And here is KT's letter

Colin Colenso said:
KT may even have been unsure about how the payment issue would be handled with ongoing negotiations as to the financial set up and obligations of the new company.
Click to expand...
KT made the announcement about Ho at the players meeting. If the thing with Ho was/is restricting him, the question I have is...when did KT know that he wasn't going to be able to write the checks? I'm going to go under the assumption that he quite possibly knew when he was at the podium during the players meeting. That's when he should've said that the checks would not be forthcoming. Even if he didn't know at that time, he certainly found out sometime before Sunday...as soon as he found out he should've called an "emergency" players meeting and said "Because of the Ho situation, I will not legally be able to pay you at this time for this event. You will be paid, I just can't do it right now. Please be patient and understand that this is a legal matter involved with the buyout and it's temporary."

The fact that they decided to lie about it and say FedEx didn't deliver the checks, they opened themselves up to all the criticism and did major PR damage. They could've avoided all this bad publicity and credibility damage by being truthful (assuming what he's now saying is the truth). What purpose, other than killing their credibility did it serve to lie about the checks right from the get go? That's the one thing that really bothers me about this. Why lie, be silent for a month, get raked over the coals, and then come out and say "Oh, well I couldn't pay you because of this buyout that I was telling you guys about in the players meeting." Just doesn't make sense to me.... :confused:
 
Timberly,

That is what an honest person would have done.

KT decided not to do that.

Therfore, people do not consider him honest and that is why he is criticized. And justly so.
 
Mercedes/Chrysler merger/acquisition

Must have been real tough for all those poor employees, suppliers and dealerships that went without any paychecks and money for over a year during the Mercedes Benz / Chrysler merger/acquisition, or the NBC/ Vivendi deal. Must have been hundreds of thousands of them losing their homes, cars - no food or clothes.

Wonder how KY (oops KT), Deno and the other IPT employees are doing without their paychecks!

Absolutely ridiculous theory, no basis in fact whatsoever, KY had to start that one! Gee he's good!
 
Timberly said:
KT made the announcement about Ho at the players meeting. If the thing with Ho was/is restricting him, the question I have is...when did KT know that he wasn't going to be able to write the checks? I'm going to go under the assumption that he quite possibly knew when he was at the podium during the players meeting. That's when he should've said that the checks would not be forthcoming. Even if he didn't know at that time, he certainly found out sometime before Sunday...as soon as he found out he should've called an "emergency" players meeting and said "Because of the Ho situation, I will not legally be able to pay you at this time for this event. You will be paid, I just can't do it right now. Please be patient and understand that this is a legal matter involved with the buyout and it's temporary."

The fact that they decided to lie about it and say FedEx didn't deliver the checks, they opened themselves up to all the criticism and did major PR damage. They could've avoided all this bad publicity and credibility damage by being truthful (assuming what he's now saying is the truth). What purpose, other than killing their credibility did it serve to lie about the checks right from the get go? That's the one thing that really bothers me about this. Why lie, be silent for a month, get raked over the coals, and then come out and say "Oh, well I couldn't pay you because of this buyout that I was telling you guys about in the players meeting." Just doesn't make sense to me.... :confused:
Click to expand...
Kimberly,
I agree that a meeting or announcement at the event would have been appropriate.
Colin
 
jimmyg, i appreciate your differing opinion.

Fact of the matter is that i never said that the employees of the ipt havent been paid. Unfortunately, in this case, there is a huge difference between an employee, and an independent contractor. the definition of an independedt contractor, among other things, are that the people involved pay their own taxes, withhold ssi, and recieve no benifits. If there is an office, they pay their own phone bills, and expenses. In this situation, it would allow the players to make deductions. I believe they receive a 1099.

I suppose the case can be made that they are nothing more than contestants, i suspect that would need to be argued in court, but keeping in mind "ipt tour card member" separates them from the public, and i figure contestanships wouldnt hold up.

Objectively speaking, if a bailout happens soon, and the players are paid in full, in the shceme of things i dont believe the ipt's viabilty will be damaged at all. Sure we here might be less forgiving, but kt did announce at reneo there was a buyout possibility, and now this letter to the players. If it does happen, outsiders will see it as kt doing what he said he would do, and that ultimately the players were paid in relatively short order, considering the circumstances. As far as i am concerned, the waiting period is exorbanandt, but is guess that if the players forgive, and show in chicago, they wont take the pr hit that you are suggesting.

