Sometimes, it pays to play video games.
If you don't believe us, just ask Justin Chavarria, a 21-year-old University of Oregon student who is now $250,000 richer thanks to his incredible MLB 2K13 skills.
Chavarria edged out thousands of other competitors in the Perfect Game Challenge to make it to the finals at the All-Star FanFest in New York. As 2K Sports noted in a press release, getting to New York was no easy task:
"This year's evolution of the MLB 2K13 Perfect Game Challenge was the most competitive in 2K's history, and featured more ways to win than ever before with 30 $25,000 MLB Team Leaderboard prize pools, one per MLB team, for a total of $750,000. More than 785,000 perfect game attempts were logged, and more than 2,500 perfect games were verified. Additionally, individual turnout shattered last year’s Perfect Game Challenge records, with an increase of 23% in unique perfect games thrown (1,191) and 84% in verified perfect games year-over-year from MLB 2K12."
There, he advanced past three other finalists to take home the grand prize.
"I don't think words could properly express how exciting and amazing this whole experience has been," Chavarria said after winning his final game.
Chavarria practiced the game for seven to eight hours a day in June, and he says his background as a stellar pitcher helped him in certain situations.
"Although it's just a video game, the game 'knows' when you're pitching good pitches," Chavarria told The Register-Guard of Eugene, Ore. "So I tried to use my real-life experience. If you're facing a [batter] who is really good, and it's a 2-2 count, you're not going to throw a pitch over the plate. You throw [off the plate], and maybe he'll chase it."
Chavarria says he'll use his winnings to pay for law school and maybe even buy a Ford Raptor.
(H/T to For The Win)
