the IPT is a joke

[beav99_4life]

The first season of the IPT was a joke. Trudeau was doing it as a base for the following seasons. All of us know that Mike Sigel hasnt been the best player in the world for a long time (if he ever really was the best). But i've talked with cored deuel, chris bartram and shawn putnam (as i live in ohio with them and play in corey and chris' home pool room) and all 3 have said that the IPT is the best thing to happen to pool. Mainly this is true because its giving billiards the chance to go somewhat main stream which would mean more money and coverage for tournaments, which in return would mean more enjoyment for us at home who love billiards and would love tbe able to watch up to date or even live tournaments on a weekly basis. It probably wont get to that level but they're trying. Thats all they can do for right now.

 

[jjinfla]

Jam I am surprised at you. It is GLI, games lost index, it is explained on page 4 of the program from the KOTH. Don't tell me you sold yours?

All it is is the total games a player loses divided by the number of players he plays. So if a player loses 9 games against 3 players his GLI is 3.00. If another player loses 10 games against 3 players his GLI is 3.33. Then if both players are tied in their match wins and only one can advance then the player with a GLI of 3.00 stays and the one with a 3.33 goes home.

So it is very important for a player not only to win his match but to win as many games as he can. And I believe that his GLI is continuous for the whole tournament and does not reset to zero for round two.

Also, I suspect that if any players decided to fix a match and got caught they would be kicked out.

As far as Earl losing to Gerda he just had one of those days where he didn't make a ball on the break, or if he did, he scratched. And that is the worst thing that a person can do in 8-ball at that level. It still was a hill-hill match.

I suspect we will see a different Earl in July. The new, relaxed, improved model. Afterall, he now lives in Spring Hill, Florida where life is good for him and he has the best of two worlds - pool and golf. Well, I can dream, can't I?

Jake

 

[justabrake]

the whole IPT is a joke ( where's the audience) there isn't any, nobody's there, I recorded the matches on dvd's all of them and you could see allison fisher doesn't even take a second to set up the way she does with all her other matches it looks like there playing and getting paid just to show up and play a match, IMO , it reminds me of wresting

Steven

 

[JAM]

Jam I am surprised at you. It is GLI, games lost index, it is explained on page 4 of the program from the KOTH. Don't tell me you sold yours?...

LOL! I'm glad you still have your program. Actually, I brought home about 20-plus, along with about 20-plus CDs of "Kevin Trudeau Speaks," for the sole purpose of disseminating them to pool friends. I did mail them to a variety of pool folk around the world, from Germany to California at least. I had one left, and my friend Roger, an older gentleman who lives alone, really enjoyed perusing it at a local tournament, seeing all the players' pictures and bios. So I gave it to him. He really loves pool and attends just about every tournament in my area.

I am so glad you explained the "GLI." I printed your post, so I can have it with me in Vegas. You're the best!

JAM

 

[pooltchr]

Corporate Sponsors like Car & Truck Manufactures, beer, & liquor, Tobacco Products, and Consumer good like those that Sponsor NASCAR. Hell we all buy the products, so they should support or sport... IMO

The big difference is that NASCAR can put 150,000 fans in the stands for a race, and get millions watching on tv. When pool can do that, the big corporate bucks will be there. Right now, pool doesn't even come close. We get a thousand maybe for the US Open filling the stands, but how many other tournaments draw that kind of crowd?
Sponsorship is all about numbers, and as much as I hate it, pool doesn't produce them.
Steve

 

[justabrake]

The big difference is that NASCAR can put 150,000 fans in the stands for a race, and get millions watching on tv. When pool can do that, the big corporate bucks will be there. Right now, pool doesn't even come close. We get a thousand maybe for the US Open filling the stands, but how many other tournaments draw that kind of crowd?
Sponsorship is all about numbers, and as much as I hate it, pool doesn't produce them.
Steve

do you why they could put 150,000 people in the stands it's because there going there to watch somebody get killed! dead,looking for death for the day, if we were stabbing each other with pool cues we be able to have 150,000 in the audience and a million to watch TV too

Steven

 

[ScottW]

Heh, true... nothing is more exciting in a car race than the pile-ups.

I guess that's why we have Earl.

 

[rackmsuckr]

Jam I am surprised at you. It is GLI, games lost index, it is explained on page 4 of the program from the KOTH. Don't tell me you sold yours?

All it is is the total games a player loses divided by the number of players he plays. So if a player loses 9 games against 3 players his GLI is 3.00. If another player loses 10 games against 3 players his GLI is 3.33. Then if both players are tied in their match wins and only one can advance then the player with a GLI of 3.00 stays and the one with a 3.33 goes home.

