Chicago Canceled

[Timberly]

Just my feelings of course but don't see him admitting defeat anytime soon...

11 qualifiers this weekend
57 players
$114,000.00

In the course of a day and a half KT has canceled (oops, "postponed") a tournament AND pocketed $114,000.

In the month of Oct they "laid off" employee's, wrote "announcements" and "postponed" a tournament... that's a lot of hard work. For all that hard work they brought in $384,000 in the month of Oct alone.

From Reno to now, they've had 263 people enter qualifers... from the Sept 15th qualifiers to this weekend they've made roughly $526,000 on qualifiers. There's no way to figure out what they've brought in on the memberships.

They've been making money.... they're not closing up, they're just downsizing expenditures (employees & tournaments) to maximize the income.

 

[TheOne]

11 qualifiers this weekend
57 players
$114,000.00

In the course of a day and a half KT has canceled (oops, "postponed") a tournament AND pocketed $114,000.

In the month of Oct they "laid off" employee's, wrote "announcements" and "postponed" a tournament... that's a lot of hard work. For all that hard work they brought in $384,000 in the month of Oct alone.

From Reno to now, they've had 263 people enter qualifers... from the Sept 15th qualifiers to this weekend they've made roughly $526,000 on qualifiers. There's no way to figure out what they've brought in on the memberships.

They've been making money.... they're not closing up, they're just downsizing expenditures (employees & tournaments) to maximize the income.

spot on, now multiply that by 2-3 months delay and they might have enough to fund/pay and carry on. Now who said this it wasn't the intention of this tour to be funded by qualifiers? It makes me so angry as he never intended to dig into his pockets for very much at all, 2 year guarantee!!!

Can everyone now see why Deno got so angry with Jay about non payment, wasn't happy with Eydie about saying cancelled, and gets mike to pull threads about the tour being finished. All these weaken the credibility of the IPT and if people start believing their is no money behind it then they'll stop funding it and it will come crashing down pretty quickly.

IPT = Player Funded Tour (it was never intended to be anything else)

 

[jay helfert]

The Fat Lady May Be Singing

I've been traveling since yesterday and am now in China. Just opened this thread. Why am I not surprised? He came in with a bang, and will go out with a whimper.

Some people remain in denial. My prediction for about the 20th time. No more IPT, no money! Once again, this does not make me happy, but also does not surprise me.

 

[Russ Chewning]

if people start believing their is no money behind it then they'll stop funding it and it will come crashing down pretty quickly.

Yes, if the players ever choose to inform themselves of what is going on with the IPT, that is true. Unfortunately, from the recent qualifier attendance, that does not seem to be the case.

People have been attending qualifiers for two months since the checks were not handed out in Reno. That right there tells you a lot about the players attending the qualifiers..

A. They choose not to seek out information about what's going on with the IPT

or

B. They are just desperate.

Russ

 

[Island Drive]

I've been traveling since yesterday and am now in China. Just opened this thread. Why am I not surprised? He came in with a bang, and will go out with a whimper.

Some people remain in denial. My prediction for about the 20th time. No more IPT, no money! Once again, this does not make me happy, but also does not surprise me.

Looks like the Ether was the only one who scored in Reno at this point, by the way Jay, can you bet on the matches?

 

[jimmyg]

Why am I not surprised? He came in with a bang, and will go out with a whimper.

He's not going out so fast, not until he is shown the door.

KT will stick around until he plucks every dollar from the pool community that he can. he will continue to sell qualifiers to nowhere, sell club memberships and whatever else he can come up with until the money dries up or the law steps in to stop him.

Unless the room owners stop hosting his qualifiers, and everyone else cancels their club membership, he'll be there collecting every dime he can.

Jim

 

[jjinfla]

Yes, if the players ever choose to inform themselves of what is going on with the IPT, that is true. Unfortunately, from the recent qualifier attendance, that does not seem to be the case.

People have been attending qualifiers for two months since the checks were not handed out in Reno. That right there tells you a lot about the players attending the qualifiers..

A. They choose not to seek out information about what's going on with the IPT

or

B. They are just desperate.

Russ

Then they may have sent in their payment for these qualifiers a couple months ago and were not able to cancel.

I am just giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are not that stupid to keep signing up for qualifiers (to what) at this late date.

Jake

 

[Kerry Impson]

I am not sure the last time I saw a result of a tournament in a news paper. I was told by one sports editor he never recalled even getting a result from a professional pool tournament on the wire, if he did he probably would have printed it.

I think the reporter means the AP wire, which does not consider pool a sport. So even when the pool organizations alert the media (and they do), the AP will not send out results of pool tournaments.

 

[macguy]

I think the reporter means the AP wire, which does not consider pool a sport. So even when the pool organizations alert the media (and they do), the AP will not send out results of pool tournaments.

There is a way around everything, I would not accept no as an answer. It has always been my experience there is always someone with the power to say yes, you just have to move up the chain to the real decision and policy makers. I never even looked into it but this doesn't even seem to be tough considering all the other things that get coverage. I have put on a few tournaments and one I did I had coverage from all three of the local channels. One channel it turned out had a weather forecaster who was an avid pool player and he did a live remote from the pool room.

No body ever knocks on your door, you have to make things happen. What's funny is a big tournament was held the previous week, that's why I planned my tournament to piggy back off the other tournament because the players were in town. I was packed every night and the other tournament didn't draw flies.

Richie Ambrose who put on the other tournament couldn't believe it. I had people being bused in from a local retirement Village, I gave them a discount rate for admissions. long story short, you have to make it happen. I don't buy you can't get pool stories in the wire.

