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Pic taken June 2005 by Adam Zayas.  
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My name is Suzanne Walkuski. I was born in Houston Texas on April the 17th,1958. I'm married and have four great kids from the ages of 4 to 23. I started playing pool for fun about 10 years ago when I went out with friends after work.

Gradually I started to get a little better and would actually win a game occasionally. I met my husband Rich about a year after I had started playing and by then I had fallen in love with the game (and him) and was hooked. Rich has been playing pool since he was a kid and is an excellent shot maker. Many of you have seen him at the Hunters refereeing the games since he received his ref. certification at the Nationals in May this year. 95% of my pool skill and knowledge has come from playing with him. We are both very competitive and that is what drives me to want to the best player I can be.

Several years ago my husband and I were playing pool one time and I overheard the guy at the next table tell his opponent that he played like a woman. That statement really bugged me because I know there are some excellent women players and being the women libber that I am, I decided I was going to show these guys that women can be just as good. I guess my biggest thrill was when I played a local tournament against all men. I was 9 months pregnant with my 4-year-old. I could hardly bend over the table, but I beat them all and came in first! Talk about satisfaction.....

I came to my first Hunter in 1997 at Speeds in Arlington. I placed 13th through 17th. What a thrill that was. I was hooked after that. I came in 3rd in the second chance tournament in Alvin. I also placed 4th in the women's tournament at Legends in Houston September 1998. I have tried to make as many of the Hunters as I can. I'm part of the Alvin gang and am very grateful to those ladies for inviting me to go with them. I can't wait for Las Vegas in January!

The way I met these ladies was 2 years ago. My husband asked me what I would like for my birthday and I told him all I wanted was to find an all women's tournament to enter. So we took off work that day and he drove me all over Houston checking at different pool halls without any success. We finally went to International Billiards to get a cue case and found a pool magazine that listed a lot of the Texas tournaments. Lo and behold, the only weekly women's tournament listed was in Alvin, right down the road! I went to the first one and had a great time. I met all these nice women who invited me back and I have hardly missed a week since.

I am playing in my 4th BCA league (The Players League). For 3 years I have also ran a company 8-ball and 9-ball pool league where I work. The employee recreation committee has said that is the most successful company activity they have had and has the largest participation of employees. Sometimes running a league can be frustrating, but I enjoy promoting the game to anyone who will listen, especially the women. Usually a third of my league is women!

My husband and I just bought a beautifully restored regulation antique pool table with the huge claw feet pedestals. I hope to get a lot more practice time now so that I can work to break all of the bad shooting habits I have developed.

My goal is to promote women's pool as often as I can and to keep placing consistently in any tournament I enter.