Amanda Lampert (1st place) & Melinda Bailey (2nd place) - photo by Zeke Moore

OB Cues Ladies Tour held their 1^st stop of the 2013 Tour Season at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas the weekend of January 26^th/27^th.  Rusty’s has been a regular host site on the OB Cues Ladies Tour Calendar for many, many years.  Special thanks and commendations are extended to Jeff Pitts, General Manager, Tim Gildon, Manager and all their supportive staff for their pleasant hospitality and service. Rusty’s Billiards, in Arlington, is a 24 hours operation and the many fans, supporters, new and old friends, were a welcome sight for the ladies and we are grateful for all the smiling faces and fun times at Rusty’s.

Forty-one ladies came to play in this first stop of the year.  There were lots of surprises, many hill-hill, and nail-biting matches but overall it was a superb first stop and lots of firsts for many long-time tour players.  Melinda Bailey, former board member, newly Omega Billiards Tour founder and director, scored her highest finish ever since playing on the former Hunter Classics Tour and now OB Cues Ladies Tour.  She won the hot seat match against Orietta Strickland securing her a spot in the finals and was the eventual 2^nd place finisher of this event.  Kathy Knuth, also long time tour player both on Hunter Classics Tour and now OB Cues Ladies Tour, also placed her highest finish ever in 5^th/6^th, making it to Sunday for the first time in the main event   Malinda Williams, another long time tour player both on Hunter Classics Tour and now OB Cues Ladies Tour, also placed her highest finish ever in 7^th/8^th.  High Five and rounds of applause to all ladies for a fantastic tournament finish.

We had many first time tour players at this event as well.  We want to offer a special thanks to the current tour members whom brought new players: Melinda Bailey (who brought 4 new members!), Natalie Mans and Cindy VanSickle.   Some of these new members finished in the money at this event which is a great achievement in and of itself, especially being their first event.

By day’s end on Saturday, 12 players were still in the Main Event.  On the winners side it was Orietta Strickland vs. board member Tracie Voelkering and Melinda Bailey vs. Kathy Knuth.  On the one-loss side it was Malinda Williams vs. Chris Fields; Liz Mitchel vs. Michelle Cortez; board member Julie Stephenson vs. Kim Pierce; and Courtney Evans vs. Amanda Lampert.

The story of the tournament was Amanda Lampert who lost her 1^st match of the day hill-hill to Michelle Cortez.  Amanda, also a founder and director of the newly formed Omega Billiards Tour, is always a warrior and can never be counted out, finished her day on Saturday with 4 back-to-back wins.   She then returned on Sunday continuing with her winning streak and two hill-hill matches.  One hill-hill match was against Kim Pierce.  Kim, the 2012 OBCLT Tour Champion and 2012 OBCLT Most Improved Player, lost her 2^nd match on Saturday and she too was fighting her way back.  She had won 7 matches before losing to Amanda.   Kim finished 4^th place and we know we will see more of her winning ways in future events.  Congratulations Kim!

The second hill-hill match that Amanda survived was against Orietta Strickland in the semi-finals.   In the semi-finals match, both Amanda and Orietta, very strong and solid players, played their hearts outs and Amanda scored the win in a hill-hill match.  Orietta took 3^rd place in two close matches that could’ve gone either way.   Congratulations Orietta!

For the hot seat match, it was Orietta vs. Melinda Bailey playing in her first OBCLT hot seat match.  Orietta was playing very well throughout the whole tournament, but it was Melinda who cinched the hot seat hill-hill.  Orietta scratched while pocketing a 9-ball bank shot when she was ahead 6-5.  As the spectators watched in eager anticipation in the final game, Orietta attempted to make a 6-9 combo but rattled the 9-ball and it remained in the pocket.  Melinda was able to pocket the combo to win the match and guarantee her spot in her first OBCLT finals match.

The finals match was Melinda vs. Amanda.  Amanda completed her 11 match wins by double-dipping Melinda with scores of 7-3; 7-2 to earn 1^st place and the $750 payday.  Congratulations Amanda on the first tour win of this year. Awesome job!

Main Event Tournament Payouts – $2000 added monies (41 players)
1^st – Amanda Lampert – $750

2^nd – Melinda Bailey – $550

3^rd – Orietta Strickland – $400

4^th – Kim Pierce – $265

5^th/6^th – Kathy Knuth; Tracie Voelkering – $150

7^th/8^th – Malinda Williams; Michelle Cortez – $100

9^th-12^th – Liz Mitchel, Chris Fields, Courtney Evans, Julie Stephenson – $70

13^th-16^th – Angie Payne, Monica Anderson, Jennifer Dooley, Rhea Brooks – $30

17^th-24^th – Angelina Dean, Amber Stone, Deedra Trammell, Helen Hayes, Corina Campbell, Snowy Belt, Angela Garza, Nicole McDaniel – $20

Second Chance Tournament – $100 added monies (8 players)
1^st – Rhea Brooks – $85
2^nd – Nicole McDaniel – $55
3^rd – Gail Roles – $30
4^th – Monica Anderson – $10

Other Tournament Winners
(5) $50 Gas Cards – Tara Williams, Kathy Knuth, Lyn Jones, Celeste Espinosa, Melinda Bailey
$30 refund of tournament entry fee – Amber Stone

OB Cues Raffle Winners
Two local Rusty’s customers – Steven Walker and Jay Weiner

Our next stop will be March 9^th-10^th at Jamaica Joe’s, Midwest City, Oklahoma.  Hope to see you there.

For more information: www.obcuestour.com Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times!!