MediaFile

Dave Geffon, 24, “works” about 50 hours per week and expects to pull in between $40,000 to $60,000 this year — playing video games.

The Austin, Texas-based professional gamer is one of 12 members of Team USA, which will face off against 700 elite players from 70 countries at the World Cyber Games Grand Final in Monza, Italy, in October.

“I just fell into it,” said Geffon, who said his gaming team’s Las Vegas win gave him an “amazing sense of accomplishment.”

Members of Team USA took home a combined purse of $75,000+ from the U.S. Final that wrapped in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The team will be the defending Grand Champion at the 2006 world competition in Italy.

Last year’s Grand Final, held in Singapore, had a $2.5 million purse. The value of this year’s prize has yet to be announced.

Here’s a list of U.S. Final winners and Team USA members:

“Counter-Strike”: Team 3D

Dave “Moto” Geffon, Austin, Texas; Ronald “Rambo” Kim, Dallas, Texas; Josh “Dominator” Sievers, Polk City, Iowa ; Salvatore “Volcano” Garozzo, Eastchester, New York; Mike “Method” So, Los Angeles, California

“Warhammer 40,000″: Russ “Ir0nclad” Watson, Wylie, Texas

“WarCraft III”: Franklin “nilknarf” Pearsall, Kenmore, Washington

“StarCraft”: Geunhwa “lastgosu” Ralph, Palisades Park, New Jersey

“FIFA 06″: Isidro “novushaim” Sifuentes, Houston, Texas

“Need for Speed: Most Wanted”: Kamran “omegaelite” Siddiqui, Orlando, Florida

“Project Gotham Racing 3″: Wesley “TTR Ch0mpr” Cwiklo, Camarillo, California

“Dead or Alive 4″: Manny “DOAMASTER” Rodriguez of Dallas, Texas