Nerds around the world will be thrilled to hear that there is now a way that they can make a profit while enjoying their favorite pastime. Thanks to Tournament.com, video gamers from all over the world can connect with each other to compete in "games of skills" for cash prizes. Furthermore, such competition is perfectly legal in most states and countries and is fully licensed by the producers of the games that are played.

Currently, Tournament.com connects players who wish to play "Counter-Strike" and "Half-Life 2". According to the website, it will soon offer "Day of Defeat" as well. While players can expect the website's selection of games to improve with time, it is rather limited right now. Both of these games are First Person Shooters, so only fans of that particular genre may benefit for the service. In the future, however, it may very well be that Tournament.com offers a much wider selection of games in which to compete.

To compete, players need to own one or both of the two games, have a valid Stream.com account, and download the Tournament.com software. Once they have registered for an account with the website, they can deposit money into their account. They may use their local currency, but all transactions in a players account are in credits which are equivalent to US dollars. Each competition has a different entry fee, usually under $10.

Tournament.com offers ongoing "perpetual" games, weekly competitions, and special promotions. Since players pay real money to enter a competition, the top performers justifiably receive cash rewards. All competitions are judged by points, but each competition has its own pay scale. The more the entry fee, the bigger the prizes. Also, some competitions pay only the top player, while others pay a whole team or the top three.

Thankfully, Tournament.com uses some very advanced software to prevent cheating and to pair players only with those of roughly the same skill level. Thus, beginners really do stand a good chance of winning. It is still a game of skill, rather than chance, but they will not be pitted against much better players their very first competition. When a highly skilled player does encounter a more inexperienced player, the better player is handicapped using a complex algorithm that adjusts their points accordingly.

In some ways, Tournament.com is like a gambling site. After all, every time you have a chance of winning a cash prize, you must first put up some of your own money. Still, it is unlike a gambling site in that the games you play are games of skill, not games of chance. Thus, if you are really good at video games, particularly Counter-Strike and Half-Life 2, then you stand a much better chance of winning than if you are playing for the first time. While Tournament.com is not for everyone, certain players may greatly enjoy the competition it offers. Of course the cash prize for winning heightens the excitement quite a bit.

Learn more about this author, Andrew Murphy.
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