wayne said:My point was it is very unlikely the fee is going to be lowered based on the interest to date. If they had a qualifier and only 10 people showed up then they would have to start to reconsider. As it stands now there are enough people willing to pay the entrance fee, and it is generating a lot of excitement, so it seems successful and when something is successful then KT is not going to change it.
The way a lot of players can get around paying the $2000 themselves is by winning their way in through a small entry fee tournament that pays for their spot. Here in L.A. they could hold these type of tournaments at a number of different poolhalls and could generate enough money to pay for a lot of entries. If I decide to give it a go I would try to do it through one of the lower entry tournaments.
Another option would be to match up with someone and win the entry fee that way. If you are going to be on this side of the world anytime soon I may give you this opportunity.
Wayne
I agree its a success, from a fans perspective, as Colin has already pointed out the IPT could possibly bring in more money by lowering the fee as more players may enter resulting in an overall gain. My impression is the venues that showed an interest in holding qualifiers, reclothing the tables etc and the limited time available to the IPT have placed restrictions on the format. I still see no reason why at the end of the year or for the two open events a venue can't be found that can accomodate a larger field with more spots availble and hopefully a lower fee. However my feeling is if there was 1 single event with more spots the fee would probably be acceptable by many.
I am not holding my breath or "waiting" for the fee to be lowered.
Jake there are many things that are "facts of like", the USA and Europe probably waste enough food everyday to feed half of Africa, it's probably never going to change but it doesn't stop people campaigning for change. I got two parking tickets this week, I didn't want to pay but at the end of the day I didn't have a choice if I want to drive my car!
PS
Wayne I didn;t think you would be paying the 2k yourself, however I will probably be going on a RTW trip at the end of the year as I'm working and not playing much at the moment. Depending on the format and fee I will play in the end of year IPT qualifiers after a few months limbering up (and playing a bit of pool haha!

