Reach is becoming bigger and bigger and ReachMahjong.com is helping to lead the way! Coming up on our 1st Birthday (sometime in December), Reach Mahjong: The Only Way to Play has been part of lots of great new plans and is working on more as we speak!

First, I'd like to announce the opening of MahjongMart.com: Your 'jong Experts. Andy from Yakitori Online and I have teamed together to bring you a brand new online store offering Mahjong goods at reasonable prices. We already have a variety of tiles including an affordable version of tiles inspired by the character Washizu in the popular Manga/Anime: Akagi and an easy to use, easy to carry Junk Mat, which includes a place to keep your scoring sticks in plain site. Each tile set purchased on our site comes with a 12-page English rule booklet that covers the basics of the game and explains scoring. The book includes 4 reference cards with tile explanations on the front for your friends who can't read the Chinese characters on the tiles and a list of the Hand Points on the back for quick score-counting and help while you play. A score card is also included with the Dealer's score-chart on one side and Non-Dealer's on the other. Reach Mahjong was never so easy to teach and play! Check out our Press Release!

Next, ReachMajong.com has been working on a new design and we will be ready to open next month. The new format will make it easier to get news to you faster and update our columns in a more timely manner. We will include an interview link system with our partner-site Yakitori Online as well as a new strategy section to compliment our rules section. There will also be an official Ron2 tutorial to help non-Japanese speakers navigate the site. This is a temporary solution until the full English version is ready to go. We have a million ideas and our excellent staff is growing, so look forward to a fully-functioning Mahjong portal, bringing you all the latest in Reach Mahjong.

In other news, our second season at JPML started this month and we have lots of tournaments going on! Our League tournament happens on the first weekend of each month. I'm happy to report that both Garthe and I did well in the first session (there are 5 sessions in each season) of D2 league and are both ahead in the point count. Garthe currently up 16.7 points in 15th place and I am up 81.7 points in 4th place. Each season the top players in each level move up to the next level, so cheer us on!

A new season of Champions League started as well and Garthe made an appearance the first weekend. Champs League is a league open to all JPML members with no predetermined ranking system. There are 15 sessions of 4 games each and each player must play in at least 5 sessions. The games are timed: 50 minutes for each East/South round. JPML A-Rules are used, so no First-Turn Wins for Reach and no Quad-Drags (Kan-dora) or Hidden Drags (Hidden-dora). All players are matched up against each other regardless of experience, ability or ranking. I'll be joining this season from November, so cheer us on there too!

And finally, one of JPML's biggest tournaments, open to pro's and amateurs alike throughout Japan in its entirety, OUI, has already started. Qualifiers are currently taking plays throughout Japan and Garthe and I will try to qualify the 2nd weekend of November. Unlike the Masters tournament in April (also open to the entire country), OUI uses A-Rules, meaning no first-turn wins or extra drags (dora). The current defending champion is Takki. The year before that, Takaharu Oui (no pun on the name) won the tournament. Wish us luck on that one as well! And if you are in Japan, there may still be time to qualify, so send me an e-mail if you¡¦re interested.

For now, I'm busy, busy, busy! Lots of stuff to work on and I'm running good in poker so trying to make the money while I can. Keep in touch all!

Note: There was information that I forgot to add to the final 2 problems in Garthe's last column. I've fixed the problem, so please take a look and write your answers in the comment section.

Now for MY column.

I've spent a large amount of my time lately playing and watching a lot of poker. I have already mentioned how much I think learning poker has helped my mahjong game. Everyday I spend watching tournaments, playing live or online and discussing poker, I find more similarities to the two games. One thing that many poker players have learned is that playing a variety of poker games helps you notice things in your main game that you would never notice before. For example, playing Omaha instead of Texas Hold'em. The same holds true in mahjong.

Besides the A-Rule and B-Rule variations in JPML, the commonly used cash-game rules (similar to JPML's B-Rules) there are also a variety of 3-player and 2-player games.

The easiest way to play a 3-player game is to use the MFC 3-player rules because the Hand Points are all the same as the 4-player game. Take out the numbers 2-8 of the Grands (cracks), making the deck 108 tiles instead of 136. Declaring Chow is not allowed in the 3-player version. If the Drag (dora) Indicator is 1-Grands, then the Drag (dora) will be 9-Grands. Other than that everything will play the same. For self-drawn wins, the score will be split in half by the other 2 players. Hands won on a discard will be pad by the discarder as usual.
The 3-Colored Runs hand will be impossible and since 1/3 of the simples (2-8 tiles) are gone, Inside Hands won't happen as much. You'll find yourself going for bigger hands and lots of Flushes and Half-Flushes. The swings will be much larger than in A-Rule games because people will be going for big hands most of the time. There will be lots of limit hands too.

Slimming down the deck like this is great for looking closer at your game and tendencies. There are less tiles, so less to think about. Try it out and you might find holes in your 4-player game. You'll definitely find yourself playing differently than you did before.

There are other versions of 3-player mahjong. My favorite includes using the White Dragons as jokers. That game is great for training yourself in difficult waits and planning ahead in your hands.

Join in and tell us what your favorite Mahjong variations are. I can't wait to try some of them out!

I took my first trip to Europe, using the excuse that my sister was studying/interning in Italy and stopping in Copenhagen for the 2nd OEMC. This was the first tournament I ever attended that used the Chinese Official rules and also the first tournament I attended that offered no cash prizes for the winners. The organizers are all volunteering and this was amazing to me, coming from a background where playing Mahjong for money is not only accepted, but considered to be the norm.

I knew this would be the first time that I would meet many people that I had been in contact with via e-mail for the past year (like Martin Rep and Tina Christensen) and some that I had heard of but never gathered the courage to contact (Tom Sloper) and some that I had met before for brief periods (Benjamin Boas). This was my first trip to a place I had never been where I knew no one. It took me forever to figure out how to get to my hotel and even longer to get over the fact that the internet wouldn�ft work and the place itself was much different (meaning worse) than the picture on the internet.

