IPT Meltdown

[tedkaufman]

Ted, your point is well taken. It is one thing to try and fail, and another thing to lie and fail. And still another thing to invite multitudes of players from all other the planet to come (at great expense) to this big party in Reno......and then stiff them. That will never sit well with me.

If he paid these guys off and quit, I would applaud his efforts. This includes ALL money owed.

Jay, I can understand that since you are owed money by the IPT, you feel personally cheated. Also, since you didn't get to experience the IPT's grand stage, you wouldn't even have that memory to console you. Basically, you made an investment that apparently failed. Were I in your shoes, I'd be equally unhappy.

But to claim the IPT is a scam, or to suggest that KT did this with malicious intent, I believe is wrong. I honestly believe he believed he could make the IPT into something extraordinary. If he has failed, I venture to say your loses pale in comparison to his, both monetarily and personally.

Finally, I cannot understand those who pile on to kick him. I've been playing pool for 40 years, and I've never seen such an infusion of excitement and hope as the IPT has brought. If it all goes up in smoke, it will be a sad thing. Nonetheless, KT has made a mark. If he fails, perhaps someone else will come along with more money and a better plan. I feel, even in failure (and we don't know for sure yet if the IPT has failed), KT has introduced a concept that others may build upon.

 

[rossaroni]

The fact that Trudeau did actually "show the money" (literally and figuratively) is still something that no other promoter has done on that scale. It is pretty much indisputable that he paid out far more in prizes and spent more on production than anyone else to date. It is still a huge milestone that so many players competed for "tour cards" and continue to compete for a chance at a "tour card" despite the speculated evaporation of the money. I agree that players will follow the money. It was widely held on this board that no one would pay $1000/$1500/$2000 to play in qualifiers and I think this has been disproven, albeit not as convincingly as perhaps Trudeau had hoped for.


I think most of the people playing in the qualifiers now are people who won free qualifiers in the past. It would be interesting if someone could find out the number of people actually paying the $2000 to play in these qualifiers. The people I know who are still playing in qualifiers are definately not paying the $2000 over and over for their chance at the IPT.

 

[rossaroni]

The fact is, the IPT was not a scam. How could it be a scam if it paid out an order of magnitude more than it took in? Certainly some players may suffer loses of expense money if in the end no further money comes from the IPT. But what a grand ride! How many of the IPT practitioners would you say gambled away far more and had a lot less fun? Imagine playing on a world stage, pampered as never before ... some scam, I'd say.

I'm sure there are plenty of IPT card holders who are not going to come out ahead if they never get paid. However, everyone of the qualifiers who played in Reno are going to take a big hit. You have to remember that they paid there qualifying money for a chance to play in one tournament. If they never get paid from that tournament, then they are stuck their qualifier money, plus all expenses to get out to and stay in Reno for a week. Sounds like a grand ride to me! I wish everyone gets paid and the IPT is the greatest thing to ever happen in the history of sports. I don't want to bash anything without the end result, but I think the IPT has made enough mistakes(if you want to call them that) for people to have a right to doubt its greatest.

P.S. There is a 800 number that you can call KT to buy his foundtain of youth miracle product I saw him selling on T.V. Maybe there is an extension to talk to him about the IPT.

 

[Nick B]

I'm sure you'll get right through to him.

P.S. There is a 800 number that you can call KT to buy his foundtain of youth miracle product I saw him selling on T.V. Maybe there is an extension to talk to him about the IPT.

That's funny. I'm sure you'll get right through to him.

Hello Whte House.....yes I would like to speak to GW....oh he's busy how about the First Lady? Ohhhhh she's making out with Ted Kennedy...I see...can I leave a message?

I suspect you'll be talking to a phone operator in Bangalore, India. Not his offices in California.

 

[Jimk]

Jay, I can understand that since you are owed money by the IPT, you feel personally cheated. Also, since you didn't get to experience the IPT's grand stage, you wouldn't even have that memory to console you. Basically, you made an investment that apparently failed. Were I in your shoes, I'd be equally unhappy.

But to claim the IPT is a scam, or to suggest that KT did this with malicious intent, I believe is wrong. I honestly believe he believed he could make the IPT into something extraordinary. If he has failed, I venture to say your loses pale in comparison to his, both monetarily and personally.

Finally, I cannot understand those who pile on to kick him. I've been playing pool for 40 years, and I've never seen such an infusion of excitement and hope as the IPT has brought. If it all goes up in smoke, it will be a sad thing. Nonetheless, KT has made a mark. If he fails, perhaps someone else will come along with more money and a better plan. I feel, even in failure (and we don't know for sure yet if the IPT has failed), KT has introduced a concept that others may build upon.

KT's intent doesn't matter. His actions are speaking so loudly, I can't hear a word he is saying.

 

[PoolSharkAllen]

I will say this, if the IPT fails at this point, credit goes to KT. At least he got up and swung the bat. If he struck out, so be it. But at least he was grand in failure. That's a damn sight better in my view than the glorious sideline critic.

There is certainly no shame in KT's attempt to make the IPT a success. His not paying the players and not keeping them informed about the IPT's financial problems is shameless exploitation on KT's part.