Being Kevin Trudeau

Trudeau launched his new International Pool Tour to great fanfare in August with a $225,000 match between suddenly unretired Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones for the title of IPT World 8-Ball Champion. Sigel's $150,000 win was the highest first prize ever doled out to a pool player in the United States. In December, the IPT will stage the $1 Million King of the Hill Invitational at the Orlando Convention Center in Florida, with the winner earning a tidy $200,000. The event will feature 13 BCA Hall of Famers, guaranteeing each of the cue-carrying legends a $30,000 payday.

In 2006, Trudeau has promised five more IPT 8-ball tournaments, all with prize funds ranging from $1 million to $3 million. Several events will be open only to the IPT's 150 hand-selected touring pros, with two of the events being "open" to all players.

According to Trudeau, $15 million has been budgeted to the promotion and production of the 2006 tour. After years - decades! - of waiting for lightning to find its way into pool's empty bottle, is it possible that a savior has appeared?

"Look," Trudeau says, quickly brushing off the inference. "I'm not trying to be a savior to pool. That's not my motivation. My motivation is always, first and foremost, to perpetuate my mission. And my mission for some years has been to positively impact the whole person. That mission has been refined and adapted based on where I am, personally. Currently, that mission is my Web site, NaturalCures.com.

"Secondly," he continues, "my motivation is to have fun. I know a lot of pool players, and I like them. But they've always struggled. How cool would it be to do something where your friends could do really well, and you could do really well, and you're all having fun together?

"Now, all the players whose talent I admire and who I like as friends can go to the pay window. And the people watching are all enjoying better pool on television. And they're all being exposed to NaturalCures.com. It's fantastic." Trudeau likes to use the term "pay window." It's fun. It sounds more like an unexpected reward. And given that Trudeau has always eschewed Harvard Business School doctrines for a more unconventional approach to business, the term suits him.

In fact, it's hard to envision Trudeau in a proper business setting at all. He has offices for his various businesses, but rarely sits behind a desk. He claims to be the founder of, or have at least partial interest in, more than 60 companies. Natural Cures is located in Elk Grove Village, Ill. The bulk of Trudeau's most trusted and empowered employees, however, are part of Trudeau Management Services. The 50 or so employees of TMS are the interchangeable parts that Trudeau directs when he comes up with the next great idea. For example, when Trudeau developed the idea for the IPT and the Sigel/Jones challenge match, he selected longtime TMS manager Jon Denny to head up the program. Denny, who has worked for Trudeau for more than a decade, didn't know much about pool, but it never seems to matter to Trudeau. "I don't need to lord over these businesses," Trudeau confides. "I don't have any fear. I trust most of these guys with my life anyway."

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