TAKE FIVE: north american 8-ball championship

Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 7:49 a.m.

If you go

What: North American 8-Ball Championship

When: Today through July 30

Where: The Venetian

Tickets: Daily general admission is $5; VIP tickets are $25. Tickets can be purchased at the Venetian Convention Center beginning today.

On the web: www.internationalpooltour.com

1. The color of (big-time) money

The North American 8-Ball Championship will offer a $2 million purse and a record first-place prize of $350,000, a king-sized carrot that has coaxed legends such as Earl Strickland and Mike "The Mouth" Sigel out of retirement. Somewhere in a dingy back room at the Big Pool Hall in the Sky, you gotta know that Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi are cursing being born too soon.

2. Put up and put up some more

The International Pool Tour was founded in 2005 by self-made media mogul Kevin Trudeau, who has used the lure of big money to attract big-time players with big-time fan interest hopefully to follow. The goal, Trudeau says, is to turn pool into the new poker, only without the painting of dogs playing it. "The prize money available in pool has been an absolute joke, an embarrassment to the sport and players," Trudeau says.

3. Pooling his resources

If Trudeau's name sounds familiar, chances are you watch TV real late at night. His news-style infomercials have promoted a wide array of dietary supplements and his book, "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About," topped the New York Times' bestseller list in 2005. In the book, Trudeau claims cancer can be cured with natural remedies that the Federal Drug Administration is keeping from the public. He also has done time in federal prison for posing as a doctor and obtaining credit cards under false pretences, which is why some refer to him as "the Don King of pro pool."

4. So long, Fast Eddie

Trudeau's short-term plan - he has committed to bankroll the IPT through 2007 - is to make it so players no longer have to hustle like Pete Rose to carve out a living. While some may argue that it's not real pool unless you leave the hall reeking of cigarettes and cheap booze, Trudeau wants to raise the bar of professionalism on tour. Says Hall-of-Famer Loree Jon Jones, aka "Queen of the Hill," of the bigger and brighter IPT: "The green room was awesome. We not only had a place to relax in lounge chairs, but we had organic food and a masseuse." Organic food? A masseuse? In pool? Fast Eddie Felson wouldn't believe it.

5. Home-felt advantage

The field for the 8-Ball Championship will be composed of 150 IPT members and 50 players who earn their way in via qualifiers. Four who call Las Vegas home - Ed Kelly, Mary Keniston, Hall of Famer Lou Butera and John Kutcher - will be representing Southern Nevada, although Kutcher doesn't seem entirely sure. Under "residence" in his profile on the IPT Web site, it simply reads, "USA." Kutcher was thrown out of his first pool hall when he was 12 but later came back with a note from his mother, saying it was OK. By 16, according to his bio, he was hopping onto the back of a motorcycle, with little more than a shirt and his $12 pool cue strapped to his back, in search of his next game. Now that's your old man's pool.