PurePlay is an online gambling site where everyone, including US residents can play for, and win, money in online poker games. There is only one other popular online poker website that is legal for US residents, DuplicatePoker, which slightly alters the rules to make it a more a game of skill, which is than permitted by US law.

PurePlay was planned out and started well in advance of the UIGEA laws, says CEO Jason Kellerman. The trick to PurePlay is that it works off a subscription model, with users paying set monthly fees to play, but gaining the potential to win large sums if they’re good enough to win tournaments.

Of that sizable pool of gamers, PurePlay has captured about a million people. It doesn’t disclose how many are paying, but some extrapolation is possible. The company says it pays out over $125,000 each month in prizes. Subscriptions are $20 a month, so if PurePlay gives back 25 percent of its subscription fees, it has around 25,000 paying subscribers; if it gives back 50 percent, then only 12,500 subscribers, and so forth.

Mark Gardiner last week won £50,000 in a nationwide video game competition. Mark was one of 32 people at the Play.com PES Rankings tournament in Wembley competing for the biggest prize in British computer gaming history. Video game tournaments are considered a game of skill and therefor are legal even in the US.
The Hillhouse man competed against 2000 people in online matches to grab one of the 32 places available at the Wembley finals on Saturday 15th March 2008.

Participants were put into groups of eight, with the top two from each progressing to the knock out stages where they would compete for place in the final.

And to boot, Mark, 24, is now the number one Pro Evolution Soccer player in the country. Mark’s choice team is Inter Milan and he fought hard to win 2-1 in the nail biting final. He said: “I was doing well up until the closing stages in the match, but then things just went a bit crazy.

If you want to find a video games tournament for cash prizes near you check out our list of online video game tournament sites. Also, if you want to play many different games without having to buy them, you can use coupon code TENDAY for a free trial at GameFly.