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# SPRING A MAGAZINE FROM MAHJONG LOGIC 2012 KON MAHJONG, TRENDS AND BUSINESS HOW TO SCORE BIG ongA LONELY TIME IN SWEDE IN MAHJONG HONG KONG JENN BARR SAME NAME GOES ALL IN DIFFERENT GAME HOW BIG IS THE HARD LIFE THE ONLINE OF BEING A PRO MAHJONG MARKET, IN JAPAN REALLY? Offer Mahjong to Your Players Today!

1 FREE for all delegates 22nd – 25th May 2012

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Register today: www.iGamingSuperShow.com 2 3 Welcome Contents In the world of games played for serious money and where you face real, living A CRASH COURSE IN MAHJONG opponents and not an anonymous bank or HOW BIG IS THE ONLINE MAHJONG MARKET REALLY? 7 house, there are a few rare ones that stand out. They do so not only for their worldwide status and the spine-tingling thrills they 10 can provide, but also for their impressive IS THERE fan base: poker, with its raw background MAHJONG AFTER in Wild West saloons with bullet holes in 13 DEATH? the ceiling; backgammon, evoking images of high-stakes dice rolling in lavish Monte 14 Carlo saloons; and mahjong, a deep,

fascinating tile game of Chinese origins. WHO INVENTED THE GAME A LONELY SWEDE In all three games you can achieve OF MAHJONG, ANYWAY? 16 IN HONG KONG excellence by capturing the World Champion title; all three have featured prominently in movies, and have had a 25 MAHJONG IN CHINA JONAS ALM plethora of books on strategy and tactics CEO devoted to them; and all three have made the leap to the online environment. But the WINNING STRATEGY IN MAHJONG 27 Mahjong Logic game with the most growth potential there is without question mahjong. Mahjong eclipses, by far, the other 30 THE WORLDS MOST PLAYED two: it has some 700 million players all over GAME! OFFER MAHJONG TO the world, but primarily in Asia. YOUR PLAYERS TODAY! 34 When a few of us formed the THE WOMENS FIGHT CLUB company Mahjong Logic ﬁ ve years ago, we knew it would be a long and arduous trek 38 A SYSTEM THAT KEEP SCAMMERS AWAY to not only bring mahjong to the online environment, but also to do justice to such a subtle, pleasing, elegant game. But hard 42 A MUSEUM DEVOTED TO MAHJONG work has paid off: here we are, up and running, with a product outclassing the competition and a customer base that grows 44 every month. It is our pleasure to introduce ourselves and what we can offer in the way of cooperation – and not least a game we all love to play ourselves!

MACAU YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

4 5 A KONG (KAN, GANG) IN MAHJONG IS A SET OF FOUR IDENTICAL TILES Kong A MAGAZINE FROM MAHJONG LOGIC ON MAHJONG, TRENDS AND BUSINESS

CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE

Guido Ganschow, Ho Gaming There are 700 million Mahjong Michael Caselli Robert Gustafsson, Bodog88 Something Barry Smith, Equiom players worldwide. Garthe Nelson Jenn Barr you did Alexander Frederiksen The Dora Mahjong Team The average player Dan Glimne Game expert, game con- Johannes Nordholm, EveryMatrix not structor, mahjong player, poker player and tv- commentator. He is one of few professional Andrew W Scott, World Gaming game constructors in Sweden and has develo- Magazine ped several famous table games for Alga. Andy Jones, AliQuantum know lives in Asia, is male and Lars Broberg, COO, Mahjong Logic Tage Borg, CTO, Mahjong Logic Jonas Alm, CEO, Mahjong Logic about 29 years old.* Gabriel Zackari, Graphical Designer, Mahjong Logic Lotta Jarlsdotter, Illustrator the rock Lars J. Nilsson, Cubeia PLAYERS BY AGE PLAYERS BY GENDER

Tage Borg CTO at Mahjong Logic. FORM band 34% 82% Management and Software Engineering Tillsgruppen, Stockholm background from the ﬁnancial, telecom and gambling industries. 30% PRINTING Pink Printed at Rolfs Tryckeri, Skövde, 2012 Floyd 24%

CONTACT If you have any questions Jenn Barr Professional Mahjong player regarding the Mahjong Logic In 1971 the rock band Pink Floyd in Japan. products or services, please recorded their album ”Meddle”, contact us and we’ll get back to of which the second track bears you as soon as possible. We look the title ”A Pillow of Winds”. 18% forward to hearing from you! According to the drummer and 6% songwriter Nicholas Mason, this 4% Mahjong Logic LT D title was inspired by the game of 2% Jubilee Buildings mahjong which the band members Victoria street had become very fond of while out on tour! * Chun Wai To, Hong Kong 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-54 55-65 66+ MALE FEMALE Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2SH

Jesper Fermgård Photographer from e-mail:[email protected] Stockholm. Done the portraits in this issue of Tel: +46 8 31 30 80 Chun Wai To for the cover and Jonas Alm. Tel: +46 8 31 30 81

6 7 MAHJONG STATISTICS MAHJONG STATISTICS

USA CHINA POPULATION 313,000,000 POPULATION 1,331,000,000 INTERNET PENETRATION 245,000,000 (2009) INTERNET PENETRATION 389,000,000 (2009) MAHJONG PLAYERS EUROPE* 3,000,000 MAHJONG PLAYERS JAPAN 500,000,000 NOTES POPULATION POPULATION NMJL has more than 816,000,000 NOTES 255th sport in China. 128,000,000 300 000 members. INTERNET PENETRATION 476,278,000 INTERNET PENETRATION 99,000,000 MAHJONG PLAYERS 3,000,000 MAHJONG PLAYERS 30,000,000 NOTES Growing rapidly, NOTES Mahjong associations 10,000 mahjong in all major European parlours, professional countries. mahjong league.