Somehow I found my way to the venue for registration. I waited outside and was greeted by the Taiwanese team! They had seen me on the news in Taiwan after my participation in the WSOM (Macau) and started speaking to me in Chinese (even though my interview had been in English). I took this opportunity to practice speaking a bit of Mandarin and make some very good friends from the place I used to live.

Although I wouldn�ft be competing, I did have a package waiting for me as a companion. Walking in, I saw the legendary Tom Sloper. He was busy passing out his newly published book to those deserving but he managed to find time to greet me with, �gSo you�fre the famous Jenn!�h This coming from the famous Tom! I was surprised and very pleased that he knew who I was and we became fast friends. I also met the rest of Team USA and enjoyed my first Danish meal with some new friends from Austria and France. All I can say is why didn�ft you tell me there was horseradish in it??

One thing that surprised me in the opening comments was the emphasis that mahjong should not at all be associated with gambling. This is an opinion that I can never agree with. While I do not believe that all mahjong games must include gambling, I have a great appreciation for the fact that it is easy to incorporate a monetary incentive for winners. I have never considered gambling to be a bad thing and think of it as an important part of my life. To be quite honest, I get a little bit disappointed when people tell me that gambling is bad and should not be associated with the game I love since they are both such huge parts of my life, together and separately. I wonder if it would be something like telling a sommelier that alcohol is bad and not be allowed with meals? I guess I�fd have to ask a sommelier... Can someone introduce me?

There were a few interesting occurrences, for instance, the player from Team Osaka that was caught with extra tiles in his lap. I have chosen not to comment extensively on this subject because it was not something I witnessed. I would, however, like to commend Mr. Oda, who continued playing on the 3rd day without a team for support and took 2nd place in the competition. Also, I was granted the honor to ring the gong on the final day. Very excited, I waited by the stage for my cue and when it was finally time, I rang it! But, oh no! I was too quiet! So this time, the gong was rung twice to commence the session. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense (including myself) and it made a great memory to tell all of you about.

Those feelings aside, I enjoyed the entire event. I met amazing people, got to see my first witch burned in the bonfire, learned how many friends I had not only with mahjong as a common interest, but poker as well. I do feel like this trip accomplished a lot and gave me a good understanding of what Mahjong is like outside of Japan and the US. I hope that I can keep in touch with everyone that I�fve met there and that some of you are reading this as well. I was incredibly impressed with the devotion and passion demonstrated by both the organizers and the participants.

I went to Macau last month as a member of the press, planning to cover this inaugural event for ReachMahjong.com and ended up the only American female to play in the competition. I didn't know until the night before that I would be able to compete, so I had not learned the rules as thoroughly as I would have liked to. I had read a brief summary on WSOM's website before going, so I knew that many of the hands were the same as in Reach Mahjong, but the scoring was quite different. I spent the entire night before the first round memorizing the hands and scoring, grateful that we would be allowed to keep a card of hands on the table while playing.

There were a few differences to get used to. For example, the traditional pattern of the Peace Hand (All Sequences) is ignored for simplicity. The Peace Hand in Reach Mahjong has no Base Points. That is why it must be an open-wait with no Value Tiles. If the pair was a Value Tile or the wait was closed, the hand would be worth 2 Base Points, and therefore not qualify as the Peace Hand. Differences like this are easily adaptable, so I woke with a tad bit of confidence and a lot of excitement.

I arrived at the Wynn on the first day, armed with my official WSOM bag containing a calculator, pen, rule book, set of scorecards and stick for straightening the tiles. It would be the first tournament I would ever play without automatic tables.

My first game went slowly at first. The WSOM used Alan Kwan's Zung Jung Mahjong Scoring System. At first glance on the WSOM website, I thought it looked like a good combination of Reach and Chinese Official rules. However, in the first game, it was obvious that the rules as they were relied more on luck than both of the others and are very rewarding to beginning players and lucky players while penalizing experienced players.

The first thing I noticed is that most players go for the fastest hand. While this may be a good strategy, it becomes nearly impossible for players to aim for large hands. The only way players may get high-scoring hands is if they are very lucky with their starting tiles or lucky enough that the players going for the chicken hand (pointless hand) can't find their last tile. I ended up getting lucky in the first game by drawing the final 6-grand to finish my Full Straight, a huge win in these rules (40p each for 120p) and getting first place in the game. After that, I couldn't get lucky anymore and my points slowly dwindled down. By the end of the first round, with the afternoon session still to come, I figured I had to get a big hand or have no chance and I just couldn't get lucky. I ended with close to negative 300 points.

Miraculously, there were few enough players that I somehow made it to the second round the next morning. We each carried 1/4 of our total score to the next round, which meant if I could win just one big hand, I could stay in the game. I got lucky again and made it to the 3rd round. With only 16 hands in each round and people constantly winning with very cheap hands, only luck would save me in the 3rd round and it just wasn't in the tiles. I lost 2 games in a row and ended in 114th place.

One of the biggest advantages for inexperienced players in these rules is the payout scheme. To give you an idea of what I mean, here is a summary: All Sequences is worth 15 points, a set of Value Tiles is worth 30 points and a Full Straight is worth 120 points. All points are divided equally among players for self-draws, so All Sequences would be 5 points from each player. Here is where weak players are saved: A player who discards a winning tile is only responsible for other players' prices over 30 points. That means that if I discard the Red Dragon and a player wins on that, with the Red Dragon, each player must still pay 10 points. It doesn't sound like much, but most winning hands are only 10-15 points and there are a lot of hands won with zero points (chicken hand) so players that can read the board well ended up paying for others mistakes more often than not. This also increases the luck factor since it no longer makes sense to try to read the board and keep your opponents from winning. The option to �gFold�h your hand is lost and so is a powerful tool for players that can read others' hands.

The lack of the Missed Win rule is another thing that is hard to get used to. While it can be a powerful tool in a game where players fold their hands, with the payout scheme in this system, it is almost impossible to justify folding your hand (although I tried a lot) and therefore makes the missing Missed Win rule another big advantage for weak players. A player that cannot envision the future of their own hand or plan for certain draws may get lucky and be able to win off of others' discards, even if he has thrown the discarded tile himself.

