International Pool Tour
The International Pool Tour was a professional sports tour created in 2005 by Kevin Trudeau and hosted by Rebecca Grant. It aimed to elevate pool to the level of other modern sports. Closely modeled on the PGA Tour, the IPT offered the largest prize funds in pool history in its first year. The tour attracted the top pool players in the world. It differed from the many nine-ball tournaments, as all IPT events were eight-ball matches. The company was based in Hinsdale, Illinois. Many pool enthusiasts were initially skeptical, but the first event was successful , and at the time was the biggest tournament in billiards history. However, by the end of 2006, the tour was in serious financial trouble, and was forced to stop staging major tournaments. Events. The IPT was not in a financial position to continue hosting large world-class events, so they shifted their strategy to live streaming matches that pitted the best players against each other. These professionally produced events started around the same time as the final payment installment was sent to the players from the World Open. The IPT cited these matches as promotional and their intent was to  promote the sport and build up web traffic once again in order to deploy a new strategy. Other information. In the era of pool champions Willie Mosconi and Irving Crane, the standard dress code for professional pool saw players dressed in tuxedos when competing, but beginning in the 1970s, the dress code had relaxed in competition with contenders wearing sneakers, baseball caps, T-shirts, and blue jeans. Trudeau re-established a dress code for the IPT members and required all IPT members and competitors to adhere to it, to project a better image for pool. All male pool players were  required to wear suits, long-sleeved shirts, and leather shoes. In the events Trudeau refused to follow some of the rules normally required by pool's governing bodies, in particular the policy that all prize money be held in escrow. Despite this, both the Women's Professional Billiards Association and the U.S. Professional Pool Players Association allowed their players to join the IPT. In September 2006, just prior to the IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship in Reno, Nevada, Kevin Trudeau announced that the IPT had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Ho Interactive, a new company started  by casino owner billionaire Stanley Ho, a deal which failed. Two new sponsors were also announced offsetting the bad news that the IPT championship scheduled for October 2006 in London, England, had been cancelled. Demise. The initial three events in 2005 and early 2006 were successful, but at the fourth, the IPT World Open tournament in Reno, Nevada, promoters announced that they did not have sufficient funds on hand to cover the purse. Winners were assured that they would receive their prizes in small installments, but most were never paid. The Reno fiasco marked the demise not only of IPT , but of professional pool competitions in general. As one commentator put it, "The pool hustler wasn’t murdered by any single suspect, but the last man holding the knife was Kevin Trudeau."