Here's an article published today in the Philippines:
Bata losing money by the day
"Show me the money."
This must be the question on the mind of pool sensation Efren “Bata” Reyes,
who won billiards’ richest prize in history—a cool $500,000 or roughly P25.27
million—for topping the International Pool Tour World Open 8-Ball
Championship last month in Reno, Nevada.
But 24 days after Reyes’ historic feat, he has yet to claim his prize.
Apparently, the picture showing the Filipino legend getting a bagful of cash
during the awards ceremony at the Grand Sierra Resort, was just for show.
Worse, the exchange rate during the time of Reyes’ triumph stood at P55.54
to a dollar and with the peso getting stronger by the day, the Magician has
already lost more than a quarter of a million pesos for the delay as his prize
winning now stands at P25 million.
Fifth placer Dennis Orcollo and seventh placer Django Bustamante, together
with nine other Filipino pool stars, who saw action in the $3-million
tournament, have yet to receive their prize money.
Founded by media mogul Kevin Trudeau, the IPT has yet to pay the players,
including the first-round losers, who were guaranteed $5,000 each.
Filipino cue artists are starting to be alarmed, and for good reason as
Internet inquiries to the IPT have gone unanswered, with the IPT Web site
going inactive.
But prior to the IPT Web site’s inactivity last Oct. 1, Trudeau issued his
apology to the players for the delay in the awarding of the checks.
“The delay has been unavoidable due to a multitude of factors most notably
the finalization of the IPT acquisition by Ho Interactive,” wrote Trudeau. “I
want to assure you that your checks will be issued very soon and
simultaneously we will be formally announcing the exciting merger/acquisition
with Ho Interactive,”
Ho Interactive is owned by Hong Kong casino mogul Stanley Ho.
Reyes, in a radio interview, confirmed that he has yet to get his winnings
from IPT. The Magician, who crushed American Rodney Morris in the finals, 8-
6, is still waiting for the money promised him by Trudeau.
Surprisingly, Reyes said he isn’t worried. After all, he got his prize money of
$200,000 from the IPT for winning the King of the Hill finals in December 2005.
Source:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=sports3_oct4_2006