My final gripe was the prize structure. While most poker tournaments give 1st place 30% or less of the prize pool, this tournament awarded 50% to 1st place and skewing each prize dramatically down to 32nd place. I would have liked to see the players that made it to 32nd place get a bit more than just their buy-in returned.

I know it sounds like I'm just complaining about the rules as they stand now, but the event was a great success overall. It is because it was a success and I hope that it continues and gets better every year that I state my opinions here. There were nearly 300 competitors fighting for the $500,000 first prize! The games were played by the hand (8 hands for each game) and no bonuses were given for placing higher at the table. I liked this system a lot because it was based on points earned instead of lucky timing. The scorecards made for simple calculations and help the games move along very quickly. The media coverage was amazing with news teams from all over the world and representatives from newspapers, magazines and websites.

I had an amazing time and the team that made this event happen is an incredible group of people. They put on a great tournament and boy did they have guts to be the first to actually pull of a big cash Mahjong tournament like this! I think we can expect great things for next year's tournament and the years to come after that. Personally, I hope that they will consider adding events, like maybe a $1,000 buy-in Reach event added to the agenda? Maybe our buddies at Yakitori Online can help us send some persuasive messages (^.^)

Another pictureless, but not an imageless column.

First, updates, since that is my job.

Ron2 translation is finished, waiting for administration to get the thing into action. I know everyone is excited and waiting for it, so I¡¦m really trying to push them as hard as I can, but they¡¦re tough!

Next, website. I have been working really hard on the Hand List. Keep in mind that while the list IS complete, the images are NOT complete. I am updating the images on the road, so until I am finished (by the weekend I hope), some images will be incorrect. As it stands now, the images for the 1 HP hands are all correct. I will work on the 2 HP hands today and tomorrow and hopefully finish up the rest this weekend.

There is a new international online Reach Mahjong community! There has always been a forum on our website (here), but it is rarely used. I would like to encourage everyone to join in the discussions at Yakitori Online!
It is well organized and nice to look at. I hope it will become bustling with activity very soon! Looks like we are making more and more Reach friends all over the world.

OK, now on to even more fun stuff. I am writing this from Hong Kong and tomorrow I will be moving on to Macau for the first World Series of Mahjong tournament at the Wynn. Tomorrow I will be practicing the rules and from the 15th-17th I will be watching this $5,000 (USD) buy-in event. The prize purse is promised to be $1,000,000 with $500,000 for first place. While this is not a Reach event, the rules hold many similarities to Reach. There are about the same amount of hands, but the scoring system is closer to the Chinese Official rules. I will have some Reach friends working both in the administrative department and also competing in the event. Look forward to a full report next week after the event!

I will probably write that in London when I stopover for one night on my way to the Open European Mahjong Championship in Copenhagen! That¡¦s right, once again, a Reach-less event, but still very exciting because it looks like anyone who is anyone in Mahjong in Europe will be attending along with representatives from countries all over the world! I¡¦m so excited I can hardly keep from typing in CAPS! This will also be my first time to Europe, so I am excited about that as well.

After these events are finished (and I do hope that some of my friends in these places will be up for some private Reach games as well!), I will be going to Italy, visiting Florence and hopefully some other areas to relax a bit before I¡¦m back to Tokyo playing Mahjong everyday! Don¡¦t worry, I¡¦m practicing on the road too with Ron2 and I promise to keep the site updated. I made sure to stay almost exclusively in hotels with good internet access.

Vegas, Hong Kong, Europe, I¡¦m starting to sound like a nomad¡K But I guess Mahjong journeys could never be a bad thing¡K If any of you are in Hong Kong, the UK, Denmark or Italy, please e-mail me. I would love to meet and talk about Reach, Mahjong, the world, etc.!

As updates to the page have slowed down a little bit, our pace in the columns section has seemed to slow a bit too. I'm trying to stay on everyone's cases, but I suppose it is inevitable with a staff (are non-paid members still considered staff?) as small as ours that things will start to take more time. That is not to say, however, that we are all not still working hard everyday to get Reach Mahjong out in the world and in English.

I am always searching out and creating updates for the Glossary, which I have Garthe and Gemma check before I post. Expect another update coming soon and the one after that is already in the works. I understand that there are a lot of people who play Reach Mahjong that already know most of the terms for the game in Japanese. I think, however, that for new players coming in, it is easier to remember how to play a game if you don't have to learn an entire new vocabulary, so we are making appropriate English terms for each word. It might be a little tiresome for long-time players, so I encourage you to use whichever words are comfortable for you, as you have been, in comments and postings. If you feel like you can take a go at the English words too, more power to you. If anyone has questions, we will soon have the cross-referenced glossary up as well (Japanese->English), so it should be easy for anyone to look up an unfamiliar term and associate it to the tongue you know.

I know everyone is waiting for the RonRon translation. I am as well. It is a huge task and I will continue to mention it in every column until it is ready! Someone keep track!

The biggest happening in JPML last month was definitely the Masters tournament. Garthe was able to make it back to Tokyo for the event and advanced as far as the main event, but I was stuck in the U.S. and had to opt-out this year. This weekend is the 2nd session of JPML's regular league, so I am planning on increasing my current 7.9 point score. Garthe will try to sweep up to the black from the penalty I mentioned last time.

Later this month is JPML's 10-Tier Tournament.
I'm sure that some savvy readers out there know about the "Dan" or level system in many Japanese sports and games. JPML has this as well. As Garthe and I are still new to the league, we are the 1st Level, or "ShoDan". The highest level is 9. In the Tokyo branch of JPML, there are currently six Level 9, three Level 8, three Level 7, 5 Level 6, six Level 5, twenty-four Level 4, 33 Level 3, 52 Level 2 and 106 First-Level members. There is one more Level 9 member up in Hokkaido. Every 6 months, players are allowed to move up a level if they have earned enough "Level Points" by participating in and showing good performance in tournaments. The levels are supposed to represent skill, dedication, pride and status.
JPML's 10-Tier Tournament starts out with the First-Levels. There are so many this year, that there will be 2 First-Level sessions on May 19th. Each player plays 4 games at the same table. After 4 games, the 2 players that have earned the most points will advance and the other 2 players will be eliminated. The remaining players join the Level 2 players in the afternoon and the same system is invoked. The 2 people from each table that advance after that will join the Level 3 and Level 4 players on the 20th, and the winners from there will play in June with the higher Levels. This is obviously a JPML member-only and it is quite grueling with the semi-finals in July and then the finals in August.

