I have never bought a single coin, in fact I won 207 million coins & got to 150 ranking beating some of the top players on the way, then, i lost the lot through a combination of bad play & some of the issues mentioned in former reviews, i have now rebuilt the 'empire' from scratch & have 191 million coins & a 161 ranking, sometimes, players enter games then disappear meaning their coins get added to mine & i too have lost coins in the same way having been 'disconnected' so i would argue it works both ways as in my experience. I have never had issues with cues or the cue ball, granted you have to be careful with 'in off' situations, but i would argue that the more you play you understand which situations are not reliable for applying spin or screw back for example, but i agree it is intensely annoying when it does happen, so for me that is part of the challenge! When i did complain about screen freezes & hackers, i did get replies claiming the company were always trying to improve the quality & reliability of the game, so, to conclude, it's simple you do not have to buy coins to gain, it is possible to start from 0 & build upwards with a bit of luck, determination & good play meaning that you should understand how your cue & table works as in the real game don't play stupid shots & think 2 or 3 shots ahead, i've built up from 0 coins twice, so i know it can be done, finally, i would recommend you do not play through internet explorer or google chrome browsers, those are where i experienced the most cheating & hacking, such as screen freezing & line hacking, i always only now play through Firefox & have only had the odd one or two 'disconnects' or hacks, but on the whole no major problems, my view is it is a great game if you implement different strategies, treat every shot with care & be fearless, the players playing for 30 million coins are no better than those playing for 50 thousand, overall message is then don't buy the coins then you don't get stung! Happy potting & have a nice day, thanks mini clip