If you ever find yourself sitting across from Gabe Newell at a poker table, do yourself a favor. Walk away.
Forbes magazine recently added Newell, co-founder and managing director of the video-game superpower Valve Software, to its list of the world’s billionaires, estimating his net worth at $1.5 billion. That figure will likely only grow thanks to his latest gamble, called Steam, which is rapidly becoming for gaming what ITunes is to music.