JPML's second Womens League season starts this month as well. I will be participating even though I will have to miss one session in June so that I can go watch the European Open in Denmark (I will not be participating).

This turned out to be a very boring column, but check out Michi Yuuki's interview on our website! That has got to be a lot more interesting!

Hello everyone! It's Jenn. I got tired of waiting for Garthe to write his column (he is currently in the US, working on some other stuff), so I will take his place and post his next column. I know you would rather read about me anyway (^.^)

So the new Mahjong year has started and there is a lot to look forward to this month! First of all, JPML's first League session of the year took place this past weekend and I finished in the black with 7.9 points, putting me in a tie for 31st place out of 71, so just 4 more sessions to stay ahead of the game if I want to move up a league next season. Garthe had to miss the first session and take a penalty, so he is in the red right now... The first game I did horribly. I was not concentrating properly; I was playing my hands badly and worse, reading the board badly. I took a few minutes after the first game to reflect on my play and I was able to regroup and take 1st place in the next 2 games. I took a negative 2nd place in the 4th game, but it was enough to have the highest score at my table. About 20 people or so will move up from D2 to D1 this season, so if I can keep my composure for the rest of the season, I really do think that I have a chance this time!

The JPML League has 9 levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, D1, and D2. Almost everyone starts at D2 and has to work their way up. You can only move up once each season for leagues B1-D2 and once a year for the A leagues. There are 2 seasons of 5 months each year. Garthe and I, starting last year, are still in D2 League. By normal routes, you can see that the quickest anyone could make it to A1 and a chance at winning the Phoenix Cup is 5 or 6 years. That's a long time for a good player to wait and not have any bad days... But, this year JPML announced a new special league to allow young players to move up faster, making the playing field more fair and competitive based on good performance.

JPML's Special Advancement League invites players under the age of 40 who have participated in JPML's 4 big tournaments (Pro League, Masters, 10-Tier and OUI) to fight for a spot in a higher League if they have: moved up one league by their own ability in the previous season, made it to the final table in Champion's League, got 1st or 2nd place in the annual Rookie Tourney, won the Pro Queen Tourney, made it to the final table in Masters, 10-Tier or OUI tournaments, or place first in a regional league. In addition, they must end in the black for the current League season and may not miss any League sessions for the current season.
It is a strict set of conditions, but for a chance to move up 5 levels or so it seems a small price to pay and many people are participating. So yes, I will also work to move up this season so that next season I might fight for a chance to up my status the "easy" way.

One of the biggest news items this month is that JPML tournaments are now all non-smoking. Or so it may seem... Actually, players currently involved in a game and spectators must refrain from smoking. Players in between games and players at tables that are finished with games are allowed to smoke to their hearts' content, so the parlor still ends up smoky. But, if a player wants to smoke between games, they must get permission from the other players at the table. I personally ask them to go outside (nicely of course)...

Also, Mahjong Fight Club 6 is finally in arcades all over Japan! You can check out the website (in Japanese) here and see pictures of Garthe and I here. The new version has added a Competition Rules option, so now players can play a more skill-based game using JPML's A-Rules. Just like the Pro League except for the dealer has to win a hand to continue as dealer and cannot continue if he has a Ready hand on a draw.

The Ron2 translation is coming along. Garthe and I are doing our part and are working hard with the administrator to get a game to you as soon as possible! I can't wait to see you all there!!

Now, I have to get ready for my own trip to Vegas to teach Mahjong and also work on my poker skills. If anyone will be in the Vegas area in the next 2 weeks, send me an e-mail and Garthe and I will be happy to set up a time to play Mahjong together!!

Now, just for kicks, here is a hand that I had during the 3rd game on Sunday:

The Drag is 8 of Bams. What would you discard and why? Also, after you discarded, what tiles would you be waiting for? As dealer, how many points is your hand worth on a river win? How about a self-draw? Do you think this hand is worth Reaching in a game with no First-turn win, Quad Drags or Hidden Drag bonuses?

Here we are, back in Tokyo after our travels to our homeland. Since my last post, we have added a scoring section to the rules, and a report on JPML's first ever Women's League. Our next immediate goals (besides staying up to date on columns) is to get an interview with Michi Yuuki, JPML's first-ever Women's League Champion! Today, I want to let you all know how our trip �gabroad" went.

Because of tournaments we were committed to in Tokyo, Garthe and I arrived towards the end of the first day of Mahjong Madness's Las Vegas American-style Mahjong tournament at the Riviera. We had already been in contact with the organizer, so they knew we were coming, but somehow managed to get plenty of stares from the participants, who seemed a bit more unawares. This was a surprise to me. Apparently, Garthe and I do not fit the profile for Mahjong players anywhere in the world! I think I like that. It makes us and Mahjong stand out more as well.

We brought as an offering, a Japanese-style Mahjong set, which was given out on the second day as a door prize. After seeing this, many of the participants became very friendly and we talked for hours about Mahjong: American and Japanese as well. We heard what people thought of tournaments, what they thought of certain rules, and how long they had been playing (some for 50 years or more!). The most surprising thing was the perception of the rules in the East. When we would proudly mention that we play Japanese-style Mahjong, we got some amazing responses. One person was quoted as saying, �gOh. You guys don't have any rules, right?" How do you answer that? Well, yes, of course we have rules�c How can you win a game that doesn't have rules? Or even better, how can you lose a game that doesn't have any rules? One of the biggest differences is that the American-style rules change every year while the Japanese-style rules have not changed for many years.

