What a week it was in Vegas! The IPT made history and has put pool on the map. NONE of this could have been accomplished without the vision of one man, namely Kevin Trudeau. Anyone who was present witnessed pool at its finest, and there were so many happenings running in the background that it was hard for me to keep up. Towards the end of the tournament, some of you readers of this forum were providing updates to me, keeping me abreast of the latest, and I was actually there.
I thought I knew most of the Who's Who when it comes to pool players, but after seeing the diversified field of the IPT player roster, I must admit my eyes have seen the glory. I was pleasantly surprised this past week to see how prevalent pool really is in this world, just not here in the States, unfortunately for me being an American.
The Filipinos are, without a doubt, the dominant ones, but the disciplined and well-trained Germans have been enjoying success in recent times, especially in the form of one Thorsten Hohmann, who just may be the NEW champion on the block. I listened to his brief winner's circle speech, and I thought he was superb, especially when he said hi to his mother and father on the broadcast. He's a pool player through and through, but he showed a little bit of humanity. I do wonder how he is going to enjoy his great winnings of $350,000. What a score!
David Matlock's success, pocketing $30,000, really warmed my heart. He's an old-school player who showed the world that he's a champion, defeating many top dogs as he advanced the charts. He flew in his sweetheart the last 2 days of the tournament, and you could see they were both very happy to be a part of this IPT experience. The IPT has given hope to players like Matlock, and he'll definitely be back. He's one player to watch in the future.
I really enjoyed meeting Brian Saleh of England. He's got personality-plus, and if there was ever a player who had enthusiasm and desire to be all that he can be, it is Brian. He worked very hard on his game before traveling to Vegas, as most of the competitors. However, I think MANY, MANY, MANY players in this event realize now, after the fact, that they weren't as prepared as they could have been. I saw quite a few players purchasing that Gorina cloth at the IPT vendor booth. Though the IPT balls haven't landed in America quite yet, you can be sure there will be a huge run to purchase them.
Now that the players have seen how the tournament will transpire, I believe many of them will come to Reno more prepared than they were when they arrived in Vegas. The equipment is key, and familiarity with it is important. The format and schedule is tough, especially those long days of play. It will be interesting to see how Reno unfolds, after seeing how well the Vegas event went.
We left Vegas late Sunday night. I paid our hotel bill at the Venetian with CASH, after cashing in one of Keith's checks, and the other check is still on my person and will soon be in the bank, where it belongs. I managed to escape Vegas without losing Keith's IPT earnings to gambling, and believe me, that was a tough feat for this goat roper. Sunday night, Harry Platis came to the Venetian, and he and Keith, as they are wont to do, threw the dice. At the table was the owner of the Sacramanto Kings and two lovely ladies. One of those ladies rolled the dice for what seemed like 45 minutes to an hour without rolling a 7. Though I don't understand craps too well, I know that the 7 is a bad number. Every single person at the table won BIG. The Sacramento Kings dude pocketed $90,000-plus. Keith got a bone for being by Harry's side. When it was all over, everyone had a smile on their face, and we all ate a splendid dinner, comped by the Venetian.
I couldn't wait to get out of Vegas and did not want to sleep there one more night. So we drove to Kingman, only 100 miles away, late Sunday night. En route, I drove a very windy road and saw the Hoover Dam at night. Man, that was really cool. When we arrived at Kingman, I pulled over at a gas station and bought some munchies. The clerk detected that I was an out-of-towner from my accent, I guess. He then relayed to me that Kingman was the "methamphetamine capital of the world." I then quickly asked him where the nearest Marriott or Holiday Inn Express was, and he directed me. As I opened my car door, I looked on the ground, and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was a bird with a curved beak. I think it was one of those roadrunners.
After Kingman, we drove to Albuquerque. When we entered Arizona, I saw several signs for Native American crafts and jewelry, and I bought quite a few cool things, gifts for family members and cool stuff for ME! I enjoyed listening to the Native American music that was playing outside of the store in the middle of nowhere. The clouds are different in Arizona. There are so many of them, and you can see for miles and miles. I loved meeting the few Native Americans I spoke to. Of course, I was only a tourist, but being there, standing outside looking at the sky and the lovely cloud formation, I was in heaven. I love Arizona.
Tonight, we're in Oklahoma City. I got a chance to shop at a Cherokee Trading Post and, again, bought quite a few nice gifts, most of them for ME. The North American 8-Ball Championship seems so long ago, though it's only been a few days. I know that many a player is gearing up for Reno.
