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The team, made up of five men ages 19 to 25 who live in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and California, gets its name from X3O, the North Bethesda video game center that serves as its headquarters. X3O is a gaming center where players rent time on 23 computers and several XBox and Playstation consoles that are connected by a single network, allowing players to play against each other.

Last week, Bell and Elkhatib were preparing for a tournament in ‘‘Counter Strike Source,” a tactical assault game with a first-person view. The two are considered experts in the game because of their ability to plan missions and their sniper-like shooting accuracy.

They took first place at a tournament in Orlando, Fla., in January and placed fourth overall at the World Cyber Games last fall. The team hopes to place first in an upcoming tournament at X3O on March 29, the events are held at least once every two months.

The summer is the busy season for tournaments, Elkhatib said, as teens and college students are on break from school.

Each tournament has a cash prize to split among the team members. Bell and Elkhatib said they’ve netted around $10,000 each by participating in a dozen tournaments.

‘‘It’s not enough to make a living off of,” Bell said. ‘‘But that would be pretty sweet if you can.”

Team X3O members sport bright blue jerseys that bear logos of their sponsors, such as Papa Johns pizza and parent sponsor Dust Off, a company that makes electronic cleaning products.

Nick Fitzsimmons, X30’s marketing director, formed the ‘‘Counter Strike” team when he came to work at the gaming center in 2006. Using Web sites and game servers, the teammates forged friendships with other players and occasionally met at gaming centers like X3O.

Fitzsimmons, a gamer himself and lifelong Montgomery County resident, said X3O is always looking for new team members who can prove their knowledge of the game, strategies and proficiency with the game’s weapons. There are also teams for ‘‘Quake 4” and ‘‘Counter Strike 1.6.”

It takes a ‘‘lot of wasted hours” to become as good as they are, said Elkhatib with a laugh. ‘‘But seriously, it takes a lot of practice and a lot of teamwork.”

The gamers spend at least 20 hours a week — sometimes four hours in a sitting — playing ‘‘Counter Strike” online with their friends and teammates. Elkhatib is a student at Northern Virginia Community College and Bell recently worked at X3O, but is in-between jobs.

The fierce competition at gaming tournaments is part of what attracted Bell to being on a sponsored gaming team. He played baseball in high school in Virginia and then at Western Carolina University before a hand injury ended his hopes of going pro. His handle, ‘‘NineSpot,” is a reference to the No. 9 jersey he wore in college.

‘‘I found that in gaming it’s just as thrilling to win at these big ... events as anything else,” he said. ‘‘I hate losing. I love winning and then when you build these friendships with teammates you keep pushing to be better than the best.”

The team goes through boot camp prior to a tournament where they will spend a lot of time at X3O, often playing ‘‘Counter Strike” into the wee hours of the morning when the store is closed to the public. Tournaments pack the same intensity, Bell said, but are spread over a series of elimination matches during a weekend.

‘‘Just like you’re studying for a last minute exam, you’re in here practicing going over every detail of every strategy,” Elkhatib said.

‘‘Then we’re watching the video [of the match], looking at the faults and seeing what you did wrong.”

Bell and Elkhatib said they had no idea that they would be playing video games at this level when they first picked up ‘‘Counter Strike” in college.

‘‘I think there’s a stereotype of gamers that they’re all alone and don’t talk to people when actually you’re on the Internet talking with thousands and thousands of people,” Bell said. ‘‘But you really build these friendships playing together and playing face to face.”