Our biggest treat, was watching some of the players after the tournament hours, playing in private games. Here we got to watch 2 of the only players in the competition that don't need to look at the scorecard while playing. We watched some big hands, exchanged words and contact info and got some in depth explanations of the rules. This helped for the final day, when we went to watch the 400 participants battle it out for the 18 cash prizes.

We learned about the Charleston, a way for the players to collect useful tiles before the play actually begins. Each person exchanges 3 tiles with each other player a few times. We learned about Jokers, which cannot be used as single tiles or with pairs, but can be used (exclusively even) in groups of 3 tiles or more. We learned that scores are counted by each hand and not by each round as in other types of Mahjong. We learned that the opinion that something has to be at stake (e.g. money by gambling) for a high-skill game translates to as many American-style Mahjong players as it does to us. And we learned that many people who are interested in Mahjong, have interest in other types of Mahjong as well.

For me, this was a very encouraging trip. I have often had doubts of the potential popularity of Reach Mahjong because of the complicated rules, scoring system, etc. But after watching this American-style tournament, I realized that, like languages, each interpretation of Mahjong has its own complications. With American-style, since the hands change each year, it creates a big challenge for players to memorize hands, giving those that can a huge edge. Most people end up using their cards while playing. With Reach Mahjong, the scoring is a bit complicated, but once it is memorized, it is memorized forever. There are no [significant] changes taking place. Beginning players could keep a score table at their side if needed in any tournaments or games that we would want to host in the future.

I hope that some of the great people we met are now visiting ReachMahjong.com and I would like to say thank you for taking such good care of us in Las Vegas. I hope someday to visit again.

After the tournament was over, we spent almost all of our time at the poker tables, learning how to play. We're getting better! Honestly, playing and learning about poker has also improved my Mahjong game. We are also meeting many poker players interested in adding Mahjong to their repertoire. We'll be back in Vegas the 2nd week of April, so if anyone is going to be in town, drop us an e-mail, maybe we could set up a Mahjong game somewhere!

A few too many days have passed since the last column and I have to apologize. I was planning on having this up on March 3rd and here it is, already early morning on the 6th. Last week was extremely busy with Gemma visiting Tokyo (that means lots of real-mahjong sessions), Garthe playing in Champion's League, add in another mini-tournament on Sunday and finally preparations for Garthe and my trip to Las Vegas!!

Garthe and I are here to watch one of Amercan Mahjong's biggest tournaments run by Mahjong Madness at the Riviera every year. While neither of us know how to play American Mahjong (yet), we are going to experiment a bit while we're here and hopefully get to know some of the people on this side of the ocean that love this game. People seem really friendly so far and we'll let you know how everything works out.

With the tournament season in full swing, I want to take a few minutes to talk about tournaments. Even within Reach Mahjong, there are so many variations that I think it is worth an entire column. Our other goals this week are to provide a full report of the first ever Japan Professional Mahjong League Women's League Finals and also get the scoring system up on the website (I know people have been waiting). That combined with playing poker everyday and we will have our hands full for the week!

Now, tournament time. Let's start with the fun ones! Small, just for fun tournaments in Reach Mahjong usually finish in one day. One (not so small) popular one is SNPM's Pair Match, held every January. Each participant chooses someone to be paired up with and the couple's score is combined to decide placement and prizes. The tournament only lasts 1 day and each player plays 4 games. This is a fun type of tournament because it only takes a day and the atmosphere is usually very friendly and attracts players of all skill level and background. Many Mahjong Parlors also choose to host similar tournaments for singles. Garthe and I spent this past Sunday, March 6th participating in a tournament like this that attracted about 25 players.

Garthe was good enough to get 2nd place and a prize too!

The fellow handing Garthe the prize is the assistant manager of this particular Mahjong Parlor and also a fellow JPML member, Shintarou Kamimura.
When the tournaments start to get more serious, the time period is much longer. Most Professional tournaments will hold a 1-2 day qualifying match, followed by the main tournament, preliminaries, semi-finals and then the final table, taking anywhere from 3 to 8 days for just one tournament. Regular leagues usually hold 5 days of 4 games each before final tournaments spread out over a few months.

There are a few ways to cut people out before the final table to get your final 4 (or 5 if one player will rotate out). The simplest way is by total points. Everyone plays at a different table for 4 games and at the end, the top 50% or so pass the qualifier. At the main tournament, everyone starts over at zero (and in many tournaments in Tokyo, certain players are seeded in). The top 16 or so move on to the semi-finals. At the semi-finals, everyone starts at zero again and the top 4 move to the final table. Often times the defending champion will join the top 16 players in the semi-finals by default.
The other option is to keep each person at the same table for 4 games and advance the top 2 players from each table according to the total score of the 4 games.
Both ways require endurance, high skill, a strong understanding of the game and a bit of luck as well.

The other options are rules. JPML offers 2 types of rules for tournaments. A-Rules are considered to be one of the purest forms of the game, only offering one Drag (Lucky Dragon) and no bonuses for luck-hands like Hidden Drags, Quad Drags, First-Round Wins after Reaching or Red 5's. The B-Rules add a bit of spice by adding Hidden Drags, Quad Drags and First-Round Wins after Reaching, but still leave out the red 5's.

The tournament we played on Sunday had an extra twist by using a Tournament-Hand. The Tournament-Hand this day was 7-Pairs with 2 Drags. Anyone winning on this hand gets an extra 10 points to their total score. I won on it twice!

Tournaments only really need 5-8 people, so if you can get some friends together, give it a try! Garthe and I have a dream of hosting a Reach Mahjong tournament for all to join someday... We'll keep working hard, so everyone keep reading!!

I arrived at SNPM'S Ryuou-sen match to cheer on one of my favorite Pro's of all time, Yuukou Itou. My plan was to rush off to JPML's Phoenix Cup Finals right after, but because of the length of the Final game (of 6), there was no time, so I just said my good-byes and headed home.

