Tournament Dues

At the OB Stop in Austin in early August, one of the newer players on the Tour was talking to Amanda and I about how frustrated she felt with her finish in the tournament.

Amanda shared that it took her years to get "in" the money.

I agreed with her, relaying the same lament from 20 years ago when I first started to play on the ladies tour, I couldn't get in the money either for years. My nickname for a while was "one-out-of-the-money-Melinda."

God, I had that self nickname for YEARS!

It's all baby steps, really. but as someone else explains, it's really about paying your dues, too.  And I truly believe that.   You can't just show up and win a big tournament your first time out, or even your first year on the tour.   It takes time, steps, and dues, to even get into the money.

After I finally got IN the money, then the next step was getting further into the money.

At this point, you also have chances to play in the Sunday-only Second Chance tournament (for those not in the main event still of the OB Cues Ladies Tour).  At this point, then you try to get in the money in the Second Chance event!   Eventually, you get in the top 3, and maybe even WIN a Second Chance tournament!   For most, this is like winning a big tournament!

Then the next step is "making" it until Sunday in the main event.  I.e. not losing late Saturday night your last match, but instead lasting (finally) until Sunday morning in the main event.

However, then it takes several events to win a match ON Sunday, lol. In other words, we finally make it to Sunday, but then we lose our first match that Sunday morning.  Ugh.  It still takes a while to win that coveted, sought-after win on a Sunday.  Trust me when I say the invisible pressure we put on ourselves is immense (just to win one match!).

Eventually, we win matches on Sunday, and then more!

And sometimes.... we even get into Sunday ON the winner's side!

Some day, a WIN is suppose to happen.   I'm still waiting on that, lol, but I wanted to show those players just starting on the Tour, that it takes steps, dues, time, patience.

Luckily, we have the passion to keep playing and fighting!

I have to say there are a few females I have known personally who can come onto the tour and kinda skip several these steps, lol, and do well; they just have more experience already before they put in years on the Tour.   Those are few and far between, because most of us start on the Tour when we started playing pool, so it makes sense we all go through our pool levels ON the Tour, if that makes sense.

But, the majority of players have all gone through the process above.  I could name names, but trust me when I say that it's normal to not get in the money, or not last til Sunday for many years.  This is not meant to discourage, it's meant to shed light on the game we love; on the game you will keep fighting to play!