This report on his play by William Hung, one of the Mahjong Club players at the World Series of Mahjong, is really interesting as it gives fantastic insight into the thoughts and strategies in these competitions.  Many thanks to William for his hard work compiling this.

Hi everyone.  This is my tournament summary for the 2010 World Series of Mahjong.  First of all, I need to make it clear to all of you that I do not have 100% accurate hand histories.  I did not take notes of starting hand nor the each tile drawn during each turn.

However, I do remember all the key hands of each ½ round.  This means players are randomly drawn to play 8 hands together at a time before switching.   I will assume that you know the rules of World Series of Mahjong.  If not, you may want to read the rules and scoring system on www.wsom168.com.

Day 1

Round 1a

The player that sat directly across from me won 2 big hands – one hand Mixed One-Suit (混一色) and red dragon (50-point base value) and another big hand with Pure One-Suit (清一色) (90-point base value) from discards from the guy sitting to the left of me!  I’m not happy that I have to pay the 30 point minimum because I did not discard those winning tiles.  I could not win any significant hand during this half round.  I remember I won two 1-point hands (chicken hands), but not much else.

Result: -75

Round 1b

We were winning hands with basic All Sequences (平和) for the first 4 hands or so.  3 of the last 4 hands were big hands.  I won on the 6^th hand with Mixed Lesser Terminals (混全帶么) and

All Sequences (平和).  Unfortunately, I was responsible for discarding the winning Green Dragon the very next hand for Mixed One-Suit (混一色), Concealed Hand (門前清), Value Honor (番牌)

(55-point base value) for the player right across from me.

It was only the 7^th tile I discarded.  I knew the opponent across from me was going for Mixed One-Suit (混一色) with Bamboos.  However, there was no reason for me to believe he was ready (one tile away from winning).  His discards looked something like:

I thought  will help someone claim pung, but not the winning tile.  I lost 105 points, while the other players lost 30 points.  There was not much I could do.  If I were to totally give up my hand, I could probably hold on to my green dragon tile.  But I felt my hand was not worthless, so I chose to discard the honor tile green dragon to increase my winning chances for my hand.

Fortunately, on the 8^th hand, I was able to win Three Similar Sequences (三色同順) with All Sequences (平和) the last hand.

Using the 1-2-3 sequences and 7 dot as my pair, I was able to win on 9 character with an open-ended wait of 7-8 character.  This hand had a 40-point base value, giving me 120 total points.  This hand gave me a much needed small positive score to finish off the 1^st round.

Result: +109

We need to take the square root of the total score from each round to get the actual score.  If you read about the tournament structure for this year, you will realize its intention to minimize the luck factor somewhat.

Total Raw Score after Round 1: -75 + 109 = +34

Total Score (after Square Root):  +5.83

Round 2a:

I won the very 1^st hand with No Terminals (斷么九) and Three Similar Sequences (三色同順).

I claimed pung on 8 characters and made a chi on 2-3-4 bamboo sequence.  I had 2-3-4 dots, a pair of 6 dots, and 3-4 characters that made an open-ended wait.  I was fortunate enough to self-pick 2 character for a +120 point hand.  (40-point base value multiplied by 3)

I could not win another hand though.  The Japanese player across from me was consistently winning 6-7 hands that are worth 5-point or 10-point base value.   Mostly they were No Terminals (斷么九), Value Honor (番牌), All Sequences (平和), and Concealed Hand (門前清).

Result: +80

Round 2b:

I had a really bad outing on this ½ round.  I discarded the winning tile for Mixed One-Suit (混一色) twice.  I played with a famous Japanese comedian sitting to my right.  I did not know he was a Japanese comedian until Garthe told me later when I finished the tournament.  All I know was that every hand was being recorded using a video recorder behind me.

I had this experience before when I played in the World Mahjong Tour – Celebrity Invitational, so that was not an issue for me.  I really wished I had a better showing for Japanese media as well as the Japanese players.  It was a rather embarrassing ½ round for me as I couldn’t get anything going.