I walked into Vacance (ƒoƒJ?ƒX), the first Mahjong Parlor I had ever played in, for the first time in probably a year. It was just as I remembered it, except for only one table was being used, in the middle, and all the tables around it had been pushed away to make room for the 30 odd spectators that had turned out to watch JPML's Itou and Yamai, NPM's Takeuchi and MU's Mihara. Obviously I went hoping that Itou or even Yamai would win, so I chose to watch behind Itou.

I made it just in time to watch the last 2 and a half games and Itou was already far behind the other 3. Yamai was ahead in total score and in the 4th game.
Until the last hand of the South Round in the 4th game. The table set-up looks like this:

Itou throws the 3 of Bams and Mihara shouts "Chow". A split-second later, but obviously secondary, Takeuchi whispers "Pon" (bump). Now, in most rule systems, the rules state that the first person to declare gets the tile. If the declaration was made at the same time, then the person Bumping gets the priority. In this case, the Chow was obviously first, but it was close enough to ask for a judgment. Alright, then, trusty mediator, who gets the tile in this case? Wait a minute? Where is the mediator? Off on a smoke break?? While the final table is battling it out?! Seriously? Well, there is a score-keeper watching, surely he can make the judgment? Nope. Looks like he is going to call the mediator over. This ought be good, someone who didn't even see the action is going to judge it. No Way!

Way. The mediator finally came over after a minute or so of people looking at each other dumbfounded and he comes over and says, "Yes?"
He had no idea what was going on. Yamai explained what happened and the mediator finally said in an almost silent voice, "I believe 'pon' has priority," seeming quite unsure of himself.

Obviously there is no problem here except for the fact that the mediator is judging something that he didn't witness because of his 'need' to smoke, but let's put that aside, and let's forget the fact that he made the judgment while looking at Takeuchi's hand (a former teammate of his in SNPM), which contained 3 drags and got its Hand point from All Trips, one of which, was made by this Bump. It seemed like I was the only one who thought this judgment was strange. Perhaps it is a culture problem, but I will say here and now that I think the mediator of a Final Table in any Mahjong tournament should be watching the Final Table. (This is why I made this article a 'Jenn's Corner' entry and not a news article, so I can write my opinion)

Honestly I am not saying that his call was necessarily the wrong one. Perhaps any mediator would have made the same call. However, the fact that he wasn't at the table to see the action means that he was not doing his job and this is something I want to set a standard for in future Mahjong competitions. When there are 50 tables at a qualification match going on at the same time it is impossible and not economical to have one mediator to each table. But this is the FINAL Table with reputations, money and honor at stake. Just because no one in your own league has made it to the Final Table does NOT mean that you are entitled to do a mediocre job of running a competition. This is also not an article to negate Takeuchi's earned prize. He played very strongly and if the mediator would let him take the Bump, that is the best decision for him and he should do that, no questions asked.

In the end, Takeuchi won that hand and pulled ahead. Going into the Final game, he was first with +42.0 points. Mihara held 2nd place with +37.4, Yamai right behind him with +33.9 and Itou trailing with �¢113.3. Because in SNPM matches, the placing bonus is a ridiculous +30 points for first and +10 points for 2nd, the player with the most points in the last game, with the exception of Itou, will win the tournament. In other words, it all boils down to these 8 hands.

In the end, Takeuchi won that hand and pulled ahead. Going into the Final game, he was first with +42.0 points. Mihara held 2nd place with +37.4, Yamai right behind him with +33.9 and Itou trailing with �¢113.3. Because in SNPM matches, the placing bonus is a ridiculous +30 points for first and +10 points for 2nd, the player with the most points in the last game, with the exception of Itou, will win the tournament. In other words, it all boils down to these 8 hands.

In the East Round, Itou had 2 big wins with +5,200 points and +12,000 points, putting him comfortably in the lead of that game. People in the room seemed to like it when Itou won.

The final hand looked like this:

Yamai Reaches. In order for Yamai to get past Takeuchi's lead of 3,700 points, he would need to win 3,900 on the river, Self-Draw 700-1300 or win a 2,000 point hand directly from Takeuchi. He is holding:

In the end, neither the 4 or 7 of Bams appears and the hand ends in a draw, giving Yamai 3,000 points (1,000 from each player) for his Ready Hand. The Reach Bone kept him 0.7 points away from taking 1st place. Takeuchi wins the title and the trophy (which SNPM didn't bother to dust off) with a final score of +51.9. Yamai takes a comfortable second with +23.1. Mihara ends in third with �¢6.1 and Itou was fourth with �¢69.9. Itou, the most experienced player at the table was heard saying, "Everyone today played excellent Mahjong."

Did everyone see the new Glossary? If you didn't then you should definitely check it out here! It has all of the terms we have used on the page up until close to the end of January. Keep checking back for additional terms (we will be adding at least monthly with terms that we have used on the site) and also for a Japanese Romaji cross-reference! That way we can all understand the same terms and use the terms we are most comfortable with!

I want to talk about something that is important in the world of Mahjong; Gambling. Betting money on games has a very distinct image and in many places, the image is not good. In Japan, Gambling is mostly illegal. I say mostly because thanks to loopholes gamblers can still get their fix in Pachinko Parlors, at Horse Races, Bike Races, Boat Races, through Lottery and yes, in Mahjong Parlors as well. It kind of makes me wonder what part of Gambling, exactly, is illegal. There are, of course, no [advertised] casinos that give you the chance to lose money at Roulette, Black Jack, Poker or Baccarat (although it is possible to fill your cravings for these fixed games at underground casinos secretly). For legitimate gambling in those areas, everyone flocks to Las Vegas or Macau.

But lately, Mahjong is changing from its smoke-filled, beer-drenched, high-stakes "bad-ass" image to one of healthy competition, attracting a quite different but equally welcome crowd. To be perfectly honest, I am all for both images. Although I don't like smoke in the poorly filtered hole-in-wall Mahjong Parlors that I frequent, I do appreciate that such a complicated game that requires a great deal of intelligence can have a "cool" image. The Japan Professional Mahjong League has announced that all JPML competitions will be non-smoking starting with the first competition in April. How exciting! Now maybe my contact lenses will hold up for all of the games. And in professional tournaments, while we are not betting money like in cash games, there are almost always cash prize purses, tournaments that allow amateurs reaching about 120,000 yen for first place (close to $10,000 U.S.). And you will rarely find a rate-free Mahjong Parlor, though they do exist.

