IPT News Alert (from Billiards Digest)

9 Ball Girl

9 Ball Girl

aka Wendy
Silver Member
IPT News Alert: The Party's (Probably) Over Until 2007

In a short press release sent early Monday evening, officials with the multimillion-dollar International Pool Tour announced that they were postponing the three remaining events in the 2006 season — marking the latest scheduling upheaval in the troubled tour's debut season.

The events in question are the $1.27 million IPT Masters 8-Ball Championship, set for Nov. 26-Dec. 3 in Chicago, Ill.; and the $1 million King of the Hill Invitational and 2007 Tour Qualifier, both set for Dec. 12-17 in Las Vegas. The events likely would be postponed until February or March of 2007, and both likely would take place in Chicago, the release stated.

The announcement came as the 200 players from the IPT's World 8-Ball Open Championship spent their seventh week waiting for $3 million in prize money from the event, which took place Sept. 2-10. The following event, the IPT's $1.27 million Players 8-Ball Championship, set for Oct. 22-29 in London, was cancelled in early September.

The tour's pending acquisition by Asian billionaire Stanley Ho was among the reasons for postponing the season's remaining events, according to the release. Details were not provided.

Billiards Digest will have more news as it becomes available. Here's the full text of the announcement:

The International Pool Tour's Masters Championship, King of the Hill and Tour Card Tournaments are officially being rescheduled. These schedule changes are due to many factors, many relating to the Ho Interactive acquisition and financing schedule being pushed back due to recent legislation signed into law relating to online gaming. New dates for these events will be published in the coming days as the IPT event team is in contact with each of the venues. Tentatively, the IPT is targeting February and March for these tournaments and they will most likely be held in Chicago.

The IPT offers its sincerest apologies for those players and fans who have already made travel arrangements to attend these events. Players who have played in qualification tournaments and won qualifying spots in the 2007 Tour Card Tournament will be contacted shortly with the new dates. Again, the IPT apologizes for the inconvenience. Due to the fact that the IPT Masters Championship needs to be played in order to complete the field for the Tour Card Tournament, it was impossible to keep this event scheduled as-is.

Please note that these events are not cancelled, but rather in the process of being rescheduled. The moment that new dates are secured, there will be an announcement made. It is expected that within a couple of days new dates will be secured for each of these events. The Masters Championship will still be considered a 2006 event, thus prize earnings in that tournament will be reflected on the Money List for 2006.
 
PoolBum said:
I must say I'm completely shocked. I just never saw this coming.
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Yeah, after "pop the champagne" and "see you in Chicago", I thought we were outta the woods....
 
Beckyzilla

This is my first time to post here and I'm only doing it now because I am so disgusted with the IPT. I have been reading the IPT forum for awhile and like others, have had hope. Several members of the IPT are friends, or sons of friends, and we have had hopes, too. We attended the KOTH in Orlando in December (we live in Florida) and the Vegas tourney. We also have airlines reservations for the Chicago tourney. Now, of course, it's been 'postponed' but our tickets cannot be 'postponed' without additional cost. The email from the IPT offered sincerest apologies to those who have made arrangements to attend the Chicago tourney. Their apology won't pay for our tickets, however, or for the players who already have made their travel arrangements. It's a sad thing - especially for the players but also for the fans who have spent money to attend these tourneys. It seems that ALMOST everyone who posts here has been expecting this to happen, as we did, but our reservations for Chicago were made right after the Vegas tourney with the expectation that all would go as KT had said it would. The disappointment is extreme that Reno payments have not been made and the Chicago tourney is 'postponed'. Yeah, right! We wish the best for all the players.
 
What were the odds...

If there is an office pool started for the new dates of the rescheduled events, put me down for the 12th of Never...
 
Me, Hugo Chavez, W, and John Smith are also pending the acquisition of the IPT. But I do not see how that should interfere with its current operations.

This does not change anything the business is doing, it changes ownership.

KT bashing is so boring after he makes it so obvious what he is.
 