*INCLUDING RUSSIA

HONG KONG

POPULATION 7,100,000 TAIWAN INTERNET PENETRATION 4,800,000 (2009) POPULATION MAHJONG PLAYERS 23,000,000 1,300,000 INTERNET PENETRATION NOTES 6,300,000 Family entertainment MAHJONG PLAYERS no 1. 5,000,000 MALAYSIA Average playing time NOTES Family entertainment POPULATION 28,000,000 no 1.

INTERNET PENETRATION for a Single Hand Game: 15,300,000 MAHJONG PLAYERS 3,000,000

SINGAPORE NOTES 3 minutes 20 seconds Family entertainment POPULATION no 1. 4,700,000

INTERNET PENETRATION 3,200,000

MAHJONG PLAYERS 700,000

NOTES Family entertainment no 1.

8 9 DRAGONS A Crash Funny thing about the game of mahjong: while it may look inscrutably Oriental and ﬁendishly difﬁcult to the casual outsider, it is actually quite easy BAMBOO to grasp and play. And while we are at it, please do not confuse a real mahjong game with the solitaire (patience) computer game that irritatingly often goes under the same name! There, the object is merely to take away two matching tiles at a time and thus clear the layout; a far cry from the skillful, nerve-wracking WINDS challenge that is mahjong against living, breathing opponents.

Course ahjong is truly one of the great games of You may in fact already be familiar with the game principle the world, and also one of the most widely in mahjong! Mechanism-wise, it belongs to the rummy CIRCLES played: in South-East Asia alone far more family – which in fact originally is another Chinese than 500 million people play it – but the invention, dating back several centuries – to which also M game has enthusiasts around the planet. belong tried-and-true card games such as gin rummy It is a game of deserving appeal, and with and canasta. deeply attractive qualities for its devotees. This ”draw, improve and discard” play goes on in To recap the basics, mahjong is a game for 2-4 for a number of rounds. But once you have assembled your participants – best with 4 – played with (usually) 144 exotic- four groups plus that pair you go out: shout ”Mahjong!” 13 TILES IS THE STARTING HAND looking tiles which are divided into five ”suits”: Dragons, and expose all your tiles. The game immediately stops, Winds, Characters, Bamboo and Circles. In a way, the basic and the other players will now have to pay you. The score equipment in mahjong may be likened to an unusual deck for your winning hand is calculated in points, which in of cards – but of course handling the engraved tiles of bone turn correspond to money at a previously agreed-upon and bamboo, or smooth plastic, in a live game is much ”exchange rate”. The better your combination of tiles, the more pleasing to your hands and fingers than cardboard can more expensive it will be for your opponents! After that all ever be. the tiles are turned over and shuffled, and the next hand is FLOWERS AND SEASONS played in the same manner. PLAYING THE GAME So what do you do when you play mahjong? To put it A RICH, SATISFYING GAME simply these 144 tiles are shuffled, face down, and you draw So now you know the basics of mahjong. It wasn’t that Mahjong 13 at random and line them up in front of you. From now difficult to pick up, was it? on, every time it is your turn you draw a new tile from the Naturally there are a couple of additional table, see if it is any use in improving your hand, and then ”tweaks”! You may under certain conditions claim a tile CHARACTERS discard one of your tiles face up. The object is to improve which an opponent has just discarded, and add it to your your hand to four groups and a pair. own hand; you usually also play with so-called Bonus tiles The pair is made up of any two identical tile, (Flowers and Seasons) which add an extra element of luck whereas a ”group” consists of either three identical tiles and additional points; and if you get a kong, four identical (called a pong in Chinese, for example three North Wind tiles, you must immediately draw an extra tile from the table tiles), or four identical tiles (called a kong, for example all so as to have enough tiles to form the remaining groups plus four White Dragons), or a ”straight” of three tiles in the same that pair. And, as you may have inferred from the above, TEXT Dan Glimne, Games Consultant suit (called a chow, for example 3-4-5 of the Bamboo suit). you do not discard any tile when you make your mahjong

10 11 A CRASH COURSE IN MAHJONG

and go out. But all those ﬁner points come naturally, once you start playing the game. Adding to the excitement are also some rare, high- scoring hands with poetic names; make one of those and your opponents will have to dig very deep into their pockets Who Invented in order to pay you. And there are of course interesting variants of the game, from the streamlined wham-bam gambling version played in Hong Kong clubs to the subtle, strategic competition version chosen for international championships. the Game of Mahjong is a rich, satisfying game which will fascinate you with its inﬁnite variety. It is easy to get hooked for life on this enduring, appealing classic; I know I am! Mahjong, Anyway?

The history of mahjong is rife with legends and rumours, most of them completely untrue: that it was invented by the great philo- sopher Confucius (Konfutse) himself around the year 500 BC; or that it was invented by a general Chen around the year 1000 AD, in order to keep his soldiers awake during their night watches. BASIC FACTS ABOUT THE GAME

In truth however mahjong was – like most games at the time, added a few twists, 2-4 PARTICIPANTS CAN PLAY games – not invented out of the blue, but modiﬁed some of the illustrative elements developed from other and older games. and had the game made up in tile form by a 144 TILES Foremost among these was the card game ma local ivory craftsman; and thus the game of tiae, known since 17th century China and mahjong was born, around the year 1860. which featured various depictions of money That mahjong has its background 4 MINGG AND WIND DISCS in its three main suits. The person generally in a money-suited game can still be considered to be the inventor of mahjong – glimpsed in the choice of the main suits: 2 DICE although the 136-tile game he created was Circles of course depict individual coins; slightly different from today’s form – is Chen Bamboo was originally stacks of coins, Yu-men (1817-1878), who lived in Ningpo bound together with string; and Characters, 5 ”SUITS” and was a high government ofﬁcial and came with the Chinese pictogram for “myriad” from a wealthy family. One of his hobbies was and carrying overtones of “plentiful” and 13 13 TILES IN THE STARTING HAND playing games, especially card games, at which “wealth”, is to be associated with bags or he was acknowledged to be very skilled. masses of coins. If nothing else, playing Chen Yu-men took the main elements mahjong will certainly enrich your life! from ma tiae as well as from some other card