Most Professional players got that way by playing for money. It is a popular belief among many of the old hands and their disciples that Mahjong, like Poker, uses money to keep score, and a more popular one that if something is not at stake, then not only does the gambling aspect increase and skill level decrease, but there is no hope of improving your game. At times I am torn�c I do believe that people can improve without betting money, but I also believe that if all Mahjong games you play are "just for fun" then that is what you are playing the game for. That is perfectly fine. Mahjong is a game and it should be fun. There is no reason that everyone must participate in "gambling" in order to have fun at the Mahjong table. But, I also believe that it is hard to find people playing "for real" even if there is no risk of losing something. There are the golden few, but most people change the way they play when money is involved. In serious games and to make sure your opponents are serious, many people believe that it is better to use cash to count, even if it is a small amount.

Anyone who plays online poker will understand. When you play Poker for play money, the best hand usually wins the game, making it a game of luck and true gambling. When you play for real money, the most skillful player wins in the long run, using bets and tricks to let their opponents fold hands, proving that Poker is a skill game and not an actual gamble. In Mahjong, it is easy to come to the conclusion that the fastest hand will win in no-rate games, increasing the luck factor, since less people will fold hands. If the risk, however, is greater, people will tend to fold more, giving bigger hands and the players who wield them the edge.

It is a touchy subject for some and since most public Mahjong in the world outside of Japan right now has little to no cash involved; it is difficult to get everyone on the same side.

I will leave you all with this image though. All of the World Champions that you have heard of that came from Japan, us Americans that live in the center of the Reach Mahjong world here in Tokyo (including Garthe, I and a few of our buddies over here), and most professional players, rarely even practice without a rate attached and it has proved strength in the World beyond our doors.

In other news, last month Garthe and I participated in Saikouisen's (another pro group in Japan) Pair Match. Aren't we cute?

Ok, Ok, so my column is one day late. BUT! I have a great excuse! I was busy playing mahjong!! Not good enough? I'm sorry... The truth is, I took off to Okinawa for the weekend. I'm back now and went to our Monday night Mahjong group as usual, yesterday I really did play Mahjong. IN OKINAWA? you ask, why yes, I played from the comfort of my resort hotel room. Not only that, I played with Garthe in Tokyo, Gem in Taipei, and dbos in Toronto. We were also joined by Doug in Yamagata and Walter in Montreal!

Yes! It's true! In the age of the internet, anything is possible, even playing Mahjong online with friends all over the world! So let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Internet Mahjong!

While there is tons of software out there that lets you play with others, a quick internet search will initially offer you Mahjong Solitaire (also commonly known as Taipei or Shanghai). That's ok if you aren't used to the tiles yet, but why play by yourself when there are a world of opponents out there?? Dig a little deeper and you'll find games like Mahjong Time, Four Winds, and Mahjong Club. The problem with these, which you will find after playing for a few minutes, is the lack of functions, people and speed. That is not true of all English internet Mahjong games, but the fact is that Mahjong is still finding it's place outside of Asia and things are moving slowly. The other option, is powering through an online game in an Asian language. That can be scary, but when there are good friends like us to play with, a little risk might be worth it.

To find the right Online Mahjong game for you, you need to decide what your priorities are. Do you want to bet money? First make sure it is legal where you live. Do you want to play with Reach Mahjong rules or with Chinese Official rules or with Hong Kong rules or with... the possibilities go on and on. Is it important that you can speak the common language of the software, or is it enough if you know what each button does? Do you want to play with people of your same skill level, or do you just want to meet other Mahjong players? Do you want events or just quick games?

So now let's talk about what we were doing on Sunday (morning for us, Saturday night for the Canadians). Garthe and I were coincidentally playing Ron2 (see our review) when we saw "dbos" watching Garthe play. It didn't take us long to set up our own table and soon Gem was online too! After that Garthe invited a friend and later Walter just happened to waltz in. Ron2 is definitely a happening place, and it's not even translated into English yet! Since Ron2 allows you to put password locks on tables that you make yourself, we were able to play to our hearts content without having to switch seats out with strangers (it's easy to play with strangers on Ron2 too). On full memberships game records are saved and had we desired, we would be able to set up a chat room to discuss the moves made in each game.

This is the system that Garthe and I play on regularly and will continue playing on it. The best part is that we are working on an English translation of the software! It is coming along quite nicely and should be ready for non-Japanese-speaking players sometime soon. Once it is up and running, it will definitely be the only Online Mahjong game we will be able to recommend to you. While there is no gambling option, there is absolutely no better place to improve your skills.

While our link for the registration process doesn't work yet, if you are able to somehow sign yourself up for a free membership, I definitely hope that you would. If enough reader's get on Ron2, we can have some practice and discussion sessions hosted by... You got it!! Garthe and Jenn. I'm sure Gem would show up from time to time too (or maybe everytime!). In the meantime, wait for the translation and maybe you could practice on Mahjong Club or somewhere... Or, get your tiles out yourself! We can't wait to see you there!

Mahjong of Yesterday, Mahjong of Today, Mahjong of Tomorrow?

So what is Reach Mahjong like now? What has changed about it? Well, in Japan there is another type of Mahjong called Boo Mahjong. It is not very common to find now, but it used to be the mainstream, especially in Western Japan.

In Boo Mahjong, everyone starts with the same amount of points. I usually hear of starting with 2000. There are many local variations, but some of the common ones are like this. The game stops when someone doubles their starting points or loses all of their points. In order to continue as the dealer, the dealer has to win. In the event of a draw, no points are exchanged, even for ready hands. If you missed your win? Forgetting winning that hand. You can't win on any tile, even a draw, if you have already discarded one of your winning tiles. Ok, so when can you win? Well, if you win on a hand that pushes someone under zero, you better make sure you have more than 2000, otherwise you get a foul! If you bring someone else under 2000 even though you still end up with less than 2000, foul again! So it's ok to push and scratch past people, but you can pull them down into your drowning whirlpool.

