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The launch announcement at WSOM 2010 – features our player William Hung…
(Macau, August 20, 2010) The Third- Annual World Series of Mahjong (‘WSOM”) commenced this morning at The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel, with 201 players from more than 10 different countries competing for the World Champion title and the prize money of HK$1million.
Before the tournament began, a kick-off ceremony was held by Mr. John Hardyment, CEO of World Mahjong Limited, Mr. Gunther Hatt, Senior Vice President of Operations of Venetian Macau Limited and Mr. Alex Ho Kwok-Hung, the Second World Champion. 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 (August 22nd, 2010) and compete for the World Champion title.
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 50 years. I guess I am very lucky today because I have just celebrated my birthday here in Macau,” said by the cheerful Ms. Wang.
Lam Ho-Nam, 2008 2nd runner-up (left 1), Alex Ho Kwok-Hung, WSOM 2008 Champion (Left 2), William Hung (Left 3) and Hiu Chung-La
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 Mahjong Club. 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 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.”
The WSOM 2010 Main Event kicks off
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.
(Macau, August 22, 2010) An exciting Final Round of the Third-annual World Series of Mahjong was held today at The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel. 16 mahjong players battled against each other and after 9 hours of 3 elimination rounds, the World Champion was crowned. Chan Tak-Kwan, a furniture salesperson from Hong Kong, outlasted the other 200 participants from more than 10 countries to win the title of “World Champion”. Pao Jin-Long, another player from Hong Kong, settled for the second place while Yang Xun-Zhi from Taiwan and Li Jin-Dai from mainland China won the third and fourth places in the tournament respectively. It is the first time for the World Series of Mahjong to have players from Greater China playing together at the Final Table.
Chan Tak-Kwan, a 34-year-old furniture salesperson from Hong Kong, becomes the third World Champion from Hong Kong. He has been playing mahjong for over ten years. He was encouraged by his friends to participate in the qualifier organized by Blue Girl Beer in Hong Kong. Then he was sponsored by Blue Girl Beer to participate in the World Series Championship tournament in Macau, and fought his way bravely to the Final Table today. He did not perform very well for the first two days of the World Series, and he was originally in the fourth place at the Final Table. However, just like what happened to the 2008 World Champion, Chan fought over the other three players with confidence in the last few hands and changed his fate near the end. “The first thing I want to do now is to thank my friends who have encouraged me to participate in the Blue Girl Beer qualifier in the beginning. Chan took home a cash prize of HK$180,530, a World Champion necklace, a unique Venetian mask sponsored by The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel, and a free seat in the 2011World Series of Mahjong.
Pao Jin-Long, the 31-year-old first runner-up from Hong Kong, has been playing mahjong for 18 years since he came to live in Hong Kong from America. “My parents taught me how to play mahjong. I think mahjong is very challenging, so it is a very suitable sport for a smart person,” said the confident Pao. He was awarded with HK$155,078 prize money.
Yang Xun-Zhi, the 51-year-old player from Taipei, has been playing mahjong for 35 years and settled for the third place today in the World Series. He had participated in the Second World Series but did not make it to the top 128 players on the second day of the tournament. “So I went home, studied the game rules and practiced hard. Today I can enjoy the fruit of my hard work!”, said Yang proudly. He took home a prize money of HK$124,297.
Li Jin-Dai, the 39-year-old beauty practitioner from mainland China, was disappointed about finishing in the fourth place. “Mahjong is my only interest and I have been playing for over 20 years. I often participate in the national mahjong tournaments in mainland China. Today, I had a leading position at the Final Table, but lost a lot of points to the Champion in the last few hands. Still, I believe I am a professional mahjong player!” said Li, who received a cash prize of HK$112,839.
The World Series of Mahjong was a three-day championship tournament launched in 2006 by World Mahjong Limited, a group of international media veterans and entertainment industry professionals. The World Series of Mahjong gathers top mahjong players from all over the world to vie for the enviable title of “World Mahjong Champion”.
Some quick shots of the team at the World Series Of Mahjong 2010 in Macau. Shao-Fu is playing today in the Riichi event and then tomorrow the Main Event kicks off with both players gunning for the big prize.
More pictures on Facebook here.
