Money match
A money match, sometimes referred to as a cash battle or abbreviated as MM, is a gambling event that occurs between two smashers who agree to play a match against each other whose winner will get a sum of real-world money in addition to an in-game victory. Money matches may occur as side events at tournaments (such as in a Salty Suite) but can be played anywhere with two players and a game setup; some players even perform money matches over Wi-Fi or netplay, with electronic methods of payment like PayPal being used to pay the wager. Some pro smashers, such as KDJ, are well-known for the amount of money matches they play.
Money matches typically have the same rules as tournament sets, and are usually best-of-three, best-of-five, or, in particularly high-stakes cases, first-to-five. This means they usually include stage and character counterpicking. Two-on-two money matches are not unheard of, but are considerably rarer than singles.
The largest amount for any money match ever done was $1,000, whose distinction is shared among money matches between Tafokints and Tian in Apex 2014's Salty Suite, Leffen and Mango during bracket at Apex 2015, and Leffen and SFAT at DreamHack Winter 2015. Leffen is set to have a $1,000 money match at GENESIS 3 against Westballz.
Sometimes, money matches include non-monetary wagers. This may be as small as food or drinks, but part of the stakes in a very high-profile 2015 money match between Leffen and Chillin was the unofficial "right" to the white Melee Fox costume for tournament use. [1]
Generally, money matches only occur in the North American, South American, and European tournament scenes (with exceptions, such as Norway). In Japan, money matches can be considered to be non-government-condoned gambling (just like tournaments themselves), and are uncommon.
Notable Money Matches
- The $1000 Money Match: Tian Vs. Tafokints
- SKTAR 3 - Professor Pro vs Rolex - $100 Money Match
- Apex 2015 - C9 Mango (Falco) Vs. Leffen (Fox) - $1000 Money Match
- Salty Suite - MattDotZeb (Falco) Vs. Kage The Warrior (Ganondorf)
- WTFox: C9Mango(Marth) vs TSM_Leffen(Fox) $365 Bo5
- TSM | Leffen Vs. SFAT - $1000 FT5