The scoring is obviously counted differently than in Reach Mahjong and the final score too. Boo Mahjong got its name because the points are counted using Base Points (fu = Boo). One person with more than 2000 points is A-Top, two people floating is B-Top and three people with more than they started? Possibly another foul. When money is exchanged, the final score doesn't matter and each person receives money according to their place in line. One other interesting thing is that at least in some places, the Drag Indicator (dora hyouji) was the very last of the King's tiles. If you Quaded, you got that very tile and the Drag would actually change to the next of the King's Tiles! Now we use the 4th one which allows for only 4 Quads on the table.

Besides rules changing, manners have changed as well. With more and more Casino-style Mahjong parlors, a new culture of manners and conduct has emerged.

In current Mahjong Parlors the following will get you a warning or out of the game:

• Talking about your hand during play (true or bluff)
• Drawing your next tile before the player before you has discarded
• Throwing tiles away too hard
• Throwing bones when paying someone
• Humming or Singing
• Talking on the phone for too long during play

There are more, but these are the big ones. In my opinion, to make Mahjong more popular in the world, things like bluffing and humming should be allowed. Strong players won't be phased by the bluffing and humming and the whole experience will be more human. I guess it is a question of wanting to go more in the way of poker or more in the way of shogi and chess. I think that Mahjong is 4 people, not 1 on 1 and that makes it more like poker. The fact that there is a deal and that there is luck involved with the deal and the draw also makes me want to lean toward poker.

In the future, just like the past, many things in Mahjong will change as it evolves from a simple form of home entertainment to a world-wide popular game. Let's start by simpling up the scoring system!

Ok, I've been busy trying to get the calendar updated (it's getting there!), preparing the next chapter for the "Rules" page, putting together Garthe's links (check out the "World Associations" section of the "Links" menu!!) and studying up on poker, which is what Garthe and I spent most of our time doing in Las Vegas. We also looked around for promising venues for a future Mahjong Tournament!! Yay us! So yes, someday we would like to hold a Mahjong tournament in Las Vegas. Anyone interested in joining us?

By the way, we also posted our first Professional Interview with Takki (short for Takizawa) and it is definitely worth checking out! We haven't gotten a picture to go with it yet, but we will soon (did I mention that he is HOT?) and we will also be interviewing more professionals and other great people in the Mahjong World so make sure you keep looking at our website and not just the blog!

Speaking of which, what exactly is a Professional Mahjong Player? What a strange concept... So, let's enter the world of Professional Mahjong. Garthe and I are considered to be professional Mahjong players to many people. This word is used in Japanese and in English, but I have found the meanings to be so different, that it seemed a worthy column subject.

In English, to be a professional at something means that you accept money for doing something. If you play sports for money, you are a professional athlete. If you play sports for competition, you may retain your amateur status. In the gambling world, it is a bit different. Since there are no teams to pay the players, in the limelight, it is the sponsors and the prize money bankrolling the pro's.

In Mahjong, there are very few 'real' pro's in the world. Most of the people that play mahjong for a living and not for a hobby, reside in Japan. Even within Japan the term "Pro" has been so loosely transferred to their language and so loosely defined that Garthe and I, as the only Americans in this business full-time, have found a lot of frustration and confusion. So let's look at what professional mahjong seems to be, and what it could be.

Every "Pro" in Japan must pass a test and join a league. Once you are a member of a league, you may be considered "Pro" by the layman, but, not necessarily by fellow "Pro's". Actually, the term "Pro" to many league-members in Japan, does not have anything to do with money. They believe that "Professional" is a word based on a person's skill level. This creates double-standards and confusion for native English speakers like us who now have to be careful not to pronounce ourselves as "Professional" to the "wrong" people, but still appear as professional to people who want to give us money.

The way I see it, Garthe and I make a fair amount of our living by appearing in Mahjong Fight Club (Konami) and making guest appearances as Professional Mahjong Players, I strongly believe that we are considered professionals. Yes, we took the test, went to the monthly study sessions and we pay the dues, but there are 300-500 members of our league who did that same thing at any given time and play Mahjong full-time. What sets us apart from the other members of the league to make us professionals? In my opinion, not much.

To me, Mahjong is not only my favorite thing to do and an important passtime for me, it is also my job. When you get a job, it is all about what you can bring to the table. So what do I personally bring to the table as a Professional Mahjong Player that made me appealing as a candidate for this position in the Japan Professional Mahjong League, on Mahjong Fight Club and Mondo 21? Personality is a huge part of any job interview. My dedication, my willingness and desire to learn new things and work hard were definitely big factors. Selling points may include my uniqueness (what other blonde 23-year olds speak Japanese and play Mahjong in Tokyo?) and my ability to speak a couple of languages. How is my ability compared to the other Professionals in our league? Not the worst, and not the best (yet), but it is all about making yourself appealing to the employer. So here we are, starting in D2 (the current lowest) League and working our way up.

So what is a typical day in the lives of us Pro's? Well, I'll tell you about mine, although everyone is quite different. I wake up and when I'm trying to be cool, I do some yoga. I also try to get at least one website update (on my personal website or on Reach Mahjong: The Only Way to Play) and then head out to play some Mahjong Fight Club. When Garthe and I have time, we go play some casino-style mahjong together and when we don't then I might go by myself or go home and play online or do more website updates. The first weekend of each month is League tournaments. We have 5 in each season and 2 seasons per year. The top 10 or so usually move up to the next league. It lasts for 2 days because of all the various leagues and when we have time we go watch the other leagues. Three days a month there is also a Champion's League, which is kindof like a practice league. We have to play 5 times per season and the top 15 are eligible for titles. Other than that there are 3 or 4 tournaments hosted by JPML per year and we participate as much as we can. On Monday nights we participate in an international Mahjong club that plays once a week and on Wednesdays we participate in a mini-poker tournament. Free time is usually spent playing Mahjong Fight Club.

So that's it in a nutshell. Any questions?