Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups

35. Playing Games for Fun and Profit

270 35 Playing Games for Fun and Profit Ever wonder if you could really make a living “going pro” just by playing games? There are worldwide tournaments for both board and computer games that pay out some serious prize money. 1. SCRABBLE As mentioned elsewhere, Scrabble is still a popular board game and lends itself easily to clubs and tournaments. What shocks many first-timers at these highly competitive events is the sheer obscurity of the words used and how high scores can get. Tournament rules are rigid and might vary slightly from club to club, but nearly all tournament games are between two players within a set time limit. The largest Scrabble tournament in the world is the Brand’s Crossword Game King’s Cup, held in Thailand every summer. The cup draws over eight thousand players who vie for a chance to accept a trophy from the King. The game of Scrabble is promoted like a sport in Thailand and is seen as one way to learn English. The competition in this country is extremely fierce, producing two world champions and several top international players. Playing Games for Fun and Profit 271 The most prestigious tournament in the world is the World Scrabble Championship, held every odd year with just a hundred-plus participants. There are a set number of places allocated to each competing country, which set their own standards as to who represents them in the tournament. In the United States, the National Scrabble Championship is held almost every year; the finals at one time were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. 2. MONOPOLY It was pretty much a given that this ruthless financial game would spawn a worldwide tournament. Sponsored by the game’s publisher, Hasbro, the Monopoly World Championships started in 1973; the prize is $20,580, which is the total amount of paper money available in the current set used in the tournament. In the past, Hasbro required U.S. entrants to go through regional competitions in order to qualify. Starting in 2003, the company began online qualifications using a multiple-choice quiz and a two-game online tournament. Interestingly, in 2009 there was an eleven-way tie for the last six slots, to which all were invited to participate in the tournament. Two of those players ended up playing in the final game and finished third and fourth in the tournament. 3. GO Extremely popular in China and Japan, go has several top open international tournaments. Initiated by the Honinbo Tournament in Japan, go tournaments are not done in a few days’ gathering of players but are instead spread out over a longer period of time. The winner holds the title for a year and receives a sizeable prize purse. The Ing Cup, considered one of the most prominent go tournaments, is held every four years and gives the winner nearly $500,000 (U.S.). Founded by Taiwan industrialist Ing Chang-ki, it has its own rules and time allotments. The finals 272 Games’ Most Wanted™ are in a best-of-five format. Another international championship is the BC Card Cup in South Korea, held annually with a winner’s purse of nearly $300,000 (U.S.). 4. WORLD CYBER GAMES Backed by Microsoft and Samsung, the World Cyber Games (WCG) is a festival that is heavily influenced by the Olympic games. Held every year since 2001, the WCG has an “athletes ’ village” for competitors and is hosted by a different city around the world. The WCG is the largest gaming festival, with over a million visitors and all of its sports conducted in cyberspace. Event tournaments are in several games and see participants from all over the globe. The festival also serves as a gaming industry conference, attracting technology and industry experts to share ideas. Several games have their world champions crowned at the WCG, including Counterstrike, the latest versions of FIFA Soccer and Guitar Hero, StarCraft: Brood War, and Forza Motorsport . The total prize money given out varies from year to year, but averages around $250,000 (U.S.), an amount spread across all the events for that year. 5. MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING Major League Gaming (MLG) is the largest organized professional gaming league in North America and hosts official video game tournaments. Founded in 2002, the league has seen over a million participants in its pro-level game tournaments , including several of the Halo franchise, Super Smash Bros...