12 13 CURIOSITIES and notices CURIOSITIES and notices SAME NAME, DIFFERENT GAME YOU CHOOSE THE RULES BE A MAHJONG CHAMPION! TABLET MAHJONG

Like any true ”folk game”, mahjong exists in a number of national and regional There are almost as many sets of Tournaments in mahjong are Tablets, especially the variants. While many of them are played with the usual 144 tiles, there are those with a mahjong rules as there are places a fairly recent invention, iPad, are all the rage these bewildering array of extra tiles you will not fi nd elsewhere, and with different functions where the game is played. For in the history of a game days. While offering a and effects: Joker tiles, Fly tiles, Window tiles, Face tiles, Eye tiles, Hundred Uses tiles, Mahjong Logic, covering the most that for nearly a century dedicated App on the App Red Five tiles, Cat-Rat-Rooster-Worm-Old Man-Pot of Gold tiles and so on, in Vietnam, important regions with well-known and a half was played for Store would only work Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and other places. These variant sets are rules is important. To this end our entertainment – or actually in regulated markets, naturally popular with mahjong collectors! in-game lobby lists tables with Hong far more often for cold, Mahjong Logic is still Kong rules hard cash. After having bringing Mahjong to the as well as the during most of the 20th iPad and other tablets. DID YOU KNOW? newer and century wrestled with a Development of a web Is There Mahjong The average playing time for an East very popular reputation for being a hard- based (HTML5) client for Only Game is Shenzhen core gambling game, mahjong the network has started rules to cover has today established itself early in 2012 and the After Death? the South as a bona fi de accepted product is expected to be delivered before the summer of 2012. This also The answer is yes, according to Chinese culture. Eastern parts world classic. In 1998 it was means that the threshold to start playing online Mahjong on the computer is There it is customary after the passing away 16 of China. offi cially named China’s lowered, as players can start playing Mahjong in their browser immediately, of a loved one to burn printed cardboard Japan is 255th sport, and in 2002 without prior download. representations of what he or she will need MINUTES covered with the fi rst World Mahjong in the hereafter: money, furniture, household three- and Championship was held, goods, even such things as credit cards and four-player in Tokyo. The Second Why Not Enjoy airline tickets! The smoke is thought to waft AND Riichi tables. World Championship over to the other side, carrying these gifts. And Together with was played in Mahjong 24/7? of course games are needed too, in order to keep the Mahjong November 2007, in Just like with bridge and poker and chess, mahjong and the Chinese your deceased relatives entertained! Here is an Competition Chengdu in China; 40 pictograms illustrating the tiles have inspired and decorated a plethora of example of a special mahjong game intended for Rules (MCR) and the Third World accessories: key chains, soap, towels, oven mittens, notepads, baby bottle the hereafter, where all the tiles as well as the tables, most Championship insulators, wrist watches and many other items! dice are made from printed and folded cardboard SECONDS. players in in August 2010 so as to be part of such a memorial burning. in Utrecht in the Netherlands. the rest of the Far Today there are East and South many regional East Asia will fi nd and international a table with familiar tournaments in rules. Westerners various formats, have probably played and of course a the so-called Classic large number rules, or are familiar on the online with the Japanese rules sites driven by IN PAPER SHAPE and will hence also fi nd the Mahjong their fi x. Interested in a Logic Since the composition of a mahjong set – fi ve different suits, three of which yet another rule set for software! have values running from 1 up to 9 – resembles a deck of cards, it is easy to your region? Mahjong see how the game equipment can be turned into exactly that. Mahjong cards Logic can accommodate can be bought very inexpensively in most convenience stores in the Far East, your wishes and can often be used to pass the time while travelling; but are of course just – just get in touch with us! a substitute for “the real thing”!

