My take on the IPT

[jay helfert]

All is not wonderful in IPT land!

They failed to pay me $5,500 owed for Cliff's magnifcent performance in Boston six weeks ago. I have heard one excuse after another for this non payment. Bottom line, no money!

As for the expanded Qualifier schedule, I view this as strictly a way to produce revenue for the IPT, a money stream if you will. It has worked fairly well so far, to the tune of 600K plus. With 100 more qualifiers on tap this year, they could easily pay for all the prize money to be paid (if it is paid).

I think KT and the IPT is in a cost cutting or cutting their losses mode right now. The whole TV deal may not be working and he needs to find ways to get a return on money spent. What better way than extracting all the money he can from the pool community.

I for one do not believe KT has quite the deep pockets he would lead you to believe. He may be wealthy, but not wealthy enough to throw good money after bad. He can afford to make a big splash and claim to be a billionaire. He is not the first one known to use such tactics.

I would not recommend to anyone (poolplayer or backer) to get involved with this new qualifier scheme. All this talk of how big the tour will be in 2007, and after, does not impress me. I want to see what happens this year first. One tournament with 43 players did not convince me, especially after they got over half the prize money back from the first five qualifiers.

KT has NO contract with anyone! He can pull the plug at anytime! There is NO guarantee of anything! If they are refusing to pay me a mere $5,500, what does that say about the present state of the IPT.

Yes, I am blowing the whistle on them. It's about time somebody did.

 

[cueball1950]

Tap Tap Tap..................mike

 

[macguy]

All is not wonderful in IPT land!

They failed to pay me $5,500 owed for Cliff's magnifcent performance in Boston six weeks ago. I have heard one excuse after another for this non payment. Bottom line, no money!

As for the expanded Qualifier schedule, I view this as strictly a way to produce revenue for the IPT, a money stream if you will. It has worked fairly well so far, to the tune of 600K plus. With 100 more qualifiers on tap this year, they could easily pay for all the prize money to be paid (if it is paid).

I think KT and the IPT is in a cost cutting or cutting their losses mode right now. The whole TV deal may not be working and he needs to find ways to get a return on money spent. What better way than extracting all the money he can from the pool community.

I for one do not believe KT has quite the deep pockets he would lead you to believe. He may be wealthy, but not wealthy enough to throw good money after bad. He can afford to make a big splash and claim to be a billionaire. He is not the first one known to use such tactics.

I would not recommend to anyone (poolplayer or backer) to get involved with this new qualifier scheme. All this talk of how big the tour will be in 2007, and after, does not impress me. I want to see what happens this year first. One tournament with 43 players did not convince me, especially after they got over half the prize money back from the first five qualifiers.

KT has NO contract with anyone! He can pull the plug at anytime! There is NO guarantee of anything! If they are refusing to pay me a mere $5,500, what does that say about the present state of the IPT.

Yes, I am blowing the whistle on them. It's about time somebody did.

KT it seems may be trying to put the IPT on some kind of self supporting bases with his latest almost pyramid plan. I didn't want to say anything quite yet but I will post something in the next few weeks that may show KT probably can't fund the IPT, in fact he may be pulling a Michael Jackson, living a life that is little more then an illusion, funded by money that comes in and goes out just as quickly, along with the creative juggling of debt. The Naturel cures book is over with and hasn't been making any money in a while. He has all but quit advertising it with the informicials, I would suspect due to the cost and actual book store sales are practically non-existent.

Don't be fooled by the NY Times list, it doesn't take that many book sales to make that list in a single category. It does though take a huge amount of books to cover the cost of a million dollars a month plus informicial campaign far more then the book has been making. The book that once was at No. 2 in overall sales ahead of books like Harry Potter now is at 115 down from 103 last week and falling. Once he was no longer able to make the cure claims with the book, it was over. No one is buying a book that is being sold as an insiders exposure of the medical and pharmacy industry, even if true. They can see that any week on 60 minutes they don't need to buy a book, so the book has run it's course, it's done. If that was to be what was going to fund the IPT then it may be over as well, unless he comes up with some sponsors.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Hey Jay. I actually had a conversation with someone last night who played in all of the qualifiers except for one and, based on your post in the other thread, it sounds like he was on the money with his assessment. He made the observation that, before each qualifier (where bonuses were available), KT would stand up and say something along the lines of, "'I'm' going to be giving x number of dollars for y" (when describing the bonuses), rather than saying "'The IPT' will pay you x number of dollars for y". It sounds like that is exactly what they're pulling on you by saying this money is a "gift from KT" and not prize money from the IPT. I'm sorry to see that this had to happen to one of the good guys in the pool community.

