Taken care of that cue...

We all go through this. You play all the time and tend to take your cue for granted. It's important to keep that baby clean! It's your number one tool in the game and never forgot that it's kind of like a life long partner. Treat it well and take care of it, and it will take great care of you.

How To Clean A Pool Cue

Pool cues often become sticky because of a build up of chalk and oil from our hands. If they are not cleaned regularly, they can become permanently damaged or even warped.

There are serveral different ways to clean your cuestick. Choose a preference and make sure you clean your cue at least once every few weeks, more often if you play daily.

Materials Needed

Cleaning detergent (dish soap or orange oil diluted 5:1 with water), 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper, and a piece of Simonis cloth or cotton cloth.

Cleaning Options

Apply your chosen cleaning solution to a cloth. Dampen the cloth, getting too much liquid on the cue may cause warping, so be careful. Clean the cue from the bottom to the ferrule. Then lightly sand the cue with 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper. This will remove any excess chalk that may be left on the surface. Wipe down the cue again with the damp cloth and dry immediately.

Check out how beautiful it becomes...*smiles*

Alright Ladies...Women Poker Events coming up

June is just creeping up around the corning and the month will be full of poker events for the gals.

Things for women to keep tucked away in the back of their minds:

1. Learn the Game: Read books, do hand simulations, study the rules of the game, play with friends, and learn all you can about the game of poker. If you are new to the game, you should learn and understand the hand rankings, the flow of the action, and the options of folding, calling, betting, and raising.

2. Start with low stake games and graduate to higher stakes: Put in time at the tables in low limit games where you can learn proper game skills as well as table etiquette. Once you beat the game on a regular basis, move up a level and repeat. Before long you will have earned your way to high limit games and proven that you have the skills and the knowledge to be a contender.

3. Keep sex out of it: Don’t play the sex kitten game at the table. It may work for you, but long term you want to play straight up and show that you are a player. The same holds true for online play and poker forums. You can make a logical statement about poker, but if your avatar is a girl that's in a bikini, you can kiss all respect from good players goodbye.

4. Male intimidation: If you feel like you are not prepared to handle male intimidation, create a unisex screen name and play online until you feel more confident in your abilities.

Here are some upcoming events that you can play in while you are in Vegas during the WSOP this year.

7:00pm - June 4, 2009 [ Golden Nugget Casino - Vegas ] [ Poker Gives Charity Tournament ] [ $200 +$30 with $50 rebuys. 50% of prize pool to charity ]

ALL DAY - June 5, 2009 ] [ Golden Nugget Casino - Vegas ] [ Friday Sit N Go Frenzy! ] [ SNGs for all the Grand Series Events & Satellites for LIPS event on Monday ]

6:30pm - June 5, 2009 [ Golden Nugget Casino - Vegas ] [ 2009 Women in Poker Hall of Fame Ceremony plus Dancing and Dinner ] [ Induction Ceremony ]

ALL DAY - June 6, 2009 [ TBD ] [ LIPS WiPHoF Super Satellite ] [ $150 + $25 Satellite winners get certificate into one of the Grand Series events or the LIPs Championship in August + Cash ]

ALL DAY - June 7, 2009 [ The Rio - Vegas ] [ WSOP Ladies Event ] [ $1000 ]

Noon - June 8, 2009 [ Golden Nugget Casino - Vegas ] [ Poker Queen Ladies Event - It's a bracelet event and winner gets a LIPS Championship seat! ] [ $200 + $30 ]

Texas BCA State Tournament 2009

Just got in from our annual state BCA Billiard team tournament at the E-Center in Harker Heights, TX (right outside of Killeen). There were 99 teams competing this year and it definitely was a learning and humbling experience.

I consider our BCA teams in Austin to be pretty strong and we had 5 Austin teams representing our city in the event. We went up and played as Crazy 8's. It was a double elimination format, with race to 13 on both the winners and losers side. We lost both our matches in the tournament and even with the solid play of our team, we got killed in the tournament.

The format of this tournament is straight up. There is not handicap, just playing one game at at time for a win. The first team to pull in 13 wins, and the match is over. It really forces you to bring your best game because all the other teams are - it's amazing play by every single player. They also had the Master's division playing -- now those are some pool players!