15 A LONELY SWEDE IN HONG KONG

have been waiting am even wearing my World Series of immediately change hands. and waiting to get a Poker jacket from Las Vegas, just to Another young Chinese seat in a game, to no show that yes, I am used to playing for comes in, and just seconds afterwards avail; everyone, staff serious money, with serious people. is directed to a vacant chair when a I and the other visitors When I politely refused to player leaves a 50-100 table. ”Hey! I’ve alike, does their best be pushed out the door again, the been waiting a lot longer!” I say; but at pretending I am staff went to plan B: they started they all keep ignoring me. not there. ignoring me. And so I am here, in this After a few minutes I walk If I have ever felt more out of small, smoky mahjong club, looking up to the manager again, and once place, I cannot recall it right now. An out over more than a dozen tables. more insist that I have come to play. hour ago I walked into this mahjong Only two of the players are women, His reply comes in bad and heavily club in Lockhart Road in the Wan Chai of indeterminate middle age; all the accented English, straight out of a District, through the unprepossessing others are men, young as well as old. crime B-movie: ”Cost you three- entrance which most people would They allow me to walk back and forth, thousand Hong Kong dollars to play!” not even have noticed; but the two studying the frenzied action. Above Without a word I pull out a wad of Chinese characters above the door, every table there is a metal tray with bank notes from my pocket and show spelling the word MAHJONG, have a bowl, suspended from the ceiling him that I have at hand considerably drawn me here. It is my last night in on a thin steel bar, and underneath more than that. The manager sulks, Hong Kong for this visit, and early this hangs, by a small chain, a sign when his most recent ploy to get me tomorrow morning a flight will take showing the table number – in Western away from the club fizzles out. Another me homeward. writing, I notice. As soon as a player fifteen minutes go by, during which two A stranger in a strange land; makes a mahjong and goes out, the other recent arrivals are given vacant I feel alien in here. There is no other elderly manager rushes forward: it is chairs. ”Why don’t I get a seat?” I ask, word equally apt. Everyone else in the among his appointed tasks to give the still trying to keep my voice friendly. club literally jumped when I walked in, table number sign a whack so that it A man in his forties, sitting in one of a Westerner more than 190 centimetres swings wildly back and forth on its the 100-200 games, turns around to tall in this city where the average chain, after which another person me and replies in very good English: citizen does not even reach up to my from the staff hurriedly comes by to ”Because you do not know the rules.” TEXT Dan Glimne, Games Consultant shoulder, and they speak a language of immediately collect a certain amount Without hesitation I rattle off the ILLUSTRATION Lotta Jarlsdotter which I know perhaps ten words. No from the winner and deposit it into basics of the payment system including wonder everyone immediately assumed the metal bowl. It is the rake: five the special bonus tile at the end. He I had entered by mistake, and tried percent of the amount won. This is the grimaces and returns to his game. to shove me out the door. But I have income sustaining this mahjong club, After I have waited fully one A Lonely Swede stood my ground all this time, refusing one of over 300 in Hong Kong, and and a half hours, there is suddenly a to budge, quietly insisting on a seat in all with similar procedures. Every now vacant chair in a 50-100 game but no the 50-100 game; Hong kong dollars, and then the bowls are replaced with Chinese in line. I immediately sit down, that is. empty ones, while those that have been pull out my wad of Hong Kong dollars I am not unfamiliar with the filled are taken to ”the cage”, a small and stuff into the slot that folds out in Hong Kong kind of balls-to-the-wall, blood-on-the opening in the wall, to be emptied. from the table, and say: ”Let’s play.” table variant of mahjong they play Inside it I catch occasional glimpses of There is sudden tension in It is past 11 pm, and there is an unmistakable, unadulterated, tempting tang of in here. In fact, only three days ago a stern, matronly Chinese lady who is the air. The other three players at the I played it in the Diamond Casino in as unsmiling as the rest. table stiffen and glance uncertainly at gambling in the air... not to mention a complete disregard for the ”No Smoking” Macau, upstairs in that large room All the mahjong games going the elderly manager. At last he shrugs, signs adorning the walls. Even the elderly, stern Chinese who is the obvious manager where almost no other foreigners on in here are for cold, hard cash; almost imperceptibly: I have finally of the place is puffing away at a cigarrette, while he every now and then gives me a venture. But here in this little club unlike the Diamond Casino in Macau been given my chance. in Hong Kong, they refuse to listen no chips are used. As soon as a player Just like in the Diamond suspicious glance. when I try to point that out. And I hits a kong, or goes out, bank notes Casino in Macau, the tempo at the

16 17 A LONELY SWEDE IN HONG KONG QUOTES from customers and partners

Mahjong Logic allows our company to seamlessly incorporate peer to peer online mahjong which is a game our customers have been asking for. Operating in the Asia region ultimately requires us to offer the region’s most popular game. Mahjong Logic gives us instant player liquidity and the conﬁ dence in launching this new game for all our operators and their customer base worldwide.

PETER KJAER AND ANGELA HO ho gaming founders and members of the world renowned stanley ho family.

66mahjong.com is extremely excited to have the number one game in Asia, mahjong, offered online via our new platform. Mahjong Logic is the perfect solution and “partner for what our online objectives are for the region. The game ﬂ ows smoothly and offers our players a peer to peer experience which is unmatched anywhere.

WILLIAM HU ceo of 66mahjong.com

table is murderous. I can feel cold extra plunder in accomplishing a But still: on the whole I manage to sweat breaking out under my armpits kong or two on the way. Compared keep up, do most things right, and Bodog88 has searched long and hard for the best peer from trying to keep up with the other to this lightning-speed play, any game even win a couple of hands. When at three, who no doubt grew up with the of bridge or poker seems like a sedate last I get up to return to my hotel and to peer online mahjong solution and we have found game and have played it for decades. occupation for retirement pensioners pack for my morning fl ight, I have lost the perfect partner in Mahjong Logic. Asia is the world’s This is the raw, blitzkrieg version of in the old folks home. Every now 600 Hong Kong dollars but on the fasting growing market for online gaming and having mahjong: no fi nessing about with point and then I take a couple of tenths of other hand earned grudging respect; counts, just racking up the tiles and seconds too long in making my move, that much I can tell from the farewell mahjong is an absolute must for us in this region. making split-second decisions as to prompting the typical Chinese gesture gestures of the others. And I consider ROBERT GUSTAFSSON managing director of bodog88.com whether I should call any opponent’s which denotes quiet criticism: something it money well spent, for a unique, discard or not, aiming for what will halfway between a sigh and a snort, with adrenaline-packed thriller of a game complete my hand and hoping for shoulders exageratedly sagging. experience like no other. 18 ”19 on self-draw means that all other players must wind has a list of lucky tiles. If you go mahjong pay you a big payment each. on self-draw, you get to draw the next tile from Shenzhen Rules Given small and big payments of $1 and the wall. If that tile is one of the lucky tiles $2 – shown as a $12 table online – the following connecting with your seat wind, all losers must payments may happen during a game: pay you a big payment each, in addition to the • If you declare a hidden kong, the other big payment paid for mahjong on self-draw. players must pay you $2 (a big payment) (Robbing the kong does not count as self-draw in – Kong is King each. this case.) For East, the lucky tiles are East, 1, 5 • If you claim a discarded tile to form a kong and 9 of any suit; for South they are South, Red from a hidden pong, the discarding player Dragon, 2 and 6; for West they are West, Green Mahjong Logic now offers online However, the devil (and the fun) is as always pays both a small and a big payment, for a Dragon, 3 and 7 and for North they are North, total of $3 on our example table. Shenzhen games. Shenzhen in the details. First of all, you cannot claim a White Dragon, 4 and 8. discarded tile for a chow unless is it the fi nal This means that East is somewhat more • If you have already declared a pong and then mahjong, also known as Bang tile needed to go mahjong. Second, going for likely to draw a lucky tile. And a fi nal twist to draw a fourth tile of the same kind from the mahjong is not always the best course of action, the game is that if you win, you get to be East in Bang mahjong, is a fast paced wall and declare a kong, all other players since any kongs you declare during the game the next hand! game where money is paid must pay a small payment. usually pay as much, or more, than winning the for kongs during the game hand. Third, if you can go mahjong with a discarded So kong is king in Shenzhen mahjong, in addition to settling when tile and decline to do so, you may not claim except in one case: if you declare a kong in some way, but another player can use a tile from that somebody wins. discarded tiles for mahjong until the next hand.

