Being Kevin Trudeau
 |
| Jones and Sigel were first in line at Trudeau's big pay window. |
Questions abounded after Trudeau announced the match between longtime friend Sigel and Jones. Critics quickly alerted players and industry reps about Trudeau's controversial past.
And when Trudeau broadened his stake in pro pool with promises of the King of the Hill event and the 2006 IPT tour, the ripples that had been sweeping across the billiard world turned into rumbles.
"It's funny," Trudeau says, pointing out the equally amusing sight of four horses tied to a post in front of a cappuccino/espresso cafe in the heart of Ojai. "People who haven't really done anything for the billiard industry overall are being critical of me. These people talk about the 'great strides' the game has made in recent years.
"Time out!" Trudeau adds with a laugh. "There's a scoreboard, and here's the score. How much money did the top players on the tours make last year? How much did the top 50 earn? Based on that, the scoreboard says you lost. In fact, you've failed miserably."
But the "industry" is much broader than just the pro tours, Trudeau is reminded.
"If the scoreboard for the players was in the stratosphere," he rationalizes, "trust me, the entire industry would see benefit."
Trudeau's Mercedes rolls through Ojai, past the old bowling alley he plans to modernize into an upscale billiard club and bowling center "for the community," and curves around the orange groves, past the large ranch he owns (the one with the 10-square-foot main house). It pulls into the driveway of a modest-looking brick ranch-style home. In the driveway is a Mercedes SUV. In the garage sits a vintage 1944 U.S. Army jeep.
This is what Trudeau calls his "bungalow." The arched front doorway and foyer leads into a large living room, from whose vaulted ceiling red velvet fabric sweeps to each side in tent-like fashion. From the center of the ceiling hangs a gargantuan chandelier, said to come from a Russian czar's residence.
The decor is ornate and Italianate, with a faux stone paint finish covering what little portion of the walls are not already covered by large oil paintings.
The subject of the billiard industry's arm's-length approach to Trudeau resurfaces.
"It's interesting what happened," Trudeau says. "I put up all the money and do all the work for my events, and some guy from Australia [World Pocket Billiard Association President Ian Anderson] calls and says I need to pay him $150,000. I said, 'What are you? The mafia?' He tells me that this fee will make my event 'sanctioned.' I don't consider that a good value.
"He goes on to say that if I don't pay the sanctioning fee, none of his players will play in my events. I told him all that means is that his players will all stay broke. The cold reality of the situation is that if none of the top players participate, no one outside the billiard world will notice. I'll have Joe Smith, 'The Greatest Player on Earth,' on TV winning a million bucks."
Trudeau opens a bottle of 1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and pours it into a decanter. While the wine breaths, Trudeau sighs.
"Look. I don't want to be adversarial," Trudeau insists, "But I've gotten one call from 'the industry,' and it was to shake me down for money."
Since the successful production of his initial event, Trudeau says, not sounding the least bit surprised, the pool-playing brethren has flocked to the IPT Web site, fearful of being left behind.
"Look at these," he says, picking up several huge stacks of e-mailed IPT applications. "Here are 2,000 applications for the 150 initial spots on the IPT tour. They're from all over the world.
Previous Page Page 5 Next Page
>
Top
|
