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World Series of Mahjong Rules and Information

By Louis Fabiano

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Published: 14Nov2010
Word count: 789
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The World Series of Mahjong is the largest mahjong tournament in the world offering the biggest cash prize purse to the winning player. The first tournament was held in the year 2007 in Macau and ever since, the tournament has been held in different resorts across Macau.

While the second WSOM held in 2008 had the highest prize money of one million dollars in the history of mahjong, this year the prize purse will be decided based on the number of participants registering for the even. The players who take the first 32 spots in the Main Event World Championship will be given the prize money based on their ranking. The person who occupies the first spot will not only receive the highest cash prize, he or she will also receive a World Champion necklace, a Venetian Mask from The Venetian Macao Resort and a free invitation to participate in the 2011 WSOM Main Event World Championship.

Anyone who knows how to play mahjong and is at least 21 years old can take part in the WSOM. This year the WSOM will follow the simplified WSOM rules for the 13-tile game. In addition, the scoring system will be such that it will be fair to all players. The scoring system is easy to understand and this will help players figure out how to play to win a high-scoring hand.

Here are some of World Series of Mahjong rules that have to be followed:

. The tournament will consist of different cycles and each cycle will consist of 4 hands. The deal will pass after each hand. In other words, the East will never repeat a deal.

. The tournament uses 136 tiles with the bonus tiles not being used. So, each player's hand will consist of 13 tiles.

. When the wall is being built, each player has to build 17 stacks. However, if all players agree before the start of the game not to stack the tiles one on top of the other, then the tiles can be placed in two rows.

. Any tile discarded by a player has to be arranged properly from left to right in rows. Each row should contain 6 tiles.

. If a player has a claim, he or she has to say it aloud. If the claim is not said aloud, then the opponent can continue with his or her play. Also, if there is a Pung or Kong claim, it should be said immediately for the claim to take precedence.

. A player can claim a concealed Kong after he or she draws a tile. However, the player cannot claim a concealed Kong after making a claim for Chi or Pong. Also, a concealed Kong should be revealed immediately after it has been declared.

. Each player has three minutes in total to make all his or her plays. Each turn of a player should not take longer than 15 seconds.

. A player can have 2 types of winning hands -- Regular hand and Irregular hand. A Regular hand is composed of 4 sets, where each set can be a sequence, triplet or Kong, and a pair. The Irregular hand can have Thirteen Terminals or Seven Pairs.

. In order for a player to win a hand, he or she should either have a Regular hand or an Irregular hand.

. Each player will be given a Pattern List Card to understand the scoring system used in WSOM. This card can be referred to during play or when the player has a winning hand.

. The WSOM has a no minimum requirement for winning a hand. In other words, a player can win a hand even though the hand does not contain any patterns. This hand will win 1 point and is known as a Chicken hand. However, most simple patterns are worth 5 points, while the bigger ones are worth 40 or more points.

There are several other World Series of Mahjong rules that a player needs to know in order to increase his or her odds of winning. It is best to get a handbook containing the different aspects of the scoring system followed by WSOM. Also, this handbook will give other relevant information on the code of behavior, the appealing system and the way a player should be dressed for the tournament. Also, players have to follow playing etiquette during the tournament.

The WSOM has 4 official languages, namely English, Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Cantonese and Japanese. All instructions and announcements during the tournament are made in all 4 languages.

A day before the tournament, WSOM allows the players to take part in practice games. During these games, the players will be informed about the rules for the tournament by the judges. This will help players understand the rules being followed by WSOM and the practice games are not counted as a part of the tournament.

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