kong to go mahjong, you are robbed of your The basic rules are the same as for In live games, the bet levels are given as kong and must pay the winner for yourself and almost any kind of mahjong: get four sets and two numbers: one small payment and one big the other players as if the winner had won on a pair (or seven pairs or thirteen orphans) and payment, for example $1/$2. Online, we show self-draw. declare mahjong to win. There are no minimum this as six times the big payment, since that is Going for mahjong is a good strategy requirements on the hand and all mahjong hands where we cap your losses. if you are not close to any kongs. There is also are equal in value – no doubles, fans, hans, yakus Payment for going mahjong is simple: another reason to try to go mahjong, though, or points. In essence, Shenzhen games are fast and if you go mahjong on a discard, the discarding and that is the lucky draw that follows. Each probably the easiest variant of mahjong to learn. player pays you a big payment, while a mahjong

20 21 WITH A LICENSE TO THRLL

Mahjong Logic is a tremendous success renowned for being a business-friendly location in which story and is testament to the professiona- to operate, the process to gain an e-Gaming licence here can be a very rigorous one. Our services were also called lism of the senior team whom we upon in the very early stages to facilitate meetings with key have had the pleasure of working with support businesses such as banking, hosting and telecoms since 2009. companies. An e-Gaming business, as part of their licence agreement, is required to have a physical presence on the With a Island in addition to Directors and key personnel – all As a corporate service provider headquartered in the Isle of which Equiom provide for Mahjong Logic. Once the of Man, Equiom has been involved in the e-Gaming sector application was submitted, the GSC was extremely efﬁcient since 2005 providing licensing and ongoing administration at processing it and Mahjong Logic were successfully Licence services to e-Gaming operators. granted their licence in December As is often the case, the 2009. Since then our relationship has team at Mahjong Logic were continued to grow through the co- to Thrill introduced to a number of Isle of ordination of support service providers TEXT Barry Smith Man Corporate Service Providers and the facilitation of enhanced by the Isle of Man Department of network licensing opportunities in Economic Development in May other jurisdictions. 2009 in order to determine which ”It is very pleasing to partner company was best placed to assist with the Mahjong Logic team which Mahjong Logic in securing an Isle continues to be highly successful of Man Gambling Licence. From and innovative in delivering and the outset it was clear that we progressing their business in the fast established an excellent working paced e-Gaming industry, and we look relationship with Mahjong forward to continuing our partnership Logic’s founders Jonas Alm and in the future.” Anders Nordstrand, and we Barry Smith is the Legal embarked on a joint initiative to Director at Equiom Trust Company obtain licence approval from the Mahjong Logic Limited is licensed and regulated Limited – a leading provider of Trust Island’s Gambling Supervision (31/12/2009) by the Gambling Supervision & Corporate Services. With over 11 Commission (GSC). Equiom’s Commission of the Isle of Man. years experience in e-Gaming law he successful management of a number has been instrumental in developing of licenses was clearly a determining factor in Mahjong Equiom’s successful e-Gaming business line and brings a Logic placing their trust in us to help them achieve their wealth of knowledge in relation to licensing applications business goal. With this in mind we set out to develop a and regulatory issues. close working knowledge of Mahjong Logic’s business and licensing requirements – all of which was easily achieved through regular communication with Jonas and Anders and which culminated in the submission of a robust application to the GSC which included full due diligence on the principles, an extensive business plan detailing the business Equiom Trust Company model and proposed products together with the marketing Limited is licensed by the Isle strategy that was to be undertaken. of Man Financial Supervision Even though the Isle of Man is an extremely Commission. Barry Smith is popular jurisdiction within the industry and is well their Legal Director.

