Based on the poll results so far, more than 90% think somebody from the Philippines or Germany will win the IPT. I think that is underestimating too much the chances of Mike Sigel, who already has a 100% guarantee of being in the finals and a 50% chance of winning it.
Who will win the IPT King of the Hill Invitational?
- Thread starter Tarantula
- Start date
The thread was basically created to get a poll on who most people thought would beat him. 
Sigel!
Thank you for mentioning The Hook. How he could not be considered is beyond me. Granted he won't be playing Loree Jon this time, but you can bet he'll be ready and will NOT be a pushover for anyone.
Remember this, he has beaten all these guys before, and more times than any of them beat him. Believe me, they haven't forgotten.
In all my years watching pool tournaments, Mike Sigel was absolutely the best player I ever saw in final matches. Few people know this about him, but at one time in his career he won eleven straight final matches! Not eleven tournaments in a row, but eleven in a row when he reached the finals. No one else is close to matching that.
Saying all that I still make him the underdog to whoever he plays in this final match, because it will certainly be a great player. But he is not that big a dog, maybe 3-2 or 7-5.
RED NAXELA said:
Thank you for mentioning The Hook. How he could not be considered is beyond me. Granted he won't be playing Loree Jon this time, but you can bet he'll be ready and will NOT be a pushover for anyone.
Remember this, he has beaten all these guys before, and more times than any of them beat him. Believe me, they haven't forgotten.
In all my years watching pool tournaments, Mike Sigel was absolutely the best player I ever saw in final matches. Few people know this about him, but at one time in his career he won eleven straight final matches! Not eleven tournaments in a row, but eleven in a row when he reached the finals. No one else is close to matching that.
Saying all that I still make him the underdog to whoever he plays in this final match, because it will certainly be a great player. But he is not that big a dog, maybe 3-2 or 7-5.
Colin Colenso said:
So you saw him close up in the bar in Shanghai. Analytical. The German Mind.
So how do you think you'll go against him? u never know, it might be him and u. Can u do him?
Do the Americans take the Europeans seriously. I guess they do. Nineball. Americans claim superiority. The game befits their culture whereas eightball levels the playing field.
Jeanette (Lee) calls it 'walking chess', right.
Hola Amigo!
I hope you are well, haven't heard from you in years... Earlier I made another thread polling to see if Sigel would be the next 'King of the Hill'. I don't know if Sigel can still bring on his 'Classical' finals type match play, but if he does, they all just better take a seat. There is abundant evidence of him playing 95% or better during final matches. I guess we will just have to wait and see, for one thing is for sure, THE IPT HAS EVERYONE INVOLVED IN DISCUSSION AND EXCITED!!!
Hi Jay,jay helfert said:
I hope you are well, haven't heard from you in years... Earlier I made another thread polling to see if Sigel would be the next 'King of the Hill'. I don't know if Sigel can still bring on his 'Classical' finals type match play, but if he does, they all just better take a seat. There is abundant evidence of him playing 95% or better during final matches. I guess we will just have to wait and see, for one thing is for sure, THE IPT HAS EVERYONE INVOLVED IN DISCUSSION AND EXCITED!!!
If we had a calcutta for the IPT King of the Hill -
Here we go, hypothetically speaking, if we were to run a Calcutta for the upcoming IPT King of the Hill. What player would you be placing your chips on?
I see that made up list starting off this Thread and notice that there is one super player not even mentioned on that list. This player is not only very capable but who will actually be one of the top 4 favorites to take down a $200,000 8-ball format. If I were to be placing my chips on anyone player going after a 200,000 1st prize that player would be named Allen Hopkins. With a $200,000 1st prize up for grabs my calcutta chips have to be placed on the great most perfect position player, the very smart playing, the excellent straight pool playing, the money man himself, one of the most treacherous winningest gamblers who ever roamed this country, one of the very best ever one-pocket players, a player who not many ever came out of a locked closet up against, a true warrior with the heart of ice cold steel. Mr Allen Hopkins is going to take down this IPT king of the Hill and $200,000 in cash. This is exactly what has always driven this silent World Champion. Playing 8-Ball for a $200,000 1st prize in this IPT King of the Hill format you have 4 players who will come to the top, Allen, Efern, Bustamante and the German player Thorsten Hohmann who is currently playing at the top of his game. These are your 4 top favorites to take down this 200,000 1st place IPT King of the Hill 8-Ball format. With this much money on the line I'm going with the experience and best pin point position player who knows how to be a winner. My Calcutta Chips are going on Allen Hopkins, a treacherous player, heart of steel and a perfect cue ball control and smarts as a whip. My Pick is Allen Hopkins, very capable and one of the dead on hands down favorites.