All is not wonderful in IPT land!

They failed to pay me $5,500 owed for Cliff's magnifcent performance in Boston six weeks ago. I have heard one excuse after another for this non payment. Bottom line, no money!

As for the expanded Qualifier schedule, I view this as strictly a way to produce revenue for the IPT, a money stream if you will. It has worked fairly well so far, to the tune of 600K plus. With 100 more qualifiers on tap this year, they could easily pay for all the prize money to be paid (if it is paid).

I think KT and the IPT is in a cost cutting or cutting their losses mode right now. The whole TV deal may not be working and he needs to find ways to get a return on money spent. What better way than extracting all the money he can from the pool community.

I for one do not believe KT has quite the deep pockets he would lead you to believe. He may be wealthy, but not wealthy enough to throw good money after bad. He can afford to make a big splash and claim to be a billionaire. He is not the first one known to use such tactics.

I would not recommend to anyone (poolplayer or backer) to get involved with this new qualifier scheme. All this talk of how big the tour will be in 2007, and after, does not impress me. I want to see what happens this year first. One tournament with 43 players did not convince me, especially after they got over half the prize money back from the first five qualifiers.

KT has NO contract with anyone! He can pull the plug at anytime! There is NO guarantee of anything! If they are refusing to pay me a mere $5,500, what does that say about the present state of the IPT.

Yes, I am blowing the whistle on them. It's about time somebody did.

 

[Tarantula]

Right on the money, IMO

All is not wonderful in IPT land!

They failed to pay me $5,500 owed for Cliff's magnifcent performance in Boston six weeks ago. I have heard one excuse after another for this non payment. Bottom line, no money!

As for the expanded Qualifier schedule, I view this as strictly a way to produce revenue for the IPT, a money stream if you will. It has worked fairly well so far, to the tune of 600K plus. With 100 more qualifiers on tap this year, they could easily pay for all the prize money to be paid (if it is paid).

I think KT and the IPT is in a cost cutting or cutting their losses mode right now. The whole TV deal may not be working and he needs to find ways to get a return on money spent. What better way than extracting all the money he can from the pool community.

I for one do not believe KT has quite the deep pockets he would lead you to believe. He may be wealthy, but not wealthy enough to throw good money after bad. He can afford to make a big splash and claim to be a billionaire. He is not the first one known to use such tactics.

I would not recommend to anyone (poolplayer or backer) to get involved with this new qualifier scheme. All this talk of how big the tour will be in 2007, and after, does not impress me. I want to see what happens this year first. One tournament with 43 players did not convince me, especially after they got over half the prize money back from the first five qualifiers.

KT has NO contract with anyone! He can pull the plug at anytime! There is NO guarantee of anything! If they are refusing to pay me a mere $5,500, what does that say about the present state of the IPT.

Yes, I am blowing the whistle on them. It's about time somebody did.

Jay, I have shared my calculations with several top players, and my numbers substantiate your claim. Basically, I figured they are using qualifiers to bankroll these tournaments.

Just the fact that the $2000 entry only provided a 2006 tour card, made me way too skeptical to bankroll my chances, not to mention sacrificing time off from work to do so!

At one point before any qualifier was played, I had a sponsor but did not allow him to invest in this venture. It was just too shady, no tournament dates, locations, etc. And I was not about to jeopardize my relationship with my sponsor on a shady deal...

I really hope I am wrong and that you and everyone else gets paid, as was boasted!

For KT's sake and all the players/backers that have paid hard-earned money, I sincerely hope to be wrong! And it won't be the 1st time...

Only time will tell...

 

[pete lafond]

I think it might be possible that getting the IPT off the ground has realized more work than originally planned which I believe is understandable. Yes payments are due but the reality might be as simple as getting KT who I'm sure is quite busy with other projects to sign over additional money.