It was a great event overall though. Met some really nice people, had a great time with the team, got some work done at the hotel, ate at some great restaurants and had many good laughs. I wish we could rewind and step into the tournament all over again. It just ended to quickly.

They also ran mini tournaments for singles and had the speed pool event going on. The goal was to run the table of 15 balls (no particular order, as long as the 8 ball was last). You had to wait for the cue ball to come to a stop before shooting the next ball. The best time I saw was a player doing that in 1 minute and 2 seconds. Frakkin' nuts! Can you fathom doing that?!

I missed my little ones when I was gone. I had some friends come over (thank you!) to make sure they were staying out of trouble when I was away. They tend to get into everything and have a little party if they can. Pumpkin and Sugar will find the cat food and have a grand 24 hour non stop feast. Jordan will make himself king of the home and hang out on the sofa, my bed, play with my shoes and also find anything and everything to eat.

Weekend of pool is over and I miss it already. *sigh* Back to reality and the real world. *smiles*

2009 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters at Riviera

Billiard event sponsered by a Poker Site - pure beautifulness!

Following the success of the 2008 event, the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will return to the historic Riviera Hotel and Casino in May. A total of 16 of the finest players from around the world will be competing in the event, which will be staged over three days during the annual BCAPL National 8 Ball Championships.

Promoted by Matchroom Sport the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will be running for the 17th year consecutive year and its roll call of champions reads like an international who's who of 9 ball. Defending champion Alex Pagulayan of the Philippines will be back, as will runner-up Mika Immonen (Finland), the reigning US Open champ and P&B's Player of the Year.

Other players confirmed include World 10 Ball Champion, England's Darren Appleton; Mosconi Cup star Tony Drago (Malta) and former World No. 1 Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines. Representing United States hopes will be the top two American ranked players on the BCA Men's Point List, Shane Van Boening and Johnny Archer. Montreal's Dancing Bear, Alain Martel, will be flying the flag for Canada.

The European vanguard of five-times Masters champion Ralf Souquet (Germany) and Holland's multi-titled Niels Feijen will both be in attendance. They will be joined by top ranked European stars Nick van den Berg of Holland, England's Imran Majid, who KO'd Van Boening in this event last year, and teenage Russian sensation Ruslan Chinakhov who will be making his Masters debut. Challenge of Champions winner and '07 World Cup winner Fu Jianbo will arrive from China and 2005 World Pool Masters victor Raj Hundal, now representing India, will return to the fray at the Riviera.

There is one female in the 2009 Masters line-up and that honor this year goes to the rising star of the women's game, 21 year-old Korean Yu Ram Cha.

Once again, the Masters will be promoted in partnership with Mark Griffin's BCA Pool Leagues and the opening first round matches take place on the evening of Friday, May 8, culminating in the championship match on Sunday, May 10. Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said: "The event was a big success for us last year at the Riviera and we're looking to build on that in May. The crowds at the Masters were good and with the outstanding line-up we have assembled this year, I am sure that we will have bumper crowds."

There will be a $66,000 prize fund, with the winner collecting $20,000. Tickets will be made available in March on the Playbca.com website.

BCAPL's Mark Griffin added, "BCA Pool League players love professional action. They are excited the World Pool Masters will return to the Riviera for 2009, and they hope that Matchroom will continue to honor our tournament with their participation for years to come."

Visit POOLMAG.COM for more details as the event get's closer.

Our Ladies Poker Tournament Site is Live!

Sorry I've been out of touch. Tons going on and not sure why the 24 hour days are flying by in 10 hours. Just dont' get it!

We just started our Spring Gals Poker Tournament, which is a qualifier for the Ladies WSOP in June of 2009 in Vegas. I've been working on creating a website for everyone to keep up with what is going on with the tournament and also provide some cool poker links and information. Check it out AustinPokerGirls and if you are interested in playing, let us know. The only requirement is that you are a female, and no, dressing up like a female will not be accepted. It's a great group of women and we always have a good time.

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." -- Charlotte Whitton.