You know, with all the flak I've heard that the players should have known and made KT post up the money beforehand, it seems that not one player expected money to be put up on the light. When someone starts an organization, you just don't expect what happened to happen.
When I started a women's regional tour, we never posted the money up front (and I doubt any of the current women's tours do either) - it is always assumed the money is there. Even though it is on a much smaller scale, if one of our board members screwed up and did not get a written contract in place for the added money and the room owner decided not to add say, the full $1000 but only $500, we were beholden to add the full $1000 and the extra $500 came out of our funds and player's fees, because that is the way it was advertised.
Even now, if you make a flyer to advertise your event and it says $1000 added, but you don't add the words, "based on 64 players", (or whatever), you are legally bound to add the full $1000, even if only 4 players show up. Now that is a little extreme, but if someone wanted to push it, it is my understanding they could, because it was advertised as $1000 added, period.
What happened with the IPT....well, yes, KT had a spotty past, but then, so do a lot of pool players. He was also a very wealthy man who decided to turn his riches towards pool players. He promised funding for at least 2 solid years based on that wealth. He set up lavish venues and dazzled the world with amenities unseen before for the players. We had every expectation that it would continue. After all, he never posted for the first couple of events and we still got paid. He was a man of his word to the players.
People base their decisions on what THEY would do...how human behaviour averages out. Would our regional tour have stiffed the players and not paid the full $1000? Heck NO! The thought would never have even crossed our minds. And that's the approach most every pool player took when they joined the IPT. After all, if it wasn't legit, wouldn't this guy's name be mud in the pool and business world? Who would want to face that?
Well, evidently, there are some people who don't mind. They look it at maybe as a business failure, but not a personal or moral failure. They discount the damage placed on the player's lives, due to the expectations they set up.
When I was accepted into the IPT, I was ecstatic. That my husband was accepted too was a reason for celebration. We could fulfill our dream of travelling and playing pool together in huge tournaments. The reality is that I have not even recouped my travel expenses for 3 tournaments.
The reality is that I gave up a WPBA double qualifier spot (winning the tournament with 46 women from WA, OR, FL, Toronto, Vancouver BC and Calgary), due to the IPT schedule and taking too much time off work already, when now, there is no IPT schedule and I certainly could have used that spot.
And my losses are insignificant compared to everyone else's. The top 100 or so players in the world that were members are still hoping against hope that something can be salvaged - maybe a tour on a smaller scale and that at least we will receive a monthly stipend for services already rendered.
I'm talking about the huge depression that descended on pool players everywhere, causing many to give up the player's life, at least temporarily. And I'm talking about the daily, sometimes hourly shifts of emotion which we endured in the months following Reno. I'm talking about the huge dent in morale in the pool world in members, qualifiers, room owners, and many others who had attached some small dream to the IPT. By having the IPT become successful, the whole industry could have reaped rewards.
Now, we just feel used, abused, jaded, and like wrung-out dishrags to be discarded. Instead of a profession that my husband could be proud of that would give him validity in the one arena he has played in all his life, he is back to playing in weekly and weekend tournaments.
Did we deserve it? No, I really don't think so.
When I started a women's regional tour, we never posted the money up front (and I doubt any of the current women's tours do either) - it is always assumed the money is there. Even though it is on a much smaller scale, if one of our board members screwed up and did not get a written contract in place for the added money and the room owner decided not to add say, the full $1000 but only $500, we were beholden to add the full $1000 and the extra $500 came out of our funds and player's fees, because that is the way it was advertised.
Even now, if you make a flyer to advertise your event and it says $1000 added, but you don't add the words, "based on 64 players", (or whatever), you are legally bound to add the full $1000, even if only 4 players show up. Now that is a little extreme, but if someone wanted to push it, it is my understanding they could, because it was advertised as $1000 added, period.
What happened with the IPT....well, yes, KT had a spotty past, but then, so do a lot of pool players. He was also a very wealthy man who decided to turn his riches towards pool players. He promised funding for at least 2 solid years based on that wealth. He set up lavish venues and dazzled the world with amenities unseen before for the players. We had every expectation that it would continue. After all, he never posted for the first couple of events and we still got paid. He was a man of his word to the players.
People base their decisions on what THEY would do...how human behaviour averages out. Would our regional tour have stiffed the players and not paid the full $1000? Heck NO! The thought would never have even crossed our minds. And that's the approach most every pool player took when they joined the IPT. After all, if it wasn't legit, wouldn't this guy's name be mud in the pool and business world? Who would want to face that?
Well, evidently, there are some people who don't mind. They look it at maybe as a business failure, but not a personal or moral failure. They discount the damage placed on the player's lives, due to the expectations they set up.
When I was accepted into the IPT, I was ecstatic. That my husband was accepted too was a reason for celebration. We could fulfill our dream of travelling and playing pool together in huge tournaments. The reality is that I have not even recouped my travel expenses for 3 tournaments.
The reality is that I gave up a WPBA double qualifier spot (winning the tournament with 46 women from WA, OR, FL, Toronto, Vancouver BC and Calgary), due to the IPT schedule and taking too much time off work already, when now, there is no IPT schedule and I certainly could have used that spot.
And my losses are insignificant compared to everyone else's. The top 100 or so players in the world that were members are still hoping against hope that something can be salvaged - maybe a tour on a smaller scale and that at least we will receive a monthly stipend for services already rendered.
I'm talking about the huge depression that descended on pool players everywhere, causing many to give up the player's life, at least temporarily. And I'm talking about the daily, sometimes hourly shifts of emotion which we endured in the months following Reno. I'm talking about the huge dent in morale in the pool world in members, qualifiers, room owners, and many others who had attached some small dream to the IPT. By having the IPT become successful, the whole industry could have reaped rewards.
Now, we just feel used, abused, jaded, and like wrung-out dishrags to be discarded. Instead of a profession that my husband could be proud of that would give him validity in the one arena he has played in all his life, he is back to playing in weekly and weekend tournaments.
Did we deserve it? No, I really don't think so.