Ready to play! William and Shao-Fu in Macau
The World Series of Mahjong 2010 - Mahjong Club Team
WSOM 2010 Players
Mahjong Club wishes all competitors in the World Series of Mahjong the best of Luck with the games over the next 3 days. We have our two players there and of course they get a little bit more luck – we will post piccies of them as soon as they are available.
The World Series of Mahjong kicks off tommorrow at the Venetian hotel and resort in Macau with the one day Riichi event. With a buy-in of US$1000 this event promises to provide a significant prize to the winner. Mahjong Club is proud to be a sponsor of Reach Mahjong – organisers of this event – and will be represented by Shao-Fu Lu from Taiwan. We wish him all the best for a fruitful game.
Friday sees the start of the 3 day Main Event with a US$650 buy-in. Played to the unique WSOM rules this promises to have the largest prize – topping US$1 Million in previous years. Mahjong Club is pleased to be represented here by William Hung from the USA. William came second in our qualifier and took the place of Frank Yao who was unable to make it to the game. We wish William much luck in the game as well.
The 2010 WSOM will include three separate tournaments, namely the 3-day single-elimination Main Event World Championship, a US$5,000 buy-in High Rollers Event and the US$1,000 buy-in Reach (Riichi Rules) Event. The buy-in for the Main Event is HK$5,000 (US$650), plus HK$500 registration fee. Prize money will be based on the number of participants in each tournament. The total maximum prize pool for the combined 2010 WSOM events is US$1,000,000, and prize money will be paid to the top 32 places in the Main Event. All tournaments are open to any mahjong player who is at least 21 years of age.
As mentioned in our newsletter last week, the winner of the Main Event seat on Mahjongclub.com – Frank Yao – was unable to make the tournament in Macau, so we offered the seat to the first customer who asked for it. William Hung was that player – he also came second in the Main Event tournament so it is deservedly his.
WSOM 2010 Main Event Contestant
William will be contesting the World Series of Mahjong for Mahjong Club – we wish him all the best!
Both William and Shao-fu Lu will be wearing the eye-catching and fashionable Mahjong Club Polo shirts and caps. If you would also like to wear our gear at the WSOM there are limited numbers of caps and shirts that can be picked up on Thursday at the Venetian – please email manager@mahjongclub.com to get one.
Mahjong club would like to congratulate the following players who won seats in the World Series of Mahjong that will take place later this month at the Venetian Resort in Macau.
The Main Event seat was won by Frank Yao from Canada and the Riichi Event by Shao-Fu Lu of Taipei – Taiwan.
“I was thrilled when I received the picture below of Shao-Fu Lu taken at the 2008 Asia Mahjong Open where he managed to come first! The prize for that was $30,000 – we are hoping he tops that with a great win in the 2010 World Series of Mahjong!” said Adriaan Brink – CEO of Mahjong Club.
Winner of the Riichi seat in the Mahjong Club WSOM qualifier
Players wishing to participate in the World Series can still register at http://www.world-series-mahjong.com/edm/wsom_register.htm and pay the entrance fee.
The world’s largest mahjong tournament, the “World Series of Mahjong” (“WSOM”), will return to Macao this summer for the third time! The long-awaited tournament will be held from August 19-22, 2010 at the prestigious The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel. Registration begins today at The Venetian Macao, the official registration venue for WSOM. Mahjong players do get ready to step on the glamorous mahjong “Avenue of Stars” and enjoy the thrilling experience!
The third World Series will include two separate tournaments, namely, the 3-day single-elimination Main Event World Championship and the US$1,000 buy-in Riichi Rules Tournament. The buy-in fee for the Main Event is HK$5,000 (US$650), plus HK$500 registration fee. The second World Series paid out the highest US$1 million prize money in the mahjong history, while the prize pool for this year will be based on the number of participants in each exciting tournament. The top 32 places in the Main Event will be awarded prize money according to the rankings.
The Main Event Champion will receive the top cash prize, a World Champion necklace, an unique Venetian Mask sponsored by The Venetian Macao, and a free invitation to the fourth WSOM Main Event in 2011. All tournaments are open to any mahjong player who is at least 21 years of age and ready for the money and fame. The WSOM will employ a simplified World Series of Mahjong Rules® for the 13-tile game, and a scoring system that is fair to all different players in the world.
