There are 150 of the best gamers in the United States competing at the national finals.

The World Series has the globe's top baseball players, and the Super Bowl has the top football players.

Now, onlookers at Manhattan's Javits Center could see the top video game players in action at the national finals of the 9th annual World Cyber Games.

"These are 150 of the best gamers in the United States playing on 10 titles," Aaron Smolick of World Cyber Games USA said.

"We try to weed it down to the top 20 guys or girls in the U.S. to make up Team USA. And then they're on to Chengdu, China, where where they take on the world -- 78 other countries and 800 gamers," Smolick said.

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	Video game competition News 8’s Adam Balkin has more on this year’s Cyber Games.

If you think the nerves and cutthroat nature among gamers can't come close to October at Yankee Stadium, then Geoff Robinson, a 2007 World Cyber Games champion who also served briefly as a defensive tackle for Central Washington University's football team, begs to differ.

"Not a lot of contact involved in it, but as a competitor there's someone I've got to face, someone I've got to best," Robinson said.

Most competitors say when they're done for the day with work or school that most of their free time is spent preparing for competitive events.

"That's how I played football. I didn't look at it as a sort of chess match, but I looked at it as individuals I needed to be better than and that's how I practice," Robinson said

But if they have to practice video games all the time, do they still find them fun?

"You know when you're playing an instrument and you have to practice, it becomes part of the routine. You got to practice every day," competitor Annie Leung said. "It's still fun, but you're more focused on preparing for a national competition."

The competition is intense, not only because bragging rights are at stake, but because there's a decent amount of prize money to be won.

	Most competitors say most of their free time is spent preparing for competitive events.

"At the grand final in Chengdu, we have we have half a million dollars in prizes," Smolick said. "Right here in the U.S. alone, we have over $100,000 in cash and prizes."

Even if that only averages out to a few thousand dollars for those who do best, keep in mind that all the top competitors receive all-expense paid trips around the nation and globe, just for playing video games.