.
>> People are willing to wait,
just because they know
it's going to be quality
when they get it.
You know, sometimes, it can take
longer than six months.
But in the end,
it's just about having it done
and having it done right,
not so much having it done
in two days.
>> If the devil
is in the details,
this is a family business
with 11 design demons on staff.
They focus on
the thousandths of an inch
in their craftsmanship.
And compromise
is akin to sinking the cue ball.
>> Everybody who's in our shop
tends to be perfectionists.
If they see something
that they don't like,
it has to be right,
because everybody has pride
in what they're doing.
It's the little details
and like, if it's not perfect,
it drives me crazy, you know.
I tend to be like that
with everything.
If it's not exactly perfect,
it drives me nuts.
>> It's why Brandon
is willing to junk
what to the untrained eye
looks like a beautiful cue
built over a week's period.
>> You can see just that
veneer right here
waffles out just a little bit.
So it just makes it scrap.
>> Example number two.
Before our interview, he sweeps
his pool table to clean dust
not even our high definition
camera would have caught.
>> Little things bug me
sometimes.
>> Attention
to those little things
is why some of the best players
in the world, and some other
pretty famous athletes
play with their cues.
It's also how during even
the toughest economic times,
a company whose average product
costs $800,
finds itself anything
but behind the eight ball.
>> Last year, we had our record,
a record year in sales.
>> Customers design their own
cues, like this one post-9/11.
For an artist, giving up control
can be a challenge.
>> It's ultimately about
what the customer wants,
because I don't build cues
for myself.
I build them for the customer.
>> Larry Walsh, owner of the
Brass Ring Pool Hall in Madison,
is one such customer.
>> These are fabulous cues.
I love the fact that someone
still takes the time.
It's the tiniest detail
that can mean the difference
between running a rack
or losing.
The only things you control
are your body and the cue.
>> Larry had his Jacoby cues
crafted more than a decade ago.
>> You need to believe
that this cue has its own
element of magic for you,
you know, that you are playing
with the cue that will allow you
to keep your head straight.
I mean, people go crazy
playing this game.
>> Something Brandon Jacoby
understands all too well,
even with access to
the best of his company's cues.
>> I'm a pretty avid pool player
myself.
You know, if you ask anyone
who plays pool,
some days you can't miss.
The next day,