Mike Sigel leaned on his experience to secure pool’s biggest bundle.

Presented with bundles of cash that totaled a highest-ever $150,000 top prize, Sigel tried to put the moment into words. The only thing that came out, however, were tears.

“Six weeks of practice, and all the hype, and what this means for pool, it was too much,” said Sigel of the much-anticipated “battle of the sexes” head-to-head match.

Jones, who admittedly was no match for her own nerves, still received a tidy $75,000 paycheck for the afternoon’s work.

The Sigel-Jones match will serve as the launching pad for bigger and more elaborate events for pro pool in the future, according to entrepreneur/promoter Kevin Trudeau.

“Just think,” Trudeau said after the match. “Mike Sigel just earned the biggest single payday in the history of the sport, and it will be the smallest first prize in IPT events!”

As expected, both players were shaky at the start of the match, played in an elaborate arena setting and witnessed by 500-plus fans, including numerous sports and entertainment celebrities. Jones missed several chances to put pressure on Sigel, who rolled off from a 3-2 lead to a 9-2 first-set win. In the second set, a relaxed Sigel played more to expectations, while Jones again missed several critical shots.

Who is the man behind this weekend’s $225,000 Battle of the Legends match between hall of famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones?

It’s millionaire entrepreneur Kevin Trudeau … the informercial pioneer and author of The New York Times bestseller, “Natural Cures.” And Trudeau’s grand plan for pool extends well beyond Saturday’s marquee match-up at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Trudeau’s International Pool Tour is the buzz of the pool world.

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, Trudeau will be live on “BD Live Chat,” answering YOUR questions about Saturday’s big match, the IPT, his formula for bringing pool into the big time, and why 8-ball is pool’s future.

The BD Live Chat room will open at 7:30 p.m. EST to give users an opportunity to begin posting questions.

Bring on the Hype! In advance of their epic $225,000 face-off in Las Vegas, Aug. 20, Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel, as well as promoter Kevin Trudeau, will share their thoughts on the Battle of the Legends showdown LIVE on BilliardsDigest.com next week.

BilliardsDigest.com will feature live chats on three separate nights leading up to the mega-match. Eight-time world champion and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Jones will offer her views and answer questions from site visitors on Tuesday (8pm EST). Sigel, nine times world champion and also a BCA Hall of Famer, will surely bring his A game to the BD site on Wednesday (8pm EST). And Kevin Trudeau will talk about his involvement in pool and his grand plans for the International Pool Tour on Thursday (8pm EST).

Each night visitors can log on at 7:30 EST and begin submitting questions for that night’s visitor. A button on the BD home page will direct visitors to the BD Live Chat page.

Let’s get ready to rumble!

The International Pool Tour, a major new pool organization founded by media mogul Kevin Trudeau, will launch on Aug. 20 with a high-profile, made-for-TV battle of the sexes between Hall-of-Famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones.

Titled the IPT World 8-Ball Championship, the match will take place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and will be broadcast on national television and in some foreign markets in September.

The winner will take home $150,000, the richest single payday for a tournament win in the history of pool. The runner-up will receive $75,000. The format will be best 2-out-of-3 sets, with each set a race-to-9.

Hoping to stimulate mainstream interest in the event by grafting poolroom conditions to tournament pool, Trudeau has mandated several unusual rules for the matchup. There will be no shot clock, jump cues or breaking from the side rail. Winner will break, and slow-speed cloth will be used.

Trudeau expects a full-fledged series of televised 8-ball tournaments to follow in the next year under the International Pool Tour banner. Each will have a minimum of $1 million in guaranteed prize money.

IPT founder Trudeau, who launched and owns the Golf TV Channel in the United Kingdom, has built a $2 billion global business empire in television, publishing and marketing. He is best known in the U.S. for his many infomercials hawking self-help and holistic health products.