 

[ironman]

There is a way around everything, I would not accept no as an answer. It has always been my experience there is always someone with the power to say yes, you just have to move up the chain to the real decision and policy makers. I never even looked into it but this doesn't even seem to be tough considering all the other things that get coverage. I have put on a few tournaments and one I did I had coverage from all three of the local channels. One channel it turned out had a weather forecaster who was an avid pool player and he did a live remote from the pool room.

No body ever knocks on your door, you have to make things happen. What's funny is a big tournament was held the previous week, that's why I planned my tournament to piggy back off the other tournament because the players were in town. I was packed every night and the other tournament didn't draw flies.

Richie Ambrose who put on the other tournament couldn't believe it. I had people being bused in from a local retirement Village, I gave them a discount rate for admissions. long story short, you have to make it happen. I don't buy you can't get pool stories in the wire.

It could very well depend on whre you are.

 

[av84fun]

The One and Timberly...I stand corrected. I hadn't counted up the number of qualifiers and participants. I thought that attendance was WAY lower than that.

Regards,
Jim

 

[TheOne]

The One and Timberly...I stand corrected. I hadn't counted up the number of qualifiers and participants. I thought that attendance was WAY lower than that.

Regards,
Jim

No worries, I think his next announcement will be VERY interesting...

 

[ironman]

No worries, I think his next announcement will be VERY interesting...

Maybe, but I'll bet another big line of Bull$$it. It's all he knows.

 

[Nostroke]

Maybe, but I'll bet another big line of Bull$$it. It's all he knows.

Ive seen a couple of posts that say another KT announcement is coming Monday- Where is that coming from?

 

[Johnnyt]

I can't believe the hotel doesn't know the tournament is...ummm post canceled. You would think one of the empoyees reads AZBILLIARD. Johnnyt

 

[islandboz]

I know your position. Mine is the same, won't commit to travel any IPT tournaments untill the confirmation is in. It is "outrageously rude" the lack of information forthcoming from the IPT.

 

[cuetique]

I can't believe the hotel doesn't know the tournament is...ummm post canceled. You would think one of the empoyees reads AZBILLIARD. Johnnyt

I'm certain a venue like Rosemont won't take any action until they have official word from the client. I'm sure they have a decent deposit, and it's no skin off their noses if the cancellation occurs. KT and company certainly aren't going to cancel with Rosemont until the morning they announce the cancellation to players officially. Telling Rosemont now would telegraph the IPT's imminent failure at a speed they aren't willing to deal with yet.

 

[Blue_chalk]

I'm wondering...it is rumored that the main event in Chicago has been canceled. I had heard they were trying to add the qualifier on to the end of that event. What if they were unable to do that? Is there a chance that the main Chicago tournament is postponed BUT they still hold the card qualifier?

 

[Roadie]

There is a way around everything, I would not accept no as an answer. It has always been my experience there is always someone with the power to say yes, you just have to move up the chain to the real decision and policy makers. I never even looked into it but this doesn't even seem to be tough considering all the other things that get coverage. I have put on a few tournaments and one I did I had coverage from all three of the local channels. One channel it turned out had a weather forecaster who was an avid pool player and he did a live remote from the pool room.

No body ever knocks on your door, you have to make things happen. What's funny is a big tournament was held the previous week, that's why I planned my tournament to piggy back off the other tournament because the players were in town. I was packed every night and the other tournament didn't draw flies.

Richie Ambrose who put on the other tournament couldn't believe it. I had people being bused in from a local retirement Village, I gave them a discount rate for admissions. long story short, you have to make it happen. I don't buy you can't get pool stories in the wire.

I agree with Macguy here. When you are selling something you often have to knock on hundreds or thousands of doors to get a few to open. And when they are open you have to be able to deliver on what you are selling. No one, and that means NO ONE is doing that level of promotion for the billiard industry. I have been going to poolrooms around this country for 25 years and only the VERY few of them actually promote the game and the sport of pool. Most of them exist as a recreation hall with no connection to larger world of the game. I have seen bars with two pool tables that proudly display their league trophies and Vegas trips and subscribe to all the pool magazines more than I have seen pool rooms try and introduce their customers to the sport.

By now you all probably know that I like billiards history. One of my favorite examples is of Syl Livingston. This man was a promoter who booked exhibitions for his stable of top players. He would go around the country selling the exhibitions and doing the promotion in each city and wire the players telling them where to be. He had packed houses in every venue. Why? Because he put in the legwork to get it done. He didn't rely on the local newspaper to advertise for free in a little blurb. He didn't pass out a couple flyers and hope they got put up. No. He was out selling the show enthusiastically, relentlessly, breathing life into them until they were able to live on their own.

In today's modern world, the art of personal connections is sometimes lost. Why can Kevin Trudeau sell the IPT dream? Because he himself gets up and pitches it with enthusiam and excitement. People want to believe, they want to be entertained, they want to be appreciated for their efforts. So, if he can do it then someone else can to. Someone, somewhere has to be able and willing to sell the greatness that billiards is and be willing to knock on a thousand doors to do it.

 

[justnum]

The focus is what can the players subject to IPT foul play do? Network news station exist waiting for events like this to unfold.

Someone might even break the story. Im having trouble getting the story straight but I know a few people who go on facts and ask the right people, journalists.

AZ postings are great about IPT stories. But its doesnt reach enough people. If there really is a story, "they" will find it.

EDIT: Billiards is great enough that it will attract people. Those who want to make money off it, thats a whole other class of entrepreneurs. That class has a world of its own problems to share.