It's a question proper athletes face all the time. What do you do when you hang up the cleats/boots? Well, if you're Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger, former pro Counter-Strike player, you make the move from video games to online poker.

Which sounds a little random, seeing as one involves furious mousework and fast reflexes while the other relies on cool heads and a honed bullshit reflex, but apparently it's a natural progression.

"I used to be a professional gamer", Benger tells PokerListings. "I played Counter-Strike for a living, so I transitioned into poker because it has a lot of the same skills, mostly being able to sit in front of a computer for long periods of time."

"But it's a pretty natural transition and a lot of people were doing it. Once I got into poker I became really obsessed with it. It's really one of those games where there's always room to get better, and that was one of the problems with Counter-Strike, I got to a point where I couldn't really get much better."

That...actually makes sense. I mean, I'm sure the fact there's a ton more money in poker helps, but the ceiling's got to be a lot higher for getting to the top of the food chain.

Counter-Strike Champ Griffin Benger Wins Millions at Online Poker [PokerListings]

"Surfing" is a strange little quirk that's long been available in the Counter-Strike series. Those wondering if it'll make the jump to the latest version, Counter-Strike: GO, yes, it has made the jump.

Player MitchellS has ported venerable CS map surf_greatriver_remix to Global Offensive, and has made it playable for those in the beta. You can see it in action in the video above.

"Surfing" dramatically changes the way you play the game. Join a surfing server and the corridor shooter you're used to playing disappears, replaced with something much faster and chaotic.

Port of the classic "surf_greatriver_remix" to Global Offensive [Game Banana, thanks Moskeeto!]

Scoring a knife kill in a first-person shooter is the ultimate insult to your victim. It's one of the most satisfying kills, too.

But it's not always easy to pull off, as this Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player finds out. He looks to be basically on the camera-focused player's shoulders, so close to getting that glorious knife kill.

Unfortunately for the knifer, YouTube user (and victim) Rustsandstuffs manages to turn around just in time to spray-and-pray the hell out of him before he can make the knife swipe. His terrified wails as a result to the close call are hilarious, and even more hilarious in the proceeding slow-motion version.

Knife surprise! [Reddit]

Valve has been keeping track of the people currently playing the beta for Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Not just who's winning and who's losing, but really interesting stuff, like where everyone is standing when they pull the trigger.

The result of that kind of data-tracking is this glorious map (of de_train), showing exactly where players were when they decided to up and shoot somebody. As you can see, some spots are relatively tranquil. Others, well, they're battlegrounds. Or, to be more correct, since this is tracking where people were standing, campsites.

The Science of CS:GO [Valve, via PC Gamer]

Publishers Nexon and Valve will collaborate to bring the shooter Counter-Strike Online 2 to Asian territories, they said today.

In a press release explaining very little about how this will be different than older Counter-Strike games, the publishers write:

Counter-Strike Online 2 will offer enhanced graphics, more realistic gameplay and powerful impact sensations powered by an enhanced version of the Source engine. The game will also feature various game modes enhancing its original game experience with new and improved environments, weapons, equipment customization and more.

The game will be published in Japan, Korea, China and other areas in Southeast Asia, Nexon said. We've asked for clarification on how this will be different than the first Counter-Strike Online and whether it will be connected to Valve's upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

A round of Counter-Strike at an internet cafe in the Philippines capital of Manila turned deadly on Monday, when a member of the losing team was murdered after an argument over the payment of approximately seven dollars in winnings.

According to authorities the friendly wager of 300 pesos took a decidedly unfriendly turn, with a full-blown argument breaking out at the cafe over payment of the relatively meager sum. The dispute was eventually resolved, but one member of the winning team wasn't happy with the outcome, following losing team member Eric Cristobal to his home and stabbing him to death.

Police investigator Noel Ibanez said that Cristobal was not responsible for starting the argument; merely an unfortunate victim. Police took the suspect into custody yesterday.

Man murdered in video game row [City Press]

You're going to have to wait a tad longer for the next Counter-Strike. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be a summer game, instead of a spring game, Valve's Doug Lombardi told me today. The game is still coming to Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac, but Valve needed a little more time to get it to the state they want you to enjoy it in.

Valve has some new screenshots for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the new reimagining of the popular Half-Life mod that has turned into a phenomenon over the years, selling 25 million (!) copies, according to the publisher.

Counter-Strike: GO will be out this summer for Xbox 360, PC, Mac and PlayStation 3.

Valve is ramping up participation in the Counter-Stike: Global Offensive beta, promising a whole round of keys will be handed out to people who complete a survey on the game.

All you've got to do is head here and answer some questions, and "over the coming months [Valve] will make selections from the survey participants".

In good news for the curious, unlike the company's DOTA 2 beta, new players will be welcomed as part of the intake.

Survey [Valve]

This Spring sees the release of Tactical Intervention on the PC, a game noteworthy because its development has been led by one of the co-creators of Counter-Strike. So the fact the two games look similar is no coincidence.

Former Valve staffer Minh Le, who has been working on the game in Korea for a few years now, will be publishing the game in North America through OGPlanet, with a beta to kick off next month.

While Valve's own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an iterative update to the venerable old franchise, Tactical Intervention looks far more ambitious, including some unexpected stuff like driving sequences.

Tactical Intervention launching in spring 2012 [Neowin]