The PGA, NBA,.. all generate money from outside sources and players to support payouts. Billiards is somewhat weak in this area at this time and we all hope it will improve because payouts should be paid from revenue in order to have a successful organization. I do not think the business plan calls for total KT out-of-pocket, it wouldn't make sense. Then again I know very little about what is going on, I'm just here hoping for success.

.
.
.

 

[wayne]

All is not wonderful in IPT land!

They failed to pay me $5,500 owed for Cliff's magnifcent performance in Boston six weeks ago. I have heard one excuse after another for this non payment. Bottom line, no money!

As for the expanded Qualifier schedule, I view this as strictly a way to produce revenue for the IPT, a money stream if you will. It has worked fairly well so far, to the tune of 600K plus. With 100 more qualifiers on tap this year, they could easily pay for all the prize money to be paid (if it is paid).

I think KT and the IPT is in a cost cutting or cutting their losses mode right now. The whole TV deal may not be working and he needs to find ways to get a return on money spent. What better way than extracting all the money he can from the pool community.

I for one do not believe KT has quite the deep pockets he would lead you to believe. He may be wealthy, but not wealthy enough to throw good money after bad. He can afford to make a big splash and claim to be a billionaire. He is not the first one known to use such tactics.

I would not recommend to anyone (poolplayer or backer) to get involved with this new qualifier scheme. All this talk of how big the tour will be in 2007, and after, does not impress me. I want to see what happens this year first. One tournament with 43 players did not convince me, especially after they got over half the prize money back from the first five qualifiers.

KT has NO contract with anyone! He can pull the plug at anytime! There is NO guarantee of anything! If they are refusing to pay me a mere $5,500, what does that say about the present state of the IPT.

Yes, I am blowing the whistle on them. It's about time somebody did.

I feel for you Jay. It is very suprising they have not gotten you the $5500
by now considering the negative PR this creates. The fact that Deno went off on you for your actions (which are actually reactions to their failure to pay) is equally suprising, another horrible PR move. It certainly makes me wonder how real this IPT venture is and has cast a great deal of doubt on the whole thing. I hope it just a glitch and they have some way of correcting the errors of their ways. They certainly owe you and Cliff an apology for their failure to pay and you should receive what is owed plus something to make up for the aggravation they have caused.

I still hope it works out for everyone but maybe that April fool joke on another thread wasn't that far from reality.

Wayne

 

[Jimmy M.]

Yes payments are due but the reality might be as simple as getting KT who I'm sure is quite busy with other projects to sign over additional money.

Deno told Jay that "the check was in the mail" almost two weeks ago. Either KT's too busy or the check's in the mail. It can't be both. I know that you want to give them the benefit of the doubt because this tour was sounding like the best thing to ever happen to pool. I feel the same way, but the reality of it is that, yes they're talking about putting a lot of money into pool, but, by way of 150 qualifiers, they're going to be taking a lot out of the pool community also. They have yet to put up all that money that's being talked about but they've collected quite a bit of money off the first 5 qualifiers. I'm not saying that there can't be a legitimate excuse for the non-payment here, but we'd all be fools not to at least acknowledge that the risk factor just went up.

 

[ScottW]

I'm not saying that there can't be a legitimate excuse for the non-payment here, but we'd all be fools not to at least acknowledge that the risk factor just went up.

Au contraire - the risk factor hasn't gone up at all. The perception of risk has gone up. The risk was there all along, methinks - people just didn't see it (or chose not to see it, or saw it and considered it worth the risk).

 

[Jimmy M.]

Au contraire - the risk factor hasn't gone up at all. The perception of risk has gone up. The risk was there all along, methinks - people just didn't see it (or chose not to see it, or saw it and considered it worth the risk).

Hey, you win the little battle of tit-for-tat, but I'm still right - however you want to word it.

 

[Gerald]

If there is a legitimate excuse for this situation why has it not been forthcoming? There has been more than enough time elapsed for Jay to either have received his money or for an explanation to have been issued by the IPT. I can't believe that KT doesn't have the business acumen to realize how this situation has impacted the image that so much time, energy and money was spent on establishing. $5500, please!

I am tremendously disappointed and I don't have a dime invested. I can only imagine how the players who chased this dream must feel. If this is not settled very soon KT will not have a shred of credibility left for any future business ventures.