Congratulations to the winners of the seats at the World Series of Mahjong to be held in Macau later this month. The Riichi seat (value $1000) was won by xppfpkn6 and the Main event (value $650) was won by Pasen88.
We wish both players the very best luck at the tournament!
Its here! The weekend with the two World Series Qualifyer tournaments is here and we are all looking forward to seeing just who is the master of the game on Mahjong Club and then supporting them to represent Mahjong Club at the World Series of Mahjong in Macau in August.
Its not too late to enter – there are two tournaments this weekend:
Main Event Challenge : 24 July 2010 14:00 CET
Riichi Event Challenge : 25 July 2010 14:00 CET
These are of course followed by the big event itself – the World Series of Mahjong at the Venetian Resort in Macau on 19-22 August. With prizes in the millions this promises to be the best ever World Series of Mahjong!
The Mahjong “Avenue of Stars” Unveiled at The Venetian® Macao Today
(MACAU, June 22, 2010） The world’s largest mahjong tournament, the “World Series of Mahjong” (“WSOM”), will return to Macao this summer for the third time! The long-awaited tournament will be held from August 19-22, 2010 at the prestigious The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel. Registration begins today at The Venetian Macao, the official registration venue for WSOM. Mahjong players do get ready to step on the glamorous mahjong “Avenue of Stars” and enjoy the thrilling experience!
The third World Series will include two separate tournaments, namely, the 3-day single-elimination Main Event World Championship and the US$1,000 buy-in Riichi Rules Tournament. The buy-in fee for the Main Event is HK$5,000 (US$650), plus HK$500 registration fee. The second World Series paid out the highest US$1 million prize money in the mahjong history, while the prize pool for this year will be based on the number of participants in each exciting tournament. The top 32 places in the Main Event will be awarded prize money according to the rankings.
The Main Event Champion will receive the top cash prize, a World Champion necklace, an unique Venetian Mask sponsored by The Venetian Macao, and a free invitation to the fourth WSOM Main Event in 2011. All tournaments are open to any mahjong player who is at least 21 years of age and ready for the money and fame. The WSOM will employ a simplified World Series of Mahjong Rules® for the 13-tile game, and a scoring system that is fair to all different players in the world. For more details, please visit the official website at www.wsom168.com.
Interested players can register for the tournament through The Venetian Macao. Special travel packages will be offered to all participants. For registration enquires, please contact CotaiTicketing™ in Macau (853) 2882-8818, Hong Kong (852) 6333-6660, or visit the CotaiTicketing website at www.cotaiticketing.com.
“We wish to sincerely thank The Venetian Macao for their enthusiastic support of the third-annual WSOM. This enables us to bring together the top mahjong players in the world, and provide them with a brand new tournament experience at a world-class venue,” said Mr. John Hardyment, CEO of World Mahjong Limited, founders of the WSOM.
“The Venetian Macao is proud to host the third annual World Series of Mahjong tournament from August 19 to 22. It is just one more example of our effort to bring the best in sport and entertainment to Macau. With this tournament, we look forward to welcoming the world’s most skilled mahjong players to The Venetian Macao,” said Mr. Mark Russell, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.
This press release was issued by Starbiz Communications Limited on behalf of World Mahjong Limited. For enquiries, please contact Ms. Anna Leung and Ms. Nicola Lau as follows:
Anna Leung (852) 9667-2487 and (852) 2521-0860, anna@starbiz.com.hk,
Nicola Lau (852) 9673-9372 and (852) 2512-2966 , nicola@starbiz.com.hk
2010 WORLD SERIES OF MAHJONG
EVENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, August 19: Players check-in and practice day.
Thursday, August 19: Riichi Rules Tournament
Friday, August 20: Main Event World Championship, Day One.
Saturday, August 21: Main Event, Day Two.
Sunday, August 22: Main Event, Day Three. Final Round
Sunday, August 22: Awards Ceremony and Check Presentation
The software used for operating Mahjong Club is licensed from Mahjong Logic Limited, First Floor, Jubilee Buildings, Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2SH which is licensed and regulated (31/12/2009) by the Gambling Supervision Commission of the Isle of Man.