22 23 Mahjong Parlours and Gambling in Japan

TEXT Garthe Nelson

One of the things I will never stop comic book or walk outside their for the tax coffers in these places, loving about this country is the station to find these dark dens of it’s hard to imagine why Japan’s Japanese ability to state complete iniquity. However, in most cases they government – heavily in debt – falsehoods while looking reality choose not to because the stakes are would want to object. One common squarely in the face and actually low enough and the cost of playing is objection from the politicians is that it believing what they say. My favourite: high enough that over the long term, would foster organized crime. Foster Mahjong in China “You can’t gamble in Japan, most players are not going to be able organized crime?!?! Are you joking? it’s illegal!” to win any considerable amounts Given the “illegality” of Gambling being absolutely of money. They are essentially only gambling, who could possibly be everywhere, it’s one of the most playing for the cost of playing and it is running the illegal and quasi-legal TEXT Pierre Wuu laughably false claims a person could reasoned again that this is not illegal. businesses if not for organized crime? – Founder of the World Mahjong Tour make in Japan. Never mind the fact Occasionally a higher stakes parlour With the obvious potential benefit that there is state sanctioned gambling will be raided by the police, usually to the government totally ignored, in the form of a lottery and one really must wonder how betting on horse, bicycle, much in bed with organized dog, or on anything-that- crime the politicians really are. Mahjong has always been known as China’s most popular themes and images throughout. Many movies are completely moves races. Never mind that I’M SHOCKED I’m not sure how my game game whose name literally means “sparrow” in Chinese. centered on the game of mahjong and have become huge fact that underground casinos – SHOCKED TO FIND of choice, mahjong, would Played throughout Asia and the rest of the world, mahjong hits. The movie “God of Gamblers” (1989) is ranked as the can be found in any major fit into a large casino – but has its origins in China and over the years has remained highest grossing movie in Hong Kong history and showcases city. What really makes your THERE IS GAMBLING it would be great to see the the favorite pastime of the entire country. You cannot walk mahjong. These trends which have become mainstream are mouth drop when someone laws changed so that these the streets, enter an Internet café or even eat at a large then distributed worldwide to the over 40 million overseas bold-facedly lies this to you is GOING ON IN HERE! otherwise legitimate businesses restaurant in China without seeing a game being played or Chinese who play a crucial role in popularizing the game in the ubiquity of pachinko and could be run without the extra talked about. Mahjong is king in China! other countries throughout the world. mahjong parlours throughout taxes levied by the police and In 1998, the China State Sports Commission It is only a matter of time before the game of the country. because some disgruntled customer has organized crime (redundant, I know). published the country’s first official rule set and the General mahjong becomes the China version of online poker. Tours The method by which lost more than he wanted to and then So it was with typical stealth Administration of Sport of China recognized Mahjong as like the World Mahjong Tour and World Series of Mahjong pachinko parlours skirt their illegality called the police to complain that there that I wandered around the Shibuya the country’s 255th sport. The first World Championship for help popularize the game and further increase its popularity. makes an absolute mockery of is gambling in that there establishment! district last night, a little tipsy after my mahjong was held in October 2002 in Tokyo, Japan. There are also countless tournaments throughout China, Japanese law. Players collect their One is reminded of that famous line in weekly mahjong study night, in search The importance of mahjong in Chinese culture and which have high numbers of participants. Online, the winnings at a building outside of the the movie Casablanca: “I’m shocked – of a game. My favorite old haunt has can be understood from one of the late Mao Zedong’s game has become very popular. It is estimated that at peak pachinko parlour. Because they do not shocked to find there is gambling going been replaced by a hostess club and quotes: “China has made three tremendous contributions time the Chinese site qq.com hosts over 250,000 concurrent receive their money inside the parlour, on in here!” Zoo has moved! Brightly lit and with and national treasures to the world. The first is the Chinese online mahjong players, on a free games site. some genius of Catch-22 style logic has Shocking indeed when one the rate advertised outside, I assume traditional medicine; the, second is the novel Dream of the The appetite for online gambling in China is the ruled that it is not gambling. Virtually considers that given their position on that Zoo’s new location which I finally Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin; and last but not the least is largest among the Asian countries. Figures are somewhat guaranteed money makers, pachinko the borderline of legality, mahjong found across the street was not for the the game of mahjong.” This shows the sheer passion for uncertain for online players, but the land-based figures parlours are thus more prevalent and pachinko parlours tend to have purposes of evading police detection. I the game engrained throughout the long history of China coming from Macau are staggering. Analysts estimate throughout Japan than 7/11 stores. a close financial relationship with walked out with 13,800 more yen than and its people – even through the period of the “Cultural Macau gambling revenues will hit US$33.1 billion this How convenient! the police in order to earn them the I walked in with, a miracle of non- Mahjong parlours equally privilege of running their businesses. gambling mathematics which means Revolution”, when it was officially banned. year (2011) while Las Vegas is estimated to reach $10,3 enjoy some strange mechanism of logic That a parlour could possibly exist I will have to play at least 40 more In China alone there are an estimated 20,000 billion. Mainland Chinese players, many of which are now by the authorities. Also approaching without police knowledge is simply games (at 350 yen/game) to “break registered mahjong parlours and countless unregistered online, support the vast majority of the Macau revenue. the prevalence of 7/11 stores, many of unimaginable. even.” parlours, nearly all of which have private games involving While the online gambling market remains “grey”, there them advertise the stakes at which one In recent years there have I guess it will give me real money. These parlours provide automated mahjong are undoubtedly vast numbers of active players. Either way, may gamble inside their establishment been many efforts to change gambling something to do as we wait for the tables and charge players for use of the room by the hour online mahjong will be a large part of this market both right on their sign outside, or in a laws so that casino operators might politicians to wake up and smell the and also sell food and drink. All cities have them and today and in the future! popular mahjong comic book called move into Japan. With the success of reality... playing there has become standard protocol for many. Kindai Mahjong. If they were really casinos in Macau and more recently Popular culture throughout China also embraces looking, police need only buy the Singapore and their subsequent boon mahjong via songs and movies that incorporate mahjong

24 25 Winning Strategy in Mahjong

TEXT Dan Glimne, Games Consultant

If you are among the multitude who believe that playing for money rather than mere points or vaguely deﬁ ned glory will spice up any game, then mahjong is sooner or later bound to pique your interest. As someone once said: “It is the wagering element that separates the truly involved from the merely interested”.

