‘A’ in Maths no guarantee for a good result in the WSoM
- Details
- Created on Friday, 20 August 2010 13:01
- Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 18:00
- Written by Press Release
MACAU - The Third- Annual World Series of Mahjong (‘WSoM”) commenced this morning at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, with 201 players from eleven countries competing for the World Champion title and the prize money of HK$1million (€101,178, USD128,635).
Among the 201 players, almost half are coming from Hong Kong, with the rest mostly coming from Taiwan and mainland China. There are also players from the United States, U.K, Japan and Australia.
“Mahjong Australia”, the official partner for the Australian qualifier, brought 27 professional players from Australia to Macau today. Among them, there is a 76 year-old Asian woman who comes to participate in her wheelchair. “I have been playing mahjong for more than fifty years. I guess I am very lucky today because I have just celebrated my birthday here in Macau,” said the cheerful Ms. Wang.
American Idol
William Hung, who became famous in one night after his performance of the Ricky Martin song She Bangs in the “American Idol” TV show, has been sponsored to participate in the World Series by a gaming website. The 28-year-old Hung has just completed his degree in Mathematics at an American university. He said, “Mathematics can really help me in playing mahjong. I really look forward to developing my mahjong career in Japan. To me, both luck and skills are important for winning a mahjong tournament. I think I am a lucky guy, so I have high hopes for winning this time.”
Unfortunately, he did not do very well this first afternoon. His scores were deducted due to the faults made by the other players at the same table, according to the WSoM rules. “I started to play mahjong with my family and online since I was just a kid. I only became serious on playing after I was invited to play at a celebrity charity mahjong game. I will try my best this time and I will have no regrets if I lose.”
This year’s tournament features the previous two world champions: Mr. Alex Ho Kwok-Hung and Mr. Hui Chung-Lai from Hong Kong. It also brings top players from other countries, including Mr. Wong Kin-Chung, chairman of the “Chinese Mahjong League” from mainland China, Mr. Kojima Kazuya, renowned Japanese comedian and TV host from Nippon Television Network, the first commercial TV station in Japan. Celebrity players from Taiwan include Hsu Nai-Lin, who is a popular TV game show host and has been supporting the World Series since its first year.
Rules
In the WSoM, ‘Zung Jung’ rules are applied -- a ruleset with resemblance to Hong Kong Mahjong. However, the game format and rules for this year are slightly different than those for the previous World Series. This year, all players will be able to play 6 full sessions or 96 hands before the final. In addition, prize money will be awarded according to their scores instead of rankings, which serves as a good incentive for players. The top 16 players will move on to the final on day three of the tournament (coming Monday) and compete for the World Champion title.
The new prize structure allows the cash prize to be paid according to one's final score, which serves as both an incentive for participants to play harder and a chance to win more money than under the old structure. The top 32 players will be awarded with prize money, and the world champion will receive a World Champion necklace and a Venetian mask sponsored by the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, in addition to the prize money.
World Mahjong Limited
The World Series of Mahjong was launched in 2006 by World Mahjong Limited, a group of international media veterans and entertainment industry professionals. Details about the event – registration, rules and regulations, etc – are available on the official website www.wsom168.com.
Parallel to the main event, also a riichi event is being held in Macau. Mahjong News and ReachMahjong.Com correspondent Gemma Collinge reports about this competition.
This press release was issued by Starbiz Communications Limited on behalf of World Mahjong Limited.
Please submit your proposal to the SF government and the sponsers (advertising agents and broadcasting companies). We eagerly await your getting a positive reply from them.
15% of income may go the Governnment.
10% of income may go to Charity Fund.
Quite a large amount of money can be collected from Advertising Agents & Broadcasting companies
which utilize the Game-field viewing benefits!
If this scheme is operated in SanFrancisco, CA.
this Mahjong-tournament activity may save the down-turn economy of CA. (it maybe approaching the popularity of World Soccer in the future).