Aimed primarily at the financial community, Trader Games offers players the opportunity to compete for cash rewards against other players, in games that test their skill and their judgement of the international financial markets. The initial game challenges will be in Foreign Exchange.

Trader Games is the brainchild of well-known financier Dermot Desmond, whose other investments include Celtic Football Club, London City Airport, Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados and the Dublin-based investment management house, IIU.

The competitions allow players to use their judgement and skill, trading against real-time, online foreign exchange data. Games can be played globally, and can be between any number of players and for varying prizes. For example, four players might play at £50 each or a larger game with 40-50 players game and a £500 entry fee can be offered. Players can join any suitable game from the many on offer throughout the day, making a choice that matches their confidence, skill and appetite for winnings. Also, players can create their own games to match their exact requirements, setting their own limits on player numbers, entry fees and duration.

Games vary in length from 1– 4 hours, to day-long or week-long contests. During the games, players open and close virtual positions within realistic constraints such as overall exposure and stop-loss limits. Different strategies and tactics can be employed to achieve success. The winner is the player within each game who trades most successfully, based on P&L at game end. Unlike the markets on which they are based, every game produces a winner - a rare example of winning even with a negative P&L!

Will Dermot Desmond – himself a keen man for a wager - be taking part? "I'm not so sure about that. There are probably a lot of players out there who know much more about FX markets than I do – this game is for them! It's always more satisfying though, to play against the markets rather than to trust Lady Luck!"

Trader Games spokesman, Hugh Curran says, "This is a new kind of game with lots of exciting features – it will certainly appeal to those who know the FX markets. The games bring together the concepts of serious play, high winnings and limited risk into an enjoyable format that will test the skills and nerve of competitors."

"The range of markets addressed by Trader Games will be continuously extended over the coming months." adds Curran.