IPT Presents...

In all due respect K.T. did pay everyone.Would I ever give him a dime?Probably not.Do I like the site and all the free video's?Hell ya!
Do I trust the guy as far as I could throw him?NO.Did I think at the time that the I.P.T. was the best thing to ever happen to pool?HELL YA!!!!
So I do give K.T. some respect for never giving up on pool.
 
Blackjack said:
I signed up on the website for free and I am able to watch plenty of matches.

I watched the Sigel - Schmidt match the other day, it was very well done - and Grady was awesome as always.

I haven't always agreed with the IPT. In fact, I was probably the most vocal opponent of what they were trying to do because I knew it couldn't last for very long, and in the end it didn't.

However, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the challenge matches they have produced - and I believe they are headed in the right direction with their production, display, and promotion of pool.

They have a lot to overcome - a lot of trust issues with players and fans. I do believe (from what Mike Sigel has shared with me) that they are better financed today than they were back in 2005-2006. Kevin Trudeau is still there and still creating paydays for pool players despite everything that has been said and written about him.

I am more likely to give this thing a chance to grow - and I believe that KT and Co. is planning on taking these challenge matches to the next level in the not too distant future. When that happens, be sure that I will look at it again very closely. For now I will enjoy the matches and support the players that are playing in them.
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I agree, he does have a troubled past but it does appear to me that he is doing this the right way. He has put a lot of money in the pockets of pool players. There are some great matches on the ipt site and I thoroughly enjoyed Sigel vs Schmidt. Sigel said after the match that he is considering going back on the tournament trail and I hope he does.
 
Craig Fales said:
I downloaded all of them to Realplayer and can now watch in full screen and with good quality...
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Anyone know of way to download these and use Quicktime (Mac)?
 
looks like the IPT have seen this thread and corrected the error - basic members can now no longer watch the premium videos. :(
 
PKM said:
Maybe I'm blocking them, but I don't see ads anywhere. I assume IPT wants people to buy subscriptions. I will watch these matches guilt-free.
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They do want to sell subscriptions, but they also are selling ad space. The KT skyscraper ad on the right side of the page is their placeholder, but they also run ads for Diamond, Sardo, The Hopkins Shootout thing and Jim LaFavre's Aiming System among others.

They sell ads on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis, so every time an ad is displayed, KT and company are getting paid regardless of whether or not you click the ad. In addition, the ads that are run on their broadcasts are sold based on the number of historical viewers the events get. So if the IPT can say that 30,000 people watched the Reyes v Murphy match, they can then go to potential advertisers and say something along the lines of "you can get your brand in front of 30,000 viewers, just like XYZ corp did at last month's event!"

For me, there's better places to watch pool. Places where I don't feel like I need to bathe in Borax after I'm done to wash off the slime and shame that comes with supporting KT.
 
poolsnark said:
...So if the IPT can say that 30,000 people watched the Reyes v Murphy match, they can then go to potential advertisers and say something along the lines of "you can get your brand in front of 30,000 viewers, just like XYZ corp did at last month's event!"....
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Thanks for the great information about ads on websites. I did not know how it worked, but I do now a little bit.

One thing I reluctantly will say, though, is that there is no way in God's green earth that any pool video will receive 30,000 viewers.

I would venture to guess that the Reyes vs. Murphy match didn't get 300 viewers.

Hits on a website, I guess equates to different things than actual viewers of a video broadcast.

It's kind of like a tournamennt update thread on this forum. It may have only 40 people that read it, but they might click on that thread 50 or 60 times EACH to read the LATEST. In sum, though, it's 40 people, not 40 times 60 people. :o

So 40 times 60, as one example, is 2,400 hits. That is 2,400 hits, but only 40 people in total seeing the ads on the website at any given time.

JAM
 
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Do you

know how cheap those ads are. I doubt that KT is making more than $200 a month off of the ads, which probably doesn't even pay his webmaster or the electric bill. Indicating that he is getting rich off the ads is a complete misnomer.

The fact that he is making good, and not giving up on Pool does deserve a little credit. If he comes back with a scaled down workable plan for the IPT, it will still be good for the sport.
 
alstl said:
I agree, he does have a troubled past but it does appear to me that he is doing this the right way. He has put a lot of money in the pockets of pool players. There are some great matches on the ipt site and I thoroughly enjoyed Sigel vs Schmidt. Sigel said after the match that he is considering going back on the tournament trail and I hope he does.
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That's somewhat deceiving.

I don't remember the actual numbers any longer, but there was only a handful of players that were paid anything above $5K, and that's not even considering their expenses. Compare that to the hundreds, maybe thousands, of players that left good jobs, borrowed money, or paid to travel from other countries, only to realize that they followed a false dream. They'll never get that time, money and hope back.

All in all, IMO, it was just another beat.

Jim
 
worriedbeef said:
looks like the IPT have seen this thread and corrected the error - basic members can now no longer watch the premium videos. :(
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Yeah, I couldn't view those either. There's the one Boyes vs. Robles match that I could watch, but I tried downloading it in Real Player like Craig said he did, and it told me that the feature is disabled for that site. So maybe they "fixed" that too.

The main reason I wanted to download was to get the full-screen viewing. With all the other pool available out there that I don't have time to watch, I'm not going to bother with the IPT when I'm only allowed a 3"x6" video on a 24" monitor. LOL.

And even if they had a product that I just HAD to have, I'm certainly not giving my credit card info to them based on the "billing errors" known to be associated with KT's companies.
 
Snapshot9 said:
know how cheap those ads are. I doubt that KT is making more than $200 a month off of the ads, which probably doesn't even pay his webmaster or the electric bill. Indicating that he is getting rich off the ads is a complete misnomer.QUOTE]

Bingo. Baby ain't getting new shoes off this...
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worriedbeef said:
looks like the IPT have seen this thread and corrected the error - basic members can now no longer watch the premium videos. :(
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Oh snap! So is it just the two videos under featured links that are viewable now? Guess I better whip out the credit card (or not!)
 
JAM said:
I understand the mixed feelings about the IPT, all things considered.

That said, the recent challenge matches, those players are getting paid. I don't know where the monies are coming from, but it may come from the sales of the IPT website products. I'm not sure.

Maybe the IPT is looking for hits on their website, but believe me, they ain't getting rich off of this pool world in the year 2008. There ain't enough of us to hit it, sad to say. :frown:

In the end, I support anything that promotes pool. I understand why some folks do not want to support the IPT, but I still see some benefit to the IPT's existence. Ask each one of the IPT challenge players who competed in recent times what they think about the IPT. It may be quite different than what the general pool public thinks.

So should the IPT just wither away and die? Should it continue to grow at a pace that may be beneficial to players for future events?

I guess we all have our opinions. I just wanted to contribute a little food for thought. :smile:

JAM
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Well said, JAM. I believe that the IPT's next business model hinges on getting numbers to present to potential sponsors to back the next scaled-down tour. If we can support the free webcasts in large enough numbers, then it shows corporate America that there is a sufficient interest in pool to fork over dollars to sponsor a new tour.
 
rackmsuckr said:
Well said, JAM. I believe that the IPT's next business model hinges on getting numbers to present to potential sponsors to back the next scaled-down tour.
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What, may I ask, leads you to believe this?

[Note: serious question. I'm not just being a wiseguy, like usual]
 
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