I still stand by my thesis that even separateprivately held companies cannot comingle funds. This would be tantamount, in this case, of money laundering. If i was kt's adviser, knowing his past and the precarious situation he is already in with the feds, i wouldn't let him take outside funds to pay the ipt debts. It reminds me of the time fred trump walked into donalds ac casino, cashed 5million dollars in cash for chips and walked out with the chips. Basically, it was his ILLEGAL way of giving a 5 million payment to his then floundering casino.

On another point, i havent looked, perhaps someone can detrmine, is ho interactive a publically traded company. If so, it can/will complicate the transaction, and would DEFINTELY stand to reason why ho interactive hasn't made any public comments. I'm sure his shareholders, and the public market wouldn't be to keen on this purchase. Any advanced warnings could affect the strength of the stocks performance. Afterall, kt is a convicted felon. If given time to speculate and research, ho could suffer. If after finalization, ho makes an announcement spun to his advantage, he'd get away with it, imo.

rg
 
Having been involved in mergers and acquisitions ranging in value (actual value =real money) from 10 million to 300 milllion dollars, I can't recall even one time when any employee was not paid as usual which means in full and on time. The acquisition and merger process is usually seamless to employees for at least the first 6 to 12 months.

When Time Warner & AOL merged it was the largest merger in the world. The transaction involved 80,000 employees, $140 billion in annual sales and a market cap of $350 billion. Now that was a complex deal. Not one employee missed a check!

If-- and I emphasize "IF" the IPT is being sold, it's a small deal with few moving parts so it's an easy transaction. There is no real estate, no inventory (exept a few boxes of IPT T-shirts), etc. KT tries to paint a picture that it's a complex transaction for a large amount of money. In the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes. Larger deals are completed on a cocktail napkin.

I do sincerely hope the IPT can be salvaged. I personally have a rather large investment at risk if it fails and will now disclose the details on this forum. While attending the IPT event at the Venetian here in Las Vegas, I purchased 3 IPT T-shirts at $25 a freakin' pop! :p
Regards,
Rip
 
Rip said:
Having been involved in mergers and acquisitions ranging in value (actual value =real money) from 10 million to 300 milllion dollars, I can't recall even one time when any employee was not paid as usual which means in full and on time. The acquisition and merger process is usually seamless to employees for at least the first 6 to 12 months.

When Time Warner & AOL merged it was the largest merger in the world. The transaction involved 80,000 employees, $140 billion in annual sales and a market cap of $350 billion. Now that was a complex deal. Not one employee missed a check!

If-- and I emphasize "IF" the IPT is being sold, it's a small deal with few moving parts so it's an easy transaction. There is no real estate, no inventory (exept a few boxes of IPT T-shirts), etc. KT tries to paint a picture that it's a complex transaction for a large amount of money. In the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes. Larger deals are completed on a cocktail napkin.

I do sincerely hope the IPT can be salvaged. I personally have a rather large investment at risk if it fails and will now disclose the details on this forum. While attending the IPT event at the Venetian here in Las Vegas, I purchased 3 IPT T-shirts at $25 a freakin' pop! :p
Regards,
Rip
Click to expand...

There's always E-bay... :p
 
Rip said:
Having been involved in mergers and acquisitions ranging in value (actual value =real money) from 10 million to 300 milllion dollars, I can't recall even one time when any employee was not paid as usual which means in full and on time. The acquisition and merger process is usually seamless to employees for at least the first 6 to 12 months.

When Time Warner & AOL merged it was the largest merger in the world. The transaction involved 80,000 employees, $140 billion in annual sales and a market cap of $350 billion. Now that was a complex deal. Not one employee missed a check!

If-- and I emphasize "IF" the IPT is being sold, it's a small deal with few moving parts so it's an easy transaction. There is no real estate, no inventory (exept a few boxes of IPT T-shirts), etc. KT tries to paint a picture that it's a complex transaction for a large amount of money. In the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes. Larger deals are completed on a cocktail napkin.

I do sincerely hope the IPT can be salvaged. I personally have a rather large investment at risk if it fails and will now disclose the details on this forum. While attending the IPT event at the Venetian here in Las Vegas, I purchased 3 IPT T-shirts at $25 a freakin' pop! :p
Regards,
Rip
Click to expand...

Thanks Rip for putting things in perspective. It's a diddly ass little deal that ain't worth squat. 30 attorneys and accountants. 1,000 pages of paper work. PLEASE KT, spare me this BS. He treats everyone like they're fools and only he has a brain.