Result: -205

Total Raw Score after Round 2: 80 – 205 = -125

Total Score (after Square Root):  -11.18

Total Score after 2 rounds (Taking sums of square roots) = -5.35

I need to turn things around in a hurry…

Round 3a:

This was interesting because each player won a big hand once.  I remember I won Three Similar Sequences (三色同順) and All Sequences (平和). The girl from Hong Kong on my left won with All Triplets (對對和) and Value Honor (番牌).  I forgot what the other two hands were, but I remember they also had 40-point base value as well.  It was basically a draw for everyone.

Result: -15

I don’t think I could have done anything differently for round 3a, so let’s move on to round 3b…

Round 3b:

I really needed a decent positive score to remain in contention for top 16 / top 32.  I didn’t feel the need to gamble yet, so I decided to stick to the gameplan of taking of what’s given.  This means I did not try to force myself to go for big hand every hand yet.

This worked out pretty well.  I won one key hand with Three Similar Sequences (三色同順), All Sequences (平和), No Terminals (斷么九), and Concealed Hand (門前清) with a 55-point base value.  After that, I played defensively and won some 5-point hands of All Sequences (平和).

Result: +99

Total Raw Score after Round 3: -15 + 99 = +84

Total Score (after Square Root):  +9.17

Total Score after 3 rounds (Taking sums of square roots) = +3.82

This is not ideal, mostly because of my poor showing in round 2b.  I will need to gamble day 2, but I will try to pick my spots.

Day 2

Round 4a:

I did not get any hand that had big hand potential, so I concentrated on winning lots of small hands consisting of No Terminals (斷么九), Value Honor (番牌), All Sequences (平和), and Concealed Hand (門前清). I just made sure I did not give up the winning tile to big hands.

Result: +45

Round 4b:

The key hand was Seven Pairs (七對子).  I remember my opponent sitting to my left was close to winning with Mixed One-Suit (混一色). However, I know I needed the points for my Seven Pairs (七對子) this round.  It was a critical hand because I know that if I lose, I will need a miracle to make top 16/ top 32.  Luckily, I dodged a bullet when I discarded a 7 character and he didn’t win with it.  I self-picked 7 dots to win the hand.  (30-point base value, 90 point total)

I won a few small hands thereafter and played fairly cautiously.

Result: +98

Total Raw Score after Round 4: 45 + 98 = +143

Total Score (after Square Root):  +11.96

Total Score after 4 rounds (Taking sums of square roots) = +15.78

I could not ask for a better start to my day 2.  I definitely felt that I was in contention for top 16 / top 32.

Round 5a:

If I’m not mistaken, I was playing with PUYO, a Japanese professional mahjong player.  I also saw a Chinese lady that qualified from i8 Qualifiers.  I know I have a tough table, because i8 is also a website I played on from time to time and there were hundreds of players that played in their World Series of Mahjong qualifiers, so I know that lady is a tough player too.

No one was able to win a big hand at all, but that does not mean this table was boring.  There were many strategic pungs and chows.  I felt that all of us were playing at a high level, paying attention to every discard.

Result: -27

I didn’t do anything wrong for round 5a, but I only have 24 hands left for the tournament, and 8 hands left for this round.  I need to do whatever it takes to get a positive 100 points (raw score) for this round.

Round 5b:

I drew another tough table.  There was a lady that qualified from Taiwan sitting directly to my right and another veteran Japanese professional player sitting across from me.  I started off well, winning a 15-point hand and a 10-point hand, respectively – No Terminals (斷么九), Two Concealed Triplets (二暗刻), Concealed Hand (門前清) followed by No Terminals (斷么九), All Sequences (平和).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anything going until the last hand.  The last hand was another critical hand.  I made a pung of 9 dots and North.  I could have won with 6-character for a Chicken hand (1-point base value), or a 9-character for Mixed Lesser Terminals (混全帶么) (40-point base value).  I had to have the 120 points or I will need a miracle in the last round.  So I decided to not win on a discard of 6-character from the Taiwanese player.  Unfortunately, the Japanese player pung the Red Dragon from the player sitting on my left and won the hand by self-pick (Tsumo) on his next draw.  It was so disappointing…