So it is very important for a player not only to win his match but to win as many games as he can. And I believe that his GLI is continuous for the whole tournament and does not reset to zero for round two.

Jake

Jake,

I know you knew what you are talking about there, but it came out wrong, so I just want to clarify what you probably meant. Yes it is important to win as many games as (s)he can, but they can only win whatever the amount is to win the match, which I believe is 10.

The important things is to let the opponent win AS FEW games as possible against you. That will keep your GLI down and allow you to advance.

That I think is going to be the biggest thing holding the top women back from advancing. Because of their weaker breaks, they are going to be letting the men win too many games which will harm their GLI, even if they are winning the sets. In other words, in a round robin in a group of 5 players, they could win 10-9, 10-7, 10-8, and 8 -10, yet still be eliminated, because their opponents won too many games from them.

JAM, the GLI is explained on the IPT website at http://internationalpooltour.com/ipt_content/news/press_release13.asp

* The Games Lost Index (GLI) is the average number of games lost per match by a player in a tournament. Another way to think of it is the average number of games per match a player’s opponents wins against that player in a tournament. For example, a player who plays five matches (winning three) with scores of 9/3, 9/4, 9/4, 6/9. 7/9 will have a GLI of 5.8. Here is the calculation: [3+4+4+9+9] / 5, or 29 / 5= 5.8. The index will be calculated to three decimal places.

 

[Bob Jewett]

the whole IPT is a joke ( where's the audience) there isn't any, nobody's there, ..

Hey, I was there. There were lots of seats and not many spectators until the final two or three days. It looked to me like all of the players were trying. And then there was Manalo's celebrated brain freeze, which may have been from thinking too much.

I found the Orlando tournament a lot more interesting to watch than most nine ball tournaments.

 

[pete lafond]

Just would like to insert in this anti-IPT thread that there is a G/L (gains/losses) ratio ranking which will be utilized for all matches.

This G/L ratio is in force for all IPT tournaments. It can affect a player's ranking as to whether or not he/she will hold their card for the 2007 season.

Even if a player loses, they will want to win as many matches as they can because of this G/L ratio.

Each player is required to mark a scorecard for every match, detailing the G/L ratio stats. I'm not sure how it works, but it was put in place to prevent players from throwing games.

JAM

I doubt any player would want to re-qualify next year so my guess is they are all trying to win and to play their best.

 

[Icon of Sin]

the whole IPT is a joke ( where's the audience) there isn't any, nobody's there, I recorded the matches on dvd's all of them and you could see allison fisher doesn't even take a second to set up the way she does with all her other matches it looks like there playing and getting paid just to show up and play a match, IMO , it reminds me of wresting

Steven

Man, you should stop arguing now, you are only making yourself sound worse.

Of course the seats were not as crowded during the early round of the tourny. In the later rounds they will fill up. Especially in the finals, the Efren vs Sigel match (sorry if I spoiled it for you LOL) was a packed auditorium.

Along the lines of Allison not taking her time. The matches are edited. This is not happening live. It happened last year. The matches are edited so the Joe Nopool who doesnt play and happens to stumble by doesnt get bored with someone taking 1-2minutes to look at a shot before shooting. How else do you think they has enough time to squeez in a few Johnny Archer racks. Christ, on the Nap cloth one rack of Johnny shooting would take an whole episode as he picks all the lint off the table. They are editing it due to time constraints and frankly I think cutting out a lot of the thinking is a good thing.

I can assure you they were not getting paid just to shoot other then the prizemoney they have received. They are all trying there damndest for the final prize. Shawn Putnam even talks about that himself in last nights episode.

 

[pooltchr]

do you why they could put 150,000 people in the stands it's because there going there to watch somebody get killed! dead,looking for death for the day, if we were stabbing each other with pool cues we be able to have 150,000 in the audience and a million to watch TV too

Steven

It would appear you know even less about NASCAR than you know about pool.
Steve

 

[Sharkeyes]

I personally helped coordinate an IPT qualifier at the THE POOL ROOM in Marietta GA and I can attest to the validity of the competition. As far as player's on the tour throwing games away and losing on purpose, I highly doubt that.

I think you really have to understand all the little details and really know what's going on to make such strong accusations against the players or the IPT. I do not endorse the IPT in any way but I don't believe its fair for you to judge something you have no part in nor fully comprehend.