And you know, a lot of people buy into his nonsense. Some of them are here right now. The IPT "deal" has NO value to anyone in it's current state. Let me say it in other words. It's worth exactly ZERO! This is a failed business with no assets and no good will. The income is negligible and the debt is huge.

These are the usual parameters for buying a business, either big or small. But the "wait and see" crowd can keep right on dreaming. There is only one viable option for KT and the IPT. He must borrow from Peter to pay Paul. The question is, does he want to and is that even a possibility.
 
rackmsuckr said:
Dear IPT Players,

This is to update you on player payouts for the World Open, the Ho
Casino.com acquisition.............

We are in final negotiations and planning on executing documents relating to the Ho Interactive acquisition of the IPT.......

Our plans are to bring the company public in January.......


Sincerely,

Kevin Trudeau,
Founder, IPT
Click to expand...


Without getting involved in naysaying,doom-mongering or 'complaining' (whether we use Jasper's strange interpretation of complaining or us normal folks definition of it):) .......and as regards the above extracts from his letter there are a couple of basic questions/comments that it is a little surprising no-one has yet raised.......

Wouldn't you think that just one of those 30 lawyers and accountants would by now have at least briefed KT on whether IPT is in the process of being acquired by Ho Casinos or by Ho Interactive as from the above pronouncements KT doesn't seem to be very sure, despite the advanced stage of complex negotiations and the existence of thousands of documents?

The use of the word we is a little confusing in terms of the company floating issue.Who are we,which company are the said we planning to bring public and in which country?

Is he now talking about a completely new proposal for IPT itself to be floated as a company (which might make the use of we more understandable) or is he still talking about intentions for Ho Interactive to be floated floated after acquiring IPT which is what he clearly said in previous announcements? If the latter why does our plans even come into it,surely that would more appropriately be their plans unless KT has suddenly become an officer of Ho Interactive?

Whatever the answers this KT fellow is clearly not quite as articulate as he thinks he is.
 
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memikey said:
Without getting involved in naysaying,doom-mongering or 'complaining' (whether we use Jasper's strange interpretation of complaining or us normal folks definition of it):) .......and as regards the above extracts from his letter there are a couple of basic questions/comments that it is a little surprising no-one has yet raised.......

Wouldn't you think that just one of those 30 lawyers would by now have at least briefed KT on whether IPT is in the process of being acquired by Ho Casinos or Ho Interactive as from the above pronouncements KT doesn't seem to be very sure, despite the advanced stage of complex negotiations and the existence of thousands of documents?

The use of the word we is a little confusing in terms of the company floating issue.Who are we,which company are the said we planning to bring public and in which country?

Is he now talking about a completely new proposal for IPT to be floated as a company (which might make the use of we more understandable) or is he still talking about Ho Interactive being floated after acquiring IPT which is what he clearly said in previous announcements? If the latter why does we even come into it,surely that would more appropriately be they unless KT has suddenly become an officer of Ho Interactive?
Click to expand...


Mikey,
This man is spinning a web of fantasy and false hope. By now, I think most on here have caught on. KT wouldn't know the truth if his life depended on it. He is such an elaborate storyteller, that it is doubtful if he remembers half the things he says. He reminds me of a small child making up stories to cover up their mischief.
 
NYC cue dude said:
jimmyg, i appreciate your differing opinion.

Fact of the matter is that i never said that the employees of the ipt havent been paid. Unfortunately, in this case, there is a huge difference between an employee, and an independent contractor. the definition of an independedt contractor, among other things, are that the people involved pay their own taxes, withhold ssi, and recieve no benifits. If there is an office, they pay their own phone bills, and expenses. In this situation, it would allow the players to make deductions. I believe they receive a 1099.
Click to expand...
By way of agreement (without excusing KT), I see lots of people saying, "Daimler-Chrysler, AOL-Time Warner, Sprint-Nextel... all merged and no one missed a paycheck." All true statements, but inapposite. Those are all large, established, and ongoing concerns (though at least two of thsoe combinations were failures, but that's another story).

Google's purchase of YouTube (a startup that's never turned a profit) is more likely on point. It's very likely that YouTube failed to make payroll at times. In its early days, Intel failed to make payroll at times. Microsoft probably did, too. One of the now more successful consulting firms in my field missed payroll in its early days.

Starting a new business is risky, and usually fails. Even the successes typically struggle mightily and teeter on the brink of failure.

None of this necessarily means the IPT won't fail, or isn't already a failure. And it doesn't mean KT handled this well; he hasn't. Nor does it mean he's not lying. The point is simply that you can't draw implications for how this deal, if it's legit, should work out from how deals among large publicly traded corporations work.

