Patent ID: 7824253

Claim:
A method of providing an online tournament, comprising: providing by a server-computer a first avatar of a first player with an associated cash value, said cash value being stored in the server-computer; providing by the server-computer a competition between the first avatar of the first player and a second avatar of a second player, wherein the first player and the second player access the competition via a network using respective player-computers; determining by the server-computer a designated portion of the first avatar's associated cash value to be transferred to the second avatar; transferring by the server-computer the designated portion of the first avatar's associated cash value to the second avatar; and providing real world cash value associated with the designated portion of the first avatar's associated cash value to the second player, wherein: the second avatar defeats the first avatar by winning a competition, said winning comprising the second avatar eliminating the first avatar from the competition, the second avatar accruing more points than the first avatar over a fixed time period, or the second avatar achieving a goal before the first avatar, and the designated portion of the first avatar's associated cash value is immediately transferred to the second avatar when the second avatar defeats the first avatar in the competition.