There are eight open positions for the 2006 IPT Tour Season. To fill those eight spots, the IPT is hosting four qualification tournaments throughout the United States. The top two finishers in each of these events will win a 2006 IPT Tour Card. No matter how many players enter each tournament, two players will earn their tour cards. Dates and locations for these events are listed at www.internationalpooltour.com
The entry fee for each tournament is $2000. Each tournament will be a Double-Elimination competition with races to ten. The Two players from each tournament who will win tour cards will be the winner of the winning side and the winner of the losing side of the brackets. IPT Rules, which can be read on line, govern each tournament. There is very limited space at each event so entries are based on a first-come, first-served basis. Players should not miss this chance to play on the IPT tour by failing to register in time. On line registration is the only way to enter these events and the form is on the IPT web site www.internationalpooltour.com. Absolutely no entries will be allowed at the tournament; no money will be accepted at the events.
What is a 2006 IPT Tour Card worth? So far in 2005 after just two events and, the IPT awarded historic and unprecedented prize payouts and hosted the largest paying tournament (2005 King of the Hill) in the history of billiards. IPT members in 2006 will be playing in a minimum of four events and over $8 million in prize money. Each IPT member is guaranteed at least $13,000 in prize earnings, even if they don't win a single match. IPT Members in 2006 are also going to receive monies from IPT profit sharing which has the potential to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. In addition, the top 100 ranked players from the 2006 season automatically get to play in the 2007 season. Fifty other players must go through the grueling qualification tournament to win a 2007 tour card. Every 2007 IPT Member is guaranteed a minimum of $100,000. It is going to be much easier to be in the top 100 of the 2006 season (and win the 2007 tour card) than it will be to qualify for the 2007 IPT season through competition, so being on the tour in 2006 is quite advantageous.
By visiting www.internationalpooltour.com players can choose to register for one or more qualifying tournaments. If a player chooses to enter more than one event, he will be charged for each tournament. However, if a player happens to win a spot on the tour, he will be refunded any entry fee money paid for a later qualification tournament. Once a player enters on line, he will receive an emailed receipt. Shortly thereafter, IPT staff will contact the player by telephone in addition to email which will contain all of the information players will need to know about the venues, dates, times, etc.