Here we go, hypothetically speaking, if we were to run a Calcutta for the upcoming IPT King of the Hill. What player would you be placing your chips on?
I see that made up list starting off this Thread and notice that there is one super player not even mentioned on that list. This player is not only very capable but who will actually be one of the top 4 favorites to take down a $200,000 8-ball format. If I were to be placing my chips on anyone player going after a 200,000 1st prize that player would be named Allen Hopkins. With a $200,000 1st prize up for grabs my calcutta chips have to be placed on the great most perfect position player, the very smart playing, the excellent straight pool playing, the money man himself, one of the most treacherous winningest gamblers who ever roamed this country, one of the very best ever one-pocket players, a player who not many ever came out of a locked closet up against, a true warrior with the heart of ice cold steel. Mr Allen Hopkins is going to take down this IPT king of the Hill and $200,000 in cash. This is exactly what has always driven this silent World Champion. Playing 8-Ball for a $200,000 1st prize in this IPT King of the Hill format you have 4 players who will come to the top, Allen, Efern, Bustamante and the German player Thorsten Hohmann who is currently playing at the top of his game. These are your 4 top favorites to take down this 200,000 1st place IPT King of the Hill 8-Ball format. With this much money on the line I'm going with the experience and best pin point position player who knows how to be a winner. My Calcutta Chips are going on Allen Hopkins, a treacherous player, heart of steel and a perfect cue ball control and smarts as a whip. My Pick is Allen Hopkins, very capable and one of the dead on hands down favorites.
Ok, I took the link to the other "who will when it all" thread as well and this what I think:
As far as the HOF's go, I like Efren, Sigel (even thought I'm still beefin' with him
), Varner, possibly Rempe, and Massey. What!?! Mike Massey...the trick shot guy?!?
You damned skippy I said it! Yeah, Efren has tons of cue ball control and does some incredible stuff on the table. But, what do you think Massey has been doing with trick shots? Ok, I know we are talking about two entirely different things here, but I bet that Massey will pull some of his tricks out of his sleeve to win as well.
The "Vets" for me would have to be Strickland, Souquet, Archer, Bustamante, Incardona (don't know why, probably because I like his commentary on accu-stats
) , McCready, and Mathews.
For the "Young Guns", I have Immonen, Owen, Putnam, Robles, San Souci, and Deuel.
I know its a lot of choices, but there are a lot of guys who have a realistic chance of winning this thing. Heck, if I stick with it, I hope to be a favorite by age 40!
As far as the HOF's go, I like Efren, Sigel (even thought I'm still beefin' with him
), Varner, possibly Rempe, and Massey. What!?! Mike Massey...the trick shot guy?!? You damned skippy I said it! Yeah, Efren has tons of cue ball control and does some incredible stuff on the table. But, what do you think Massey has been doing with trick shots? Ok, I know we are talking about two entirely different things here, but I bet that Massey will pull some of his tricks out of his sleeve to win as well. The "Vets" for me would have to be Strickland, Souquet, Archer, Bustamante, Incardona (don't know why, probably because I like his commentary on accu-stats
) , McCready, and Mathews. For the "Young Guns", I have Immonen, Owen, Putnam, Robles, San Souci, and Deuel.
I know its a lot of choices, but there are a lot of guys who have a realistic chance of winning this thing. Heck, if I stick with it, I hope to be a favorite by age 40!
Ralf is a player who checks where he wants the CB every shot, checks the layouts and paths, plays the percentages and has had great success playing this way. He is known as slower than many of the other big name pool players for his checking of the paths.BlackDragon said:
In 8-ball I think this habit will help him. Some other pros I believe will take on riskier outs while Ralf will find early safeties to put a lock on the game.
Can I beat him you ask? Right now Ralf is better than me, I'm not sure how much. I'm sure I could win a race to 5 with a run of the balls...maybe to 9 with a real good run and playing out of my skin. I need to improve, and I will.