Beckyzilla said:
This is my first time to post here and I'm only doing it now because I am so disgusted with the IPT. I have been reading the IPT forum for awhile and like others, have had hope. Several members of the IPT are friends, or sons of friends, and we have had hopes, too. We attended the KOTH in Orlando in December (we live in Florida) and the Vegas tourney. We also have airlines reservations for the Chicago tourney. Now, of course, it's been 'postponed' but our tickets cannot be 'postponed' without additional cost. The email from the IPT offered sincerest apologies to those who have made arrangements to attend the Chicago tourney. Their apology won't pay for our tickets, however, or for the players who already have made their travel arrangements. It's a sad thing - especially for the players but also for the fans who have spent money to attend these tourneys. It seems that ALMOST everyone who posts here has been expecting this to happen, as we did, but our reservations for Chicago were made right after the Vegas tourney with the expectation that all would go as KT had said it would. The disappointment is extreme that Reno payments have not been made and the Chicago tourney is 'postponed'. Yeah, right! We wish the best for all the players.
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Sorry this happened to you. I wish there was somebody "to see about it", but I'm afraid there is not.
 
Str8PoolMan said:
If there is an office pool started for the new dates of the rescheduled events, put me down for the 12th of Never...
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I think dates will be stated.

The chances of them becoming reality appear to be as good as my date with Angelina Jollie:rolleyes:
 
justnum said:
Me, Hugo Chavez, W, and John Smith are also pending the acquisition of the IPT. But I do not see how that should interfere with its current operations.

This does not change anything the business is doing, it changes ownership.

KT bashing is so boring after he makes it so obvious what he is.
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Don't mention Hugo Chavez. People may complain to the moderators. :D
 
Thank you for your kind words, Ironman. My greatest hope is for all these players to be be paid the promised money that they have earned, but I am not holding my breath - that is NOT a good shade of blue.
 
Juan Valdez just called he said hell trade coffee beans for the rights to the IPT name.

Didnt a few people win the class action suit for false advertising on light cigarettes. I think they filed back about 10 years ago (I dont know exactly).

I would file against IPT if I was a qualifier, host room, guaranteed payout player.

The clocks ticking and Im not sure what KT is doing to make that wait gentler. But I know a few people want to do something and know they can.

Will they?
 
Beckyzilla said:
Thank you for your kind words, Ironman. My greatest hope is for all these players to be be paid the promised money that they have earned, but I am not holding my breath - that is NOT a good shade of blue.
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We all do. It ain't looking good at all.

The IPT shows little respect for it's players or supporters.

I have a feeling that this is going to be an intresting week.
 
Beckyzilla said:
This is my first time to post here and I'm only doing it now because I am so disgusted with the IPT. I have been reading the IPT forum for awhile and like others, have had hope. Several members of the IPT are friends, or sons of friends, and we have had hopes, too. We attended the KOTH in Orlando in December (we live in Florida) and the Vegas tourney. We also have airlines reservations for the Chicago tourney. Now, of course, it's been 'postponed' but our tickets cannot be 'postponed' without additional cost. The email from the IPT offered sincerest apologies to those who have made arrangements to attend the Chicago tourney. Their apology won't pay for our tickets, however, or for the players who already have made their travel arrangements. It's a sad thing - especially for the players but also for the fans who have spent money to attend these tourneys. It seems that ALMOST everyone who posts here has been expecting this to happen, as we did, but our reservations for Chicago were made right after the Vegas tourney with the expectation that all would go as KT had said it would. The disappointment is extreme that Reno payments have not been made and the Chicago tourney is 'postponed'. Yeah, right! We wish the best for all the players.
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry this happened to you folks. Maybe you can change it to Feb. when the dates come out?
 
Thank you, Linda, but it's all the players who deserve the sympathy. Sure, we may still make it but.......will there be a tournament to attend? That is one of the 2 big questions. The other is....will the players be paid? We wish the best for all.

Becky
 
rackmsuckr said:
I'm so sorry this happened to you folks. Maybe you can change it to Feb. when the dates come out?
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Just a tip for travelers in general. 99% of the time you are better off booking about 30 days in advance. The difference in airfare between 90 days and 30 days is usually negligible and just as likely to be higher than lower.
 
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