In the Western world mahjong has long been associated with genteel socializing and innocent fun. And fact is, in the East it is currently going through a paradigm shift and reshaping itself into a thriving tournament game, since mahjong in 1998 was ofﬁ cially named China’s 255th sport and an international set of competition rules subsequently was hammered out in cooperation with Japan. But to most Asians – who make up the overwhelming majority of the game’s 500-700 million devotees all over the world – mahjong is still about one thing, pure and simple: show me the money. Mahjong

Mahjong is still about one thing, pure and simple: SHOW ME THE MONEY quiet backstreets of Beijing, Shanghai or Taipei, you cannot avoid hearing through the open windows the characteristic click-click-click of mahjong tiles being shufﬂ ed on someone’s is quite likely the single live game in the world with the kitchen table. highest annual accumulated turnover, overshadowing poker and blackjack by far. Indeed, there are over 300 mahjong SKILL VERSUS LUCK clubs in Hong Kong, and over 25,000 mahjong parlours in As a beginner to mahjong you may quickly infer that the Japan! And if you walk one summer evening through the game contains a signiﬁ cant element of luck: after all, you

26 27 WINNING STRATEGY IN MAHJONG WINNING STRATEGY IN MAHJONG

start with 13 randomly drawn tiles, and will keep drawing national and regional variants. The basic game play – hand. This is especially true when a winning hand can be 5. TO MELD OR NOT TO MELD? new ones mostly “out of the hat”. But in the long run, drawing and discarding with the goal of forming four groups assembled in a great number of possible ways from the Never automatically claim a tile that an opponent discards, just like in bridge, poker and backgammon, skilled players plus a pair – is the same in nearly all of them; the main various scoring elements. just because it would complete (“meld”) a group in your will make mincemeat out of less experienced players – and difference instead lies in the various scoring systems used. Mahjong offers the challenge of balancing your hand. One reason is that if you claim and complete a group, when it comes to mahjong, there are thousands of hardened How to correctly score a fi nished mahjong hand, play between aiming to go out quickly but with not very that group must be exposed on the table for all to see – and professionals making a living from the game. meaning fi guring out what it is worth in points, requires valuable sets of tiles in hand, or shooting for more high- your opponents will learn more about your hand from your So exactly what kind of skill elements do you need to some practice. But make no mistake about it: you have to paying but harder-to-achieve combinations. Therefore, melds and discards than they could from your discards know by heart ALL you must – literally in seconds, when playing for serious alone. Another is that every time the scoring elements in stakes – be capable of assessing your best options for putting you meld, it narrows the remaining the mahjong variant together a winning hand. Do you keep or discard honour opportunities for your hand in you play, if you are to tiles? Is an all-pong hand your best bet? Or one of the chow- progress. A third reason is that become a consistent based hands instead? Or something more exotic? the more of your winning hand winner. This is where a The art of assessing your hand is a continuous you can keep concealed, the more sizable part of the skill process as the game develops. You must as long as possible points it will score. If you choose in mahjong comes in: keep several options open, and be prepared to switch to claim a discarded tile and meld the ability to quickly your play when need dictates or new opportunities arise. it, make sure you have a solid select which possible Flexibility is vital! reason for it! scoring elements, and combinations of those 3. KNOW THE ODDS 6. DEFENSIVE PLAY scoring elements, will Just like in poker, keeping track of your “outs” – in this As much as you want to assemble suit your tiles best and case which still available tiles will improve your hand – is the winning hand yourself, at times can help you achieve important, along with the ability to fi gure out the odds – especially towards the end of the that minimum point of actually acquiring them. When faced with a choice as hand – it might be wiser to prevent score or more. to which tile to discard, nearly always discard the one that an opponent from winning instead. And you will maximize your mathematical odds of winning with the If the players run out of available have to keep doing it remaining tiles in hand. tiles to draw, that round will come under pressure, fl exibly to an end without anyone scoring; adapting to the ever- 4. WATCH THOSE DISCARDS and a draw beats a loss, every changing game. As you Few skills are more important in mahjong than tracking time! draw new tiles and which tiles your opponents choose to discard; this will say Therefore, towards the your opponents keep a lot about what sort of hands they are trying to build up, end when you realize that the odds throwing out their and force you to adapt your own play to the circumstances. are heavily against you, it might discards and building But don’t forget, just as you will watch your opponents’ be better to switch into defensive up their own hands, discards, they will watch yours! mode; especially if it from melds new opportunities will Which tiles are likely to be safe for you to discard? and discards looks like you might present themselves while If an opponent has thrown out a West Wind without any be up against a high-scoring hand others disappear. There drama, you can probably do it too. But has your right-hand in the making. Then it is time to just is no substitute for opponent so far discarded no Dragons or Winds at all? Uh- ruthlessly break up groups in your an intimate knowledge oh, it will be dangerous for you to discard such a tile, as hand and discard tiles you judge of the scoring system in she will probably pounce on it immediately. Or is your left- to be safe, in order to prevent that become a good mahjong player? An extensive answer to that use, and the ability to continuously apply it to the progress hand opponent obviously clearing his hand of all Bamboo opponent from going out. A smart reverse strategy here can question would easily fi ll volumes, but let me here point to a of your hand, when it comes to developing your winning tiles? Then that just might be the suit it would pay you to save you a lot of money! couple of the more important. abilities in mahjong. collect instead. In several forms of mahjong, the player who Hopefully, this article has further whetted your discards the fi nal tile an opponent needs to go out on, will appetite for one of the truly great game classics of the world. 1. KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCORING SYSTEM USED 2. ASSESSING YOUR HAND be punished for careless play by paying extra points. Don’t See you on one of the websites powered by Mahjong Logic, Mahjong is not one single standardized game, like “Western” The fi rst thing you must do, after picking up your starting let it be you! perhaps? chess Karpov style, but rather exists in over two dozen tiles, is assessing the strength and “direction” of your

