Every authentic KAMUI tip has a serial number printed on its band. Type that number in at kamuibrand.com/sn and in about 30 seconds you'll know whether the tip on your cue came from our factory. Below I'll show you where the number is, how to run the check, and how to read the result.
A careful look doesn't settle it anymore
I've been with KAMUI since 2004. Counterfeiters can copy the look of our tips. They can't copy how the tip plays. A KAMUI tip is built for consistency, and you can't fake that from the outside.
The look has gotten very close, though. At the Super Billiards Expo we handed players a real tip and a fake one and asked them which was which. Nine out of ten got it wrong.
My first counterfeit experience was at a different show, the BCA Expo in Schaumburg, Illinois, in 2012. For two days I watched a slender man from China running around to the cue makers. I noticed him because of his shirt. Ever played “Where’s Waldo”? Red and white, horizontal stripes.
I got curious. On the second day, before the show opened, I checked his booth. His company was a manufacturer of pool accessories and tips, and he had a stack of brochures on the table. I thumbed through one, and there it was. HORRIBLE looking counterfeit KAMUI tips, with the font wrong on top of the tip. Next to them, tips from another well-known cue maker. What? That company doesn’t make tips!
The owner of that company and I went to the Expo officials with what we found. They immediately escorted the man in the striped shirt out of the venue and sent him home. I had a few words with him too. He claimed he did nothing wrong. SO infuriating.
Put a real Athlete tip next to a fake one, or a real BLACK next to a fake BLACK, and at a glance each pair matches. The photo below is one of those pairs.
There are still a few things worth noticing. The ink on a counterfeit band tends to fade and rub off as it gets handled. The tip height is often a little off, and fakes tend to run taller than spec.
For a while the serial itself gave them away. A genuine KAMUI serial is three letters or numbers, a hyphen, and three more. The fakes used seven characters instead of six, so you'd see something like GJZ-K5U2, with four after the hyphen.
That tell doesn't work anymore. The counterfeiters fixed it. Ink and height are still worth a look, but neither one proves anything on its own. The only way to know is to check the number.
The check itself
We built the checker so any player can know for sure without guessing. It works on a phone or a computer.
Step 1. Find the serial. It's on the band of the tip itself, and only there. It always has the same shape, ABC-123: three letters or numbers, a hyphen, three more.
Step 2. Open kamuibrand.com/sn.
Step 3. Enter the number and submit. The site checks it and gives you a result.
That's the whole thing. No magnifier, no expert eye.
A little history, because it explains why this works. KAMUI tips used to carry sequential numbers engraved on top. Counterfeiters learned to copy those, so KAMUI replaced them with an encrypted random number. Every KAMUI tip made in or after June 2016 has one.
Reading the result
It's easy to see the word "Real" and stop reading. Don't. The result screen also tells you how many times that serial has been checked, and the count matters.
Real, checked once. Your tip is authentic. You're good.
Real, but checked 10 or more times. Slow down here. Counterfeiters copy genuine serial numbers and print them on fakes. At the Super Billiards Expo we found one serial that had been checked 277 times. One real number, on tip after tip that never came from KAMUI.
So a real number by itself doesn't prove the tip in your hand is the one that number was made for. If your count is 10 or higher, get in touch with us at KAMUI USA and we'll help you sort it out.
Fake. That tip didn't come from our factory. The site will ask where you bought it. Please fill that in, because the report goes straight to KAMUI Japan.
Before the tip goes on your cue
KAMUI USA moved every KAMUI tip line to individual sealed packaging. Each tip is sealed and verified, and that sealed package is how an authentic KAMUI tip arrives from us.
It also helps to know where your tip came from. You can buy KAMUI tips directly from us at kamuitips.com, and they ship straight to you. That's the clearest way I know to start with a tip you can trust. Then check the band anyway. Between a sealed package, a known source and a verified serial, there isn't much room left for doubt.
Why I'd spend the 30 seconds
The tip is one of the smallest parts of your cue. It's also the point where everything in your stroke reaches the cue ball. When you know it's genuine, that's one less thing on your mind when you get down on a shot.
The serial check helps players know what they're playing with, so they can keep trusting the equipment they chose.
Here's the bigger reason. Serial number verification matters a great deal to you as a player. If you're seeking an authentic product, buying a tip on price alone isn't a good practice. A KAMUI tip isn't like a fake designer bag, because you rely on your tip to perform the way we intended you to play with it. A counterfeit can't. It will mushroom, delaminate, crack and play with the greatest of inconsistencies.
So invest in your game, and know that you got a real KAMUI tip from KAMUI USA.
Next time you open a new tip, or pick up a cue that's been sitting in the case for a while, find the serial on the band and run it at kamuibrand.com/sn.
If anything looks off (a fake result, a high count, or you're just not sure), tell us. Fill in the purchase details on the check page so the report reaches KAMUI Japan. Then reach us at KAMUI USA through the Contact Us page at kamuitips.com, or call 877-GO-KAMUI (877-465-2684). I'd much rather hear from you than have you wonder.
Be Real. Buy Authentic.
Thank you for being my customer,
John Bertone
KAMUI USA
Last reviewed by John Bertone, October 26, 2026.