IPT - Are you Black, White or GREY?

[Timberly]

Timberly,

Since the IPT will be having their tournaments some distance from central Florida, and I just don't feel like traveling that far, you are right in that it will adversely affect me. Right now I have it nice in that I can go and watch a lot of the pros play near me at various tournaments, and do it for free. But it would be selfish of me to want the IPT to fold just so I can watch them play.
You make it sound as if there can only be one or the other & not both...why would you think that??

The Florida Tour may have a serious conflict with the IPT in that they have a lot of IPT players who play on that tour. I believe that as long as there is not a direct scheduling conflict the players will still play on the FPT. But who knows?
Yes, there are a lot of FPT players on the IPT but think about it.... There's 52 weeks in a year.... 6 scheduled IPT events... that leaves 46 wkends that the FPT and others can choose from.

I suspect that the local tours will just have to modify themselves and become actual amateur tours and just do without the pros.
At this point in time the pros have 46 wkends off....why wouldn't they play in these events??? It's extra cash & it helps keep them in stroke

I can see the IPT being run as not a whole year tour but just so many stops that are completed by June and the season would be over. Just like basketball, football, baseball, etc. I got that idea from some comments that Mike Sigel made when he was at Capones. But then the IPT might be holding qualifiers for the last 6 months of the year.
The only thing Mike does better than talking about himself & how great he is, is start rumors. This one isn't far fetched & if it does end up being true....the players are still going to have free wkends...

If the IPT does really take off in 2007, and that is still a big if in my mind, then I can see that the top say 100, or maybe even all IPT players would be restricted from participating in any other tour without receiving a fee, like $10K. Of course that would effectively bar them from participating in a tour because no tour could afford it. That is not far fetched and I do believe the WPBA has a similar clause with their players.

KT has made it blatantly clear that IPT players will be allowed to play in any all other tournaments.... if that ends up not being the case....that'll just be yet another thing they said but yet did differently.

 

[PoolSleuth]

I voted GRAY, as the ITP is not Perfect, but what is...

 

[jjinfla]

Timberly,

Better check the 2007 IPT schedule. They list 11 tournaments. All TBA.
If, in fact, they want to end their season by June then that would be two tournaments a month.

Each tournament lasts 7-10 days I believe.

Of course players who are eliminated in early rounds might then leave and go play in other tournaments. But these would not be the top name players. At least I would not think so.

Then, KT might say to the top players that if you want to remain in the IPT you will be at the tournament for the entire week like he did for the KOTH.

That would actually be smart marketing of a product. You limit its availability and then it is in more demand. At which time KT can demand a greater price for an appearance.

Say a Saudi prince wants to be entertained. KT boards his plane with a dozen or so of his IPT players and they go there and put on a tournament and each gets 50K for a couple days work.

Do you think the players would turn that deal down and fight it out at a tournament where they might win $4,000?

The possibilities are really endless for the players.

Jake

 

[vader93490]

I voted black on this poll. I feel that there is no need for me to explain why as I've already made my feelings known about the IPT previously.

If memory serves, Kevin Trudeau said he was committed to the IPT for at least two years in the Q&A section on his website. Keeping that in mind, if any of the rumors currently circulating around are true that Kevin Trudeau is indeed going to sell the IPT to someone else, it will only underscore the fact yet again that the man truly can not be trusted whatsoever & that he is still a complete liar & a fast-talking criminal con man.

Not every high-caliber player is on the IPT & not all high-caliber players want to be involved with the IPT. I don't know why that's so hard for some folks to comprehend or understand, perhaps they can't or simply won't accept it but it's the truth.

There's no reason why the other satellite tours or other large events should be put out or otherwise forced out of existence. Those tours & events feature many players that play good pool even though they are not necessarily household names. Also the satellite tour events, whether they are "open", "amateur" etc., are an opportunity for those aspiring players out there who want to try to test themselves against potentially better players. It also affords spectators & fans an opportunity to possibly see a great player live instead of just getting a fleeting glimpse of that person on a television broadcast, more often than not at no charge. For someone to call for the end of that opportunity just smacks of complete, utter ignorance & is at the same time completely moronic.

Yes, I would like to see bigger prize funds in pool & see both the higher-caliber ability men & women be able to make a decent living playing pool. However at the same time, I feel & know in my heart that Kevin Trudeau with his very checkered background & his IPT & Natural Cures powers-that-be lackeys are not the answer to making pool a more accepted sport in the general public's eye.

As an aside, I will say that I was slightly amused when I heard that the IPT website is setting up a message forum. If that's the case, then so much for that statement of not having time to read what the folks who don't have two nickels to rub together have to say about his IPT operation that sometimes choose to express themselves in message forums.

 

[Str8PoolMan]

What I would really love to know is what Mike did to fall into such a sweetheart deal?

Jake

It's called "cronyism".