This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Longmont’s Penny McBride seems like a regular happy mother, raising the two children she was so thankful to have when she was in her early forties, and making jewelry at home to satisfy her creative side. But, when asked about her 2019 travel plans, she excitedly describes the trip to Las Vegas she has planned for mid-July. Not to sit in front of the slot machines or check out the shows – she will be competing in the Billiard Congress of America Pool League (BCAPL) World Championships at the Rio Hotel.
So how did McBride turn out to be a champion pool player? Born 51 years ago in Oxford, England, she enjoyed watching the snooker program Pot Black on BBC television and was impressed by the cool and controlled playing of champion Steve Davis, as well as the more flamboyant Alex “Hurricane” Higgins. She learned to play pool, a variant of snooker, and found that not only was she good at it, but she really enjoyed the game. Then, of course, a boyfriend came on the scene who was also a pool player and they enjoyed playing in leagues and as individuals. McBride also realized that she was good enough to have a couple of local sponsors that covered her travel and competition entry fees.
People often ask about the differences between the games of pool, snooker, and billiards, and it is the variations of table size, ball size, number of balls, scoring, rules, and even in which country the game is being played. In Las Vegas, McBride will be playing in the Platinum Scotch Doubles tournament, the Women’s 8-Ball Singles, and the Women’s 8-Ball Gold Team competition. There are over 5,000 players registered in 40 different divisions, and they will play 700 mini-tournaments on 300 pool tables.
McBride next moved to Florida and found she loved not just the weather and culture, but also the pool scene, which included world-class players from in-state as well as visitors from New York, New Jersey and other northeastern cities. She gave up her career as an oil and gas researcher and settled into the role of semi-professional pool player. She found pool hall and bar owners who would sponsor her, sometimes in return for bartending work, and others who would underwrite her travel and lodging expenses when she played in tournaments. And of course, there was always the important tournament prize money to aim for.
And it was seeing another transplanted Brit that inspired McBride and others on the female pool tour. Allison Fisher was born in the same year as McBride, and found national and world dominance in pool after she moved to the U.S. from England in her twenties and changed from being a competitive snooker player to a professional pool player. Knowing that she could never be on a level with the “Duchess of Doom”, McBride still looked at Fisher to motivate her in her chosen career.
McBride finally left the vibrant Florida pool world and being a successful semi-pro professional when she married and eventually moved to Colorado. This state was definitely different from Florida, with few professionals and even fewer female players playing pool at that time. So a different life started for McBride but she still kept up her pool skills, even though the pressures of motherhood limited her playing time.
But she now plays in a traveling league in Longmont based at the LoCo Gastropub on Main Street (recently changed from the Breakers Bar), which has ten teams of mixed players, both men and women. The league regularly travels to different pool locations in the Longmont area, including the American Legion, the Elks Lodge and Centennial Lanes.
McBride's fellow members of the British Women in Colorado (BIC) will be cheering her on from a distance as she starts her nine-day pool event in Las Vegas on July 18th and hoping that she brings home not just a trophy or two, but also some prize money and other bonuses. She does need a new carrying case for her two custom cues and hopes that she can score a lovely leather case in one of the tournaments. Good luck to McBride from The Longmont Observer!
