Imagine being the only woman sitting in a billiards room filled with guys waiting for your brother to be done playing pool from noon until closing time in the University Union’s Game Room at Sacramento State.

For Cindy Ho, an English complementary major, she was that woman faced with having to wait countless hours everyday about four years ago for her brother.

“I had to carpool with my brother,” Ho said. “He never wanted to leave and go home, so I had to stay and do nothing, but finish all of my homework.”

As time passed though, Ho became impatient in watching her brother to finish and decided to pick up a pool cue herself and give the game a try.

“I was bored to be honest,” Ho said. “But the game looked kind of interesting after watching people play. There is a lot of geometry, mathematics, and a bit of physics involved.”

Once Ho felt the joy of hitting a ball straight into the pocket, she instantly fell in love with the game. Ho said it was a surprise the game of pool would bring about a hidden passion she did not know existed.

With the help of her brother teaching her along the way, Ho was able to pick up the game fast and easy.

“He was the first one who introduced me to the game,” Ho said. “He taught me how to hold the stick, imagine where the cue ball will go when you hit a ball and how to line up your shots.”

Ho said it took a little time getting used to playing pool the correct way, but eventually she settled in and found a rhythm.

“It’s rough in the beginning,” Ho said. “But when you make your first ball in and start to get the hang of how you’re supposed to hit it, and once you’re able to clean up one ball to another ball, you have a real rush.”

Ho began fine tuning her skills by playing random people she saw at the University’s Union Game Room. She said it was funny to see how fast her name got around to strangers once they saw how good she was.

“After you hang out here at the pool room for so long, you begin to meet a lot of cool people.” Ho said. “Everyone who is here right now (at the game room), knows me because they have played against me. I have found it to be a great place to meet new people.”

Ho is the only female member of the Sac State Billiards Club.

“Cindy is just a normal girl who plays with the boys,” said Kalvin Fogata, a member of the club. “And over time gotten better than all the boys.”

Ho recently came back from a regional tournament held in Las Vegas on Feb. 3, where she competed against women from other schools and won; the win advanced Ho to the national tournament.

“I don’t pay attention to the name of the tournaments.” Ho said. “I mainly like going out and having fun. That is why I don’t think I would want to ever go pro in this game because I would lose the fun in just playing if I took it serious like I have seen other people do. I am more of a person that says when you lose, okay, maybe next time.”

Last semester, Ho won the 8-ball tournament and has also collected two 9-ball tournament wins in the past. 

“It doesn’t matter who is good and who is not,” Ho said. “To me, just having fun and making conversation with whoever I am playing is what makes the game fun.”

Stanley Sasaki, also a member of the club, said Ho’s ability in becoming a consistent player has helped her game out a lot.

“She is a relaxed player that has had a lot of success playing in the tournaments here,” Sasaki said. “She doesn’t stress much when she plays against the guys out here, which helps her game a lot. She mainly has fun, but plays smart.”

Gabriel Pacheco can be reached at [email protected].