It’s not necessarily a new concept, they’re just perfecting it.

GamerSaloon.com has quickly come to the forefront of online gaming web sites which offer peer-to-peer online tournaments and matches with real payouts. Just think of it as a mix between Xbox Live and PayPal. At GameSaloon.com, and web sites similar in nature, gamers can literally put their money where their mouths are by competing in head-to-head tournaments for real cash prizes. GamerSaloon.com offers competition in just about every competitive game (on PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS), but they have really made a name for themselves in the area of Madden NFL, which is currently their top game.

We’ve seen web sites like this come and go, but after talking to President and CEO, Gabe Rubin, we quickly found out that GamerSaloon.com has staying power. Rubin thinks so too, saying his ultimate goal is to revolutionize competitive online gaming.

The Origins

Rubin dreamt up the idea of GamerSaloon.com a couple years ago while competing against his brothers in NHL 05 online on Playstation 2. Rubin was living in Michigan and his brothers in California, but that didn't take away from the heated battles for pride.

"We actually started putting money on the games and the idea popped in my head and I came up with this concept to create a web site that allowed online gamers to compete against other gamers in head-to-head matches, multiplayer tournaments and clan matches for real cash prizes,” Rubin said. “That's exactly what we did."

Before starting the site, Rubin was a real estate developer in the metro Detroit area, but turned to the web site for his new full time job. Rubin said he always had a passion for video games and they were always involved in his life growing up.

The site has been up for a year and two months and has close to 40,000 members; 5,000 of which participate regularly in match play. Rubin said the site is also growing every day.

"I know there is some other sites that have been out, but we have created a niche where we offer online video game players the ability to come to our site, where it’s secure, and play against each other," Rubin said.

Actively Involved

While Rubin and his staff are developing new concepts to attract gamers of other games, Madden 08 is the most played at GamerSaloon.com (next is NBA 2k8). This didn't happen by chance either. GamerSaloon.com has been very active in the Madden community, highlighted by their role last year where they forked over $7,000 to sponsor the Mega Bowl held in California. They also sponsored last year’s Player’s Bowl in Philadelphia.

Rubin also developed relationships with some of the more well-known Madden communities such as the Ballers Club Alliance to fuel the attraction between GamerSaloon.com and the Madden community.

"We did that, which helped grow our Madden community, and then we developed relationship with some of the individual players."

Those players were Steve "Coach" Williams and Chuck "Hollywood" James of Madden Nation Season 3. GamerSaloon.com is no longer providing sponsorships for these tournaments because Rubin said him and his staff feel other market strategies yield more of a result.

"Now, we're starting to see that payback (from sponsoring the Madden tournaments),” Rubin said. “It was great for us to be involved with those events. It didn't have that immediate result that we wanted to see, but it had a long-term, positive impact on the company as a whole."

The Big SNAFU

But, with every good thing, there is always something bad.