As far as Earl snapping off and losing to a female player, I think its very possible. If you've watched Earl play in tournaments, then you would be expecting such reactions when he loses. You shouldn't be totally surprised either if he lost to a "weaker" player. I've seen many champions have bad days in countless tournaments. When you have just one race against every opponent, the odds of a great player losing to a weaker player rises. Its the simple fact that Archer, Reyes, Alex, and the other greats don't win every tournament that compete in. These players are all human and they do make mistakes. Its comes down to how your opponent capitalizes on them.

 

[Bob Ogburn]

I agree the OLN tv shows were pretty bad,although I dont believe Earl dumped the match,any good player can easily win a short race. It looked like they tried to hard to make the show entertaining.

 

[Icon of Sin]

My opinion is that the audience in Europe would love to see their players win mucho bucks in America, much like the Mosconi Cup.

The Mosconi Cup was only help in America twice. And Europe only won it 2 out of 12 times so far and both times Europe won, it was held in Europe.

 

[macguy]

Have you read recently where the IPT has just landed a big contract with Eurosports - and the coverage is LIVE!!!!!!

My opinion is that the audience in Europe would love to see their players win mucho bucks in America, much like the Mosconi Cup.

It makes sense, it is a much softer market and they have a better chance of getting their foot in the door.

When ever I'm there all I ever see on European TV is reruns of old American shows like the Odd Couple and Levern & Shirley. TV there is awful, they will watch almost anything.

 

[rackmsuckr]

I agree the OLN tv shows were pretty bad,although I dont believe Earl dumped the match,any good player can easily win a short race. It looked like they tried to hard to make the show entertaining.

I wouldn't call a race to 8 in 8-ball a short race.

And there was no dumping anywhere...everyone was out to win. I guess the TV shows aren't capturing the intensity that everyone displayed during the tournament, although they are sure giving it a good try. There were some of the highest highs and lowest lows you can imagine in a tournament setting. Trust me, everyone there wanted to win more money and be in the Finals with Sigel!

It was said the crowds were limited for this tournament on purpose. I am sure that it will be crowded at The Venetian!

Still to come, the referee's snafu in Efren's and Manalo's match.

All in all, the production value gets high marks from me. I know they are never going to please everyone all the time, especially us hard-core pool players. But if you keep their initiative in mind, which is to get bar players/non-players interested in our sport, then they may be on to something. Cater to the lowest common denominator..the Jerry Springer fans, and make it visually exciting for the MTV generation, and the rest of the pool world will watch anyway.

Several matchups are being stressed here - men vs. women and the old guard vs. the new hot players.

The matches in their entirety will be on sale for the purists, and even they will be edited as far as shot setup time, I would think.

I do wish that one of the announcers would wear more color, as all 3 in black standing together look grim.

 

[Cuebacca]

do any of you think for one second that Gerda could beat Earl!

Why not? Heck, even I could beat Earl in a race to 8 in 8-ball. I have about a 0.0001% chance. Therefore, it can be done.

(EDIT: Not trying to take anything away from her win. From what I remember of the match, she certainly earned it.)

 

[rackmsuckr]

Why not? Heck, even I could beat Earl in a race to 8 in 8-ball. I have about a 0.0001% chance. Therefore, it can be done.

(EDIT: Not trying to take anything away from her win. From what I remember of the match, she certainly earned it.)

I also think Gerda was fueled by comments he had made the day before, which have been discussed on another thread.

 

[gromulan]

Well, I watched the telecast last night and I have to agree with the original poster. 60 minutes of life that I can never get back. What a major yawnfest!

The commentary is totally awful. Mike is/was a great player, and you have to respect that, but there's no doubting that he is an idiot. I laugh at how he kept explaining basic 8-ball strategy as though it's some well-kept secret when what he's saying is well-known to anyone with an APA rating of 6 or higher. It would be a little like watching the Indy 500 and hearing the commentator say, "See, right here, coming out of this curve, I step on the gas and turn the wheel back to straight, which no other driver does."

The production quality is good, the director and production designers are obviously pros, but they are really working with a lame horse. Trying to take 8-ball and somehow make it dramatic and exciting just isn't going to happen. There is a bit of thinking to it, but in the games last night I saw only one shot that was anything more than completely routine and that was Marlon's combination shot, and even that was nothing special. I think many of the people who liked it are deluding themselves. We all want it to be great and exciting and draw tremendous ratings, but that's just not going to happen.

The whole thing reminded me of a typical Kevin Trudeau infomercial - there's a lot of sizzle, but there ain't much steak!