International Pool Tour (IPT) - Good News for Philippine Billiards!

The International Pool Tour (IPT), a pool organization which sets up the very first organized big-money pool tour, was officialy launched last year. Looking forward, the establishment of the tour seems to be good news for Philippine billiards.

The IPT's slogan goes: Real Pool. Real Rules. Real Money.

REAL MONEY
Last year, Filipino cue-masters got a taste of how lucrative the pool tour can be by joining just one tournament - the 2006 IPT "King of the Hill". Filipino Hall of Fame, Efren Reyes, won the event and took home with him $200,000. Another Filipino legend, Francisco Bustamante, finished 3rd and took home $70,000. Filipino billiard star, Marlon Manalo, won for himself $60,000 for placing 4th. Jose Parica, another Filipino legend, had a mediocre showing but was still able to earn $6,500.

Aside from the big money, the IPT offers more good news for Filipino pool players.

REAL POOL
All IPT tournaments are to be played in 8-ball. This would mean that luck should be less of a winning factor, and winning should depend more on skill. This in contrast to the more popular game of 9-ball, where luck is a big factor. One can bet that many perennial World Pool Championship campaigners won't even be able to make it to qualify for the IPT just because it is played in 8-ball. But this should not be true for Filipino players, who are masters of different pool events.

REAL RULES
Aside from being played in 8-ball, the tournament rules are really only for the skillful, that even 8-ball champs would have a tough time. Tables would be slower and would have smaller pockets. Rules does not allow breaking from the side rails and the using of jump cues. Surely only the skillful players would prevail, And and there should be no lacking of pool skills among Filipinos.

All IPT events promises to be high-profile and televised and will abide by the following rules:

• All events will be 8-Ball
• 4 1/2 pockets
• Slow nap cloths
• No breaking from the side rails
• Winners break
• No shot clocks
• No jump cues
• All tournaments will be round-robin with the exception of the final match
• All final matches will be a race to 8 with the best 2 out of 3 sets winning the match

Reyes, Bustamante, Manalo and Parica are the only Filipino players that have automatic passes for the 2006 tour. Other Filipino stars would have to go through the qualifying tournaments to join the tour.