I feel privileged to have witnessed this event in Vegas, but I can honestly say that there's no place like home, and I can't wait to get there, only 1,200 or so miles to go.
JAM
I thought I knew most of the Who's Who when it comes to pool players, but after seeing the diversified field of the IPT player roster, I must admit my eyes have seen the glory. I was pleasantly surprised this past week to see how prevalent pool really is in this world, just not here in the States, unfortunately for me being an American.
The Filipinos are, without a doubt, the dominant ones, but the disciplined and well-trained Germans have been enjoying success in recent times, especially in the form of one Thorsten Hohmann, who just may be the NEW champion on the block. I listened to his brief winner's circle speech, and I thought he was superb, especially when he said hi to his mother and father on the broadcast. He's a pool player through and through, but he showed a little bit of humanity. I do wonder how he is going to enjoy his great winnings of $350,000. What a score!
David Matlock's success, pocketing $30,000, really warmed my heart. He's an old-school player who showed the world that he's a champion, defeating many top dogs as he advanced the charts. He flew in his sweetheart the last 2 days of the tournament, and you could see they were both very happy to be a part of this IPT experience. The IPT has given hope to players like Matlock, and he'll definitely be back. He's one player to watch in the future.
I really enjoyed meeting Brian Saleh of England. He's got personality-plus, and if there was ever a player who had enthusiasm and desire to be all that he can be, it is Brian. He worked very hard on his game before traveling to Vegas, as most of the competitors. However, I think MANY, MANY, MANY players in this event realize now, after the fact, that they weren't as prepared as they could have been. I saw quite a few players purchasing that Gorina cloth at the IPT vendor booth. Though the IPT balls haven't landed in America quite yet, you can be sure there will be a huge run to purchase them.
Now that the players have seen how the tournament will transpire, I believe many of them will come to Reno more prepared than they were when they arrived in Vegas. The equipment is key, and familiarity with it is important. The format and schedule is tough, especially those long days of play. It will be interesting to see how Reno unfolds, after seeing how well the Vegas event went.
We left Vegas late Sunday night. I paid our hotel bill at the Venetian with CASH, after cashing in one of Keith's checks, and the other check is still on my person and will soon be in the bank, where it belongs. I managed to escape Vegas without losing Keith's IPT earnings to gambling, and believe me, that was a tough feat for this goat roper. Sunday night, Harry Platis came to the Venetian, and he and Keith, as they are wont to do, threw the dice. At the table was the owner of the Sacramanto Kings and two lovely ladies. One of those ladies rolled the dice for what seemed like 45 minutes to an hour without rolling a 7. Though I don't understand craps too well, I know that the 7 is a bad number. Every single person at the table won BIG. The Sacramento Kings dude pocketed $90,000-plus. Keith got a bone for being by Harry's side. When it was all over, everyone had a smile on their face, and we all ate a splendid dinner, comped by the Venetian.
I couldn't wait to get out of Vegas and did not want to sleep there one more night. So we drove to Kingman, only 100 miles away, late Sunday night. En route, I drove a very windy road and saw the Hoover Dam at night. Man, that was really cool. When we arrived at Kingman, I pulled over at a gas station and bought some munchies. The clerk detected that I was an out-of-towner from my accent, I guess. He then relayed to me that Kingman was the "methamphetamine capital of the world." I then quickly asked him where the nearest Marriott or Holiday Inn Express was, and he directed me. As I opened my car door, I looked on the ground, and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was a bird with a curved beak. I think it was one of those roadrunners.
After Kingman, we drove to Albuquerque. When we entered Arizona, I saw several signs for Native American crafts and jewelry, and I bought quite a few cool things, gifts for family members and cool stuff for ME! I enjoyed listening to the Native American music that was playing outside of the store in the middle of nowhere. The clouds are different in Arizona. There are so many of them, and you can see for miles and miles. I loved meeting the few Native Americans I spoke to. Of course, I was only a tourist, but being there, standing outside looking at the sky and the lovely cloud formation, I was in heaven. I love Arizona.
Tonight, we're in Oklahoma City. I got a chance to shop at a Cherokee Trading Post and, again, bought quite a few nice gifts, most of them for ME. The North American 8-Ball Championship seems so long ago, though it's only been a few days. I know that many a player is gearing up for Reno.
I feel privileged to have witnessed this event in Vegas, but I can honestly say that there's no place like home, and I can't wait to get there, only 1,200 or so miles to go.
JAM
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I just couldn't believe it. So I could have taped the whole thing instead of saving the tape and the battery. 
