To Quit or Not to Quit???
This is a super tough call IMO. Their is no question that the money on offer is great, exceptional, far exceeding what pool has seen before. BUT unless you are already a full time pool player you need to consider your options carefully. If you are considering giving up a succesful career/well paid job to join the IPT you should be extra careful. For example lets look at the guys who won through two rounds. I won't mention names but one Brit in particular did exceptionally well. I think he flew to America on a couple of occassions and paid $1000 entry to qualify. He then beat some great champions and breezed through two groups before being edged out in the 3rd round, still an excellent result to finish in the top 60.
However lets look at the numbers, after tax he probably recieved about 7k (not sure?) out of this he had to pay $2k in entries and 3 trips to the states, including the week long stay in Vegas.
OK, not great money but what about next year? Next year we are assured every player will recieve 100k, about 70k after tax. If you are good enough to make it through the Dec qualifiers (about 3k) you will be playing in 11 tournaments around the year, and also of course having to support yourself financially in the times you are not playing which wont leave much change at all.
The good news is, finally their IS a chance to play pool for a living and earna decent salary. For example and IT contractor can expect to take home at least 70k NET, a fairly decent living. But of course this is dull as dishwater and doesn't offer nothing like the glamour of the IPT and the chance to follow your dream and play pool for a living, not to mention the chance to win an event and make a fortune! It all depends on what you are doing NOW...
...If you are already a full time player, then your prayers have been answered, you have nothing to lose, sell your house (if you have one!), pimp your women, whatever it takes to get your qualifier entry together.
...If you are working in a dead end job and your manager is a dickhead, throw a glass of cke over his head in rush hour and tell him to stick his job up his ass! Although maybe best to wait until closer to December so you can save some cash for the entries, otherwise pimp your women, and sell your house (you just might have one!)
...If you have a career that you have already invested significant time in and is say worth 70k a year, about $3m+ over a lifetime then its still a tough choice. If the IPT only survives a few years you may find it difficult to find a job and might have thrown away a career (and a lot of cash!). If the IPT survives long term and you are good enough to stay on it then remortgage your house (you've prob got one), dump your expensive wife (it won't last anyway, they'll be plenty of women on tour lol!)