 

[Str8PoolMan]

Au contraire - the risk factor hasn't gone up at all. The perception of risk has gone up. The risk was there all along, methinks - people just didn't see it (or chose not to see it, or saw it and considered it worth the risk).

Very perceptive of you, Scott.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Jay Helfert is one of the good guys in our sport, and I am very sorry to see this happen. I am really hoping that there is a good excuse for this, but I can't imagine one.

I'm sure that at least a few people on this site know some of the players in the qualifiers that got bonuses. Can anyone verify that anyone else got paid? This is really disheartening.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Jay Helfert is one of the good guys in our sport, and I am very sorry to see this happen. I am really hoping that there is a good excuse for this, but I can't imagine one.

I'm sure that at least a few people on this site know some of the players in the qualifiers that got bonuses. Can anyone verify that anyone else got paid? This is really disheartening.

Dan Wallace made an 8 on the break and he did get paid the $500.

 

[ScottW]

Dan Wallace made an 8 on the break and he did get paid the $500.

Wasn't that bank-the-eight for the $500? Not on the break?

 

[yobagua]

Wow! Sorry to hear about your hassles Jay. Shouldnt happen to an upfront honest business man like yourself. But you talking about packing heat on the Medina thread and now with the threats. It aint the sweet Jay I knew back in the 60's who took the time to explain shots to me. Who always had a good word to say. I hope you aint taking the page out of the Brooklyn tush hog book. Maybe you need to take some time off after you get all this settled. A trip to Hawaii perhaps Far away from the green felt for a while. Life is too short to suffer fools.

 

[Jimmy M.]

But you talking about packing heat on the Medina thread and now with the threats.

Good guys pack heat sometimes too.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Wasn't that bank-the-eight for the $500? Not on the break?

They took the "bank-the-eight" away because players were doing business. There was an 8-on-the-break bonus though. Either that or they gave Dan $500 for the wrong thing!

 

[macguy]

KT it seems may be trying to put the IPT on some kind of self supporting bases with his latest almost pyramid plan. I didn't want to say anything quite yet but I will post something in the next few weeks that may show KT probably can't fund the IPT, in fact he may be pulling a Michael Jackson, living a life that is little more then an illusion, funded by money that comes in and goes out just as quickly, along with the creative juggling of debt. The Naturel cures book is over with and hasn't been making any money in a while. He has all but quit advertising it with the informicials, I would suspect due to the cost and actual book store sales are practically non-existent.

Don't be fooled by the NY Times list, it doesn't take that many book sales to make that list in a single category. It does though take a huge amount of books to cover the cost of a million dollars a month plus informicial campaign far more then the book has been making. The book that once was at No. 2 in overall sales ahead of books like Harry Potter now is at 115 down from 103 last week and falling. Once he was no longer able to make the cure claims with the book, it was over. No one is buying a book that is being sold as an insiders exposure of the medical and pharmacy industry, even if true. They can see that any week on 60 minutes they don't need to buy a book, so the book has run it's course, it's done. If that was to be what was going to fund the IPT then it may be over as well, unless he comes up with some sponsors.

Just as an update the book has dropped this week from 115 off the top 150 all together so I don't really know where it is now. I notice he is running his old wrinkle remover cream ad's again from a few years ago, he looks pretty young in the ad's. I think they are scrambling to get some cash flow going inside the Trudeau camp.

 

[Steve Lipsky]

Just as an update the book has dropped this week from 115 off the top 150 all together so I don't really know where it is now. I notice he is running his old wrinkle remover cream ad's again from a few years ago, he looks pretty young in the ad's. I think they are scrambling to get some cash flow going inside the Trudeau camp.

Hey Mac. Just to play devil's advocate, if it doesn't take that many books to make the Times list (and you are right, it doesn't), then what difference does it make that it's fallen off? Isn't that just a measure of sales in a book store? I can't imagine too many people who go to bookstores would buy this book - after the initial buzz, anyway.

The Times would have no way to measure volume via the infomercial, nor would they care if he (for some bizarre reason) provided it to them. Or am I wrong about that? I really don't know.

Anyway, I was just curious about the Times list. I agree about the sales and their probable trend downward. Books like this are fads, nothing more.

- Steve