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 22^nd, 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.