Result: +20

Total Raw Score after Round 5: -27 + 20 = -7

Total Score (after Square Root):  -2.65

Total Score after 5 rounds (Taking sums of square roots) = +13.13

If it was early in the tournament, a +20 raw score is not a bad result at all.  However, I think it should depend on the kind of hands you get as well.  I had the potential to end up with +113.  After the round was over, I saw that the projected cut to top 16 is something like +45 (total score after taking sums of square roots from each round).  For top 32, I predict it will be around +30.

This means I have 16 hands to earn a positive score of 250 points or more.  It is very difficult, but I can’t give up now.  If I don’t make the cut, that last hand from round 5b will probably sting…

Round 6a:

I had three opportunities to win monster hands, but couldn’t win any of them.  The first was Mixed One-Suit (混一色), Value Honor (番牌), and Nine-Tile Straight (一氣通貫).  The second was Mixed One-Suit (混一色), Value Honor (番牌), and Three Identical Sequences (一色三同順) !  The third was Pure One-Suit (清一色).  I was one tile away from winning!

Unfortunately, close doesn’t count.  Also, I wasn’t going to play for small hands less than 35-point base value because I cannot afford to waste a hand.

Result: -196

Round 6b:

I really need a miracle for these last 8 hands to have any chance at all.  Fortunately, I had the honor of playing against the 2008 World Champion, Alex Ho.  It was a shame that I wasn’t even close to winning any hand.  The last hand I went for Mixed One-Suit (混一色) and Small Three Winds (小三風), but someone won the hand and I was still two tiles away from winning.

Result: -47

Total Raw Score after Round 6: -196 – 47 = -243

Total Score (after Square Root):  -15.58

Final Score (Taking sums of square roots) = -2.47

I think I finished like 95^th.  I don’t have any regrets at all.  To me, finishing 33^rd is the same as finishing 201^st (out of 201 players).  I needed to win 2-3 big hands to have a realistic shot of making the cut to top 16 or top 32, and I almost did.  It was a pleasure playing with all of you.  I would like to thank my parents, relatives and friends who supported me for this event.  In addition, I would like to thank Mahjong Club for sponsoring me in this event as well.  I hope I’ll get another shot at World Series of Mahjong next year.

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.

(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.

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.

Mahjong Club announced today the first of a series of tournaments where players will be able to win their way into a seat in the million dollar World Series of Mahjong tournament to be held at the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel in Macau on August 19-22 2010.

Players will be able to buy into qualifier tournaments for as little as $1 starting Friday 18 March and win their way up to the “big one” – the Main Event with an expected multi-million dollar prize pool.

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.

The WSOM features the world’s best mahjong players from around the world competing for cash prizes in the exciting tournaments being held annually in Asia’s gaming capital. Given the diversity of mahjong rules as played in Asia and other parts of the world, the WSOM employs a simplified rule and scoring system that is fair to all, simply and easy to learn, systematic and consistent, and emphasizes the playability of the game as a competition of skill. A detailed description of The World Series of Mahjong Rules® is available at www.wsom168.com.

“We are very excited to be supporting the World Series of Mahjong and hope to send as many of our players as possible to the competitions in August” said Adriaan Brink – CEO, Mahjong Club.  “With our huge following on the Facebook Mahjong Club application and our growing player base on the download client I am confident that we will find the top Mahjong players to take on the rest in Macau”.

“We are happy to bring the World Series back to Macau this year, and are looking forward to welcoming players from Mahjong Club to the event. Over the last two World Series events we saw extraordinary mahjong players emerge at these tournaments, with an amazing level of skill and competition. This year’s event is expanding its size and reach to bring together some of 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, the owners of the WSOM.

For more information on Mahjong Club :

Adriaan Brink – CEO

+34 663033244

adriaan@mahjongclub.com

For more information on the World Series of Mahjong :

http://www.world-series-mahjong.com/

info@world-series-mahjong.com