Cory
 
The difference in KT's scheme and most other start-ups, most owners haven't made absolute guarantees to their employees. Remember KT's rant that all prize money would be paid before the players left the venue. Three years worth of operating $ was secured and in place, annual $ guarantees to IPT tour card holders, endorsement and appearance $$, and so on.
It appears that someone broke the other golden rule "don't let your mouth write a check that your butt can't cash".

And then he continues to act as though the entire world is dumb as rocks by using a proposed sale or hope for a sale, as the reason for holding the player's money. One has nothing to do with the other.

Imagine this scenario. You walk into the Venetian Hotel and Casino, pop a few dollars into a slot machine and you hit a jackpot for somewhere between $5,000 and $500,000. You're excited! Your heart is pumping and you can't wait for cash to hit your hands. You see the well dressed casino manager walking towards you, (you're so happy by now you can hardly contain it), and the casino manager says to you, "congratulations on winning that large jackpot---first let's take your picture so we can put it in our TV commercials, magazines and billboards showing you holding the large 4 foot long cardboard check. Click Click Click, the pictures are taken. The champagne is flowing and tears of joy are streaming down your cheeks.

The casino manager then says "but the owner is thinking about selling the casino so we're not going to actually pay you the money you have won. If you need more money to continue playing our slot machines, please use the ATM located near the casino cage to withdraw more of your own money to dump into our slot machines to win another jackpot that we won't pay!" Unfortunately, this scenario describes the Reno IPT situation.

How would KT feel if one million people called his 800 number and ordered his book of "Cures" (worthless drivel), paid by a credit card, and then all million people charged back stating the merchandise received was not the merchandise they ordered. (this would be a legitimate reason for a chargeback since they ordered "Cures" and received "Crap"). Would KT feel he had been taken advantage of?
I still hope everything works out and everyone is happy with the outcome soon.
Regards,
Rip



Cory in DC said:
By way of agreement (without excusing KT), I see lots of people saying, "Daimler-Chrysler, AOL-Time Warner, Sprint-Nextel... all merged and no one missed a paycheck." All true statements, but inapposite. Those are all large, established, and ongoing concerns (though at least two of thsoe combinations were failures, but that's another story).

Cory
Click to expand...
 
let it play itself out!!

This will play itself out for good or bad by Chicago tournament. The life support is on until then, he is not going to put any of his other assets up(MONEY) ,that is a fact jack. He made that clear ,when nobody got paid period. But if more money is accumulated quickly ie. TV, net, qualifier's?, sponsors maybe it will continue. The bottom line is wait and see. You have no other option...Sorry:eek: KT is saying show me the money.
 
Done all the time in Business!!!

NYC cue dude said:
jimmyg, i appreciate your differing opinion.

Fact of the matter is that i never said that the employees of the ipt havent been paid. Unfortunately, in this case, there is a huge difference between an employee, and an independent contractor. the definition of an independedt contractor, among other things, are that the people involved pay their own taxes, withhold ssi, and recieve no benifits. If there is an office, they pay their own phone bills, and expenses. In this situation, it would allow the players to make deductions. I believe they receive a 1099.

I suppose the case can be made that they are nothing more than contestants, i suspect that would need to be argued in court, but keeping in mind "ipt tour card member" separates them from the public, and i figure contestanships wouldnt hold up.

Objectively speaking, if a bailout happens soon, and the players are paid in full, in the shceme of things i dont believe the ipt's viabilty will be damaged at all. Sure we here might be less forgiving, but kt did announce at reneo there was a buyout possibility, and now this letter to the players. If it does happen, outsiders will see it as kt doing what he said he would do, and that ultimately the players were paid in relatively short order, considering the circumstances. As far as i am concerned, the waiting period is exorbanandt, but is guess that if the players forgive, and show in chicago, they wont take the pr hit that you are suggesting.

I still stand by my thesis that even separateprivately held companies cannot comingle funds. This would be tantamount, in this case, of money laundering. If i was kt's adviser, knowing his past and the precarious situation he is already in with the feds, i wouldn't let him take outside funds to pay the ipt debts. It reminds me of the time fred trump walked into donalds ac casino, cashed 5million dollars in cash for chips and walked out with the chips. Basically, it was his ILLEGAL way of giving a 5 million payment to his then floundering casino.

On another point, i havent looked, perhaps someone can detrmine, is ho interactive a publically traded company. If so, it can/will complicate the transaction, and would DEFINTELY stand to reason why ho interactive hasn't made any public comments. I'm sure his shareholders, and the public market wouldn't be to keen on this purchase. Any advanced warnings could affect the strength of the stocks performance. Afterall, kt is a convicted felon. If given time to speculate and research, ho could suffer. If after finalization, ho makes an announcement spun to his advantage, he'd get away with it, imo.

rg
Click to expand...
I was in Business and had to lend the business more than once working capital, Didn't want to but they would have plywooded up the building.
 
People keep insisting that in all the mergers and aquistions they have been associated with, all the employees have been paid. Who has said any different? I havent'. In fact, i suspect ALL of the ipt employees ahve been paid. With all the naysaying, and doom ondering going around, don't you think that if the employees were not receiving payroll, someone would have leaked that already? I suspect that to be the case.

Furthermore, i wouldnt be surprised if the players (independent contractors) are the only ones who havent been paid.

SO people, please stop debating that good businesses pay their employees during transitions, i agree, and in this case i believe ALL of the ipt employees are being paid.

All i have stated is that it makes good business practice, if their is a bailout in the works, to let the purchaser assume the debt load. Period.

rg
 
NYC cue dude said:
......On another point, i havent looked, perhaps someone can detrmine, is ho interactive a publically traded company. If so, it can/will complicate the transaction, and would DEFINTELY stand to reason why ho interactive hasn't made any public comments. I'm sure his shareholders, and the public market wouldn't be to keen on this purchase. Any advanced warnings could affect the strength of the stocks performance. Afterall, kt is a convicted felon. If given time to speculate and research, ho could suffer. If after finalization, ho makes an announcement spun to his advantage, he'd get away with it, imo.

rg
Click to expand...

NYCD.......KT clearly said weeks ago that a letter of intent had been signed between IPT and Ho Interactive regarding acquisition of the former by the latter and that the intention was for Ho Interactive at a later point in time to be floated on the London Stock Exchange,I think January may have been mentioned in that context.

The obvious assumption following on from that is that Ho Intercactive is almost certainly not presently a publicly traded company anywhere and most definitely not on the London Stock Exchange.

However,as I've mentioned in another post, from the confused wording of KT's latest letter he himself does not now seem to be at all sure whether IPT is in the process of being acquired by Ho Interactive or by Ho Casinos but I suppose anyone might get confused when dealing with 30 lawyers and accountants and thousands of documents.
 
NYC cue dude said:
All i have stated is that it makes good business practice, if their is a bailout in the works, to let the purchaser assume the debt load. Period.

rg
Click to expand...

Randy, If there was a real "deal" in the works, why not pay the players and take the $3M into consideration by adjusting the sales price?

Between KY (oops KT), HO, and 30 lawyers working on this major, complicated, international, world shattering business transaction, doesn't it make sense that one of them would have realized that they can pay the players the $3M and simply reduce the IPT sales price by the same $3M?

Isn't keeping their players happy and positive, and avoiding all this negative PR and speculation important to any of them?

Jimmy
 
memikey said:
Without getting involved in naysaying,doom-mongering or 'complaining' (whether we use Jasper's strange interpretation of complaining or us normal folks definition of it):) .......and as regards the above extracts from his letter there are a couple of basic questions/comments that it is a little surprising no-one has yet raised.......

Wouldn't you think that just one of those 30 lawyers and accountants would by now have at least briefed KT on whether IPT is in the process of being acquired by Ho Casinos or by Ho Interactive as from the above pronouncements KT doesn't seem to be very sure, despite the advanced stage of complex negotiations and the existence of thousands of documents?

The use of the word we is a little confusing in terms of the company floating issue.Who are we,which company are the said we planning to bring public and in which country?

Is he now talking about a completely new proposal for IPT itself to be floated as a company (which might make the use of we more understandable) or is he still talking about intentions for Ho Interactive to be floated floated after acquiring IPT which is what he clearly said in previous announcements? If the latter why does our plans even come into it,surely that would more appropriately be their plans unless KT has suddenly become an officer of Ho Interactive?

Whatever the answers this KT fellow is clearly not quite as articulate as he thinks he is.
Click to expand...
You are right, I should have used the word "whining" instead. Sorry.
 
jasper said:
Ho Casino is listed as a sponsor on the IPT website.
Click to expand...
Interesting... did Ho actually sponsor anything to do with the IPT? I only recall KT saying there was a letter of intent... I don't recall KT mentioning Ho when he was mentioning vonnage & DishNetwork. Jasper since you've got the IPT inside info, please elaborate... just how did Ho sponsor the IPT?
 
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