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30 31 32 33 JAPAN PROFESSIONAL MAHJONG LEAGUE

ne reason that so many pros are are seeded in after the qualifiers and it is still a long road The Women’s concentrated in one league is the fact that from there. Japan is the only country that maintains Garthe Nelson and I got our start as the first a professional circuit. Why are so many Western pros on the circuit back in 2006. We established O in JPML? Maybe it is the high ReachMahjong.com the same year and with all the level of competition, maybe it is work we have done on mahjong’s behalf throughout Fight Club the endorsements (does Konami’s the world, waving the JPML flag, our place in the Mahjong Fight Club or Ron2.jp ring a bell?), maybe league was soon solidified. Since then Garthe has it is the business-like and professional attitude that posted some amazing results including 2 final tables TEXT Jenn Barr the competitors bring to the table (suits are the and a win in North Kanto last year. normal dress code for game-days). Whatever draws While being part of JPML is awesome and the masses to take the professional test every year, I would not trade the experience for anything, JPML continues to be successful through the it isn’t always the easiest sticking out like current recession. a sore thumb. Some of the perks are The term “professional” amazing, but there is still the idea might be misleading in the that people that look like us Western sense of the word. could not possibly know how It is true that only the top to play Japanese mahjong pros, probably less than and sometimes that works In a bright room on the 3rd floor of a rented 10%, make their living off against us. When it doesn’t mahjong only. That is the though, I have to say it is out mahjong parlour, Japan’s most predomi- elite group. The majority of fun to beat the people that nant professional mahjong league meets once professional players have day doubted us. a month to determine who will move up in jobs or work in parlours as Besides just the the rankings and who will move down. At fill-ins and waiters. Advancing good experience, I have to staggered times A-League veterans that have to “video game” status usually say we have also made some takes an audition and some great friends in the league. been in the league since it started and new show of talent, such as winning a You have to. You start out by pros alike play in the same room over a title. taking a test with these people, 2-day event. Title wins are hard to come by then meet them once a month just to This is the Japan Professional Mahjong in this industry. The normal league mentioned get into the league. Once you are in you see League (JPML) and it hosts some of the above takes place every month and at the end of them almost every weekend for events, travel with strongest mahjong professionals in the world. the year only the top A1-leaguers battle it out for them to regional events and appearances, and most the Phoenix Cup title. It takes years to make it from importantly you play mahjong with them. Playing the starting ranks to A1 and most players never get a game like mahjong with someone in combination there, since there are only 12 spots. There are other with drinking for hours afterward gives you insight leagues that generally last 5 months each, including into someone’s personality that is hard to get the Women’s League, the Champions League and a anywhere else. This is how tournament days are number of regional leagues. These are a new player’s often spent. We work hard together at the mahjong best chances at making it to a final table since players start table and play hard after the working day is done. on a more even playing field. Becoming a professional mahjong player is not There are 5 major tournaments in the JPML each easy. Even if you pass the written exam, the playing exam year too, but they last for weeks at a time since events and the interview and make it into the league, there is a long only take place on weekends and there are hundreds of road before that can become an income. Especially with the participants. Masters in the spring, 10-tier, Pro Queen and lack of cash-prizes in mahjong tournaments, it’s difficult Rookie Cup in the summer, and OUI in the fall keep the worldwide. But for the experience and to upgrade mahjong pros pretty busy. The top contenders from previous years skills, I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

34 35 How to Succeed in Japan

TEXT Lars Broberg, COO, Mahjong Logic

One of the online companies Kong: Is Mahjong big online in gaming products are still very much on the move in Japan is Japan? unknown to the affiliates. As the Dora Dora: There is a very large market in Mahjong affiliate program is something Dora Mahjong. We asked Japan for online mahjong. The top new to the affiliates, we plan to make a few questions about the three sites have over 10,000 concurrent this type of marketing our base. On Japanese online market and players at peak times. However these the affiliate side we work with Japan’s the future of Dora Mahjong. games are play-for-fun or offer a largest affiliate network for gaming, subscription based service. The fact SamuraiClick. As a new service to that so many players play mahjong for their members we have seen great Kong: What is the Japanese fun proves that the game has gathered results although the service is still in it’s gambling market like? popularity online as a skill game. infancy. Dora: Japan is a major nation for gaming potential. Also due to the Kong: How is Dora Mahjong doing? At the same time, we have been putting economic situation of the nation, Dora: As mentioned, the environment effort into personal introductions as well as the impact of the latest is favourable for operation of online through CD hand-outs. earthquake, the debate to legalize mahjong, but no major sites have Paid marketing opportunities are casinos have picked up speed, with the provided the play-for-money model of difficult to find due to the gaming major belief that legalization of casinos online mahjong in Japan. nature of the website, but we is inevitable. The play-for-money are able to connect model can target with friendly Kong: How big is Mahjong in Japan? the existing media partners Dora: Mahjong is one of the most mahjong that allow for popular games in Japan. There are over parlour user as us to advertise 30 million players in Japan, playing at well as online our service. tens of thousands of mahjong parlours mahjong players. Japanese players “janso” throughout the country. Many Dora Mahjong have a tendency to learn to play at universities and play is starting to get be cautious of websites on a regular basis. The community of recognition online through the network that look or feel “foreign” to mahjong players is tight knit, and the of mahjong players, and we are fully them. However, the team we have at janso’s are crowded during weekends. convinced that there is a great need for Dora Mahjong are very well informed The popularity has spread to female such a service in Japan. of the Japan market as well as how to players as well in the recent days and distribute the product. We are most mahjong parlours have renovated their Kong: What are your plans for Dora likely the only company in the industry outlets to provide a cleaner or smoke- Mahjong for the coming 12 months? with our kind of reach into marketing free environment to welcome all kinds Dora: In Japan, affiliate marketing is methods and opportunities for gaming of players. very active, but affiliate activities for services in Japan.

36 37 ECONOMY and technology e-commerce you would turn to already tight game-play will make it easier for Time is Money existing application servers; when you to attract and keep new players. creating PC-games you would use third There’s an old programmer So to make things easy Mahjong Logic Scaling party engines; and very few product axiom that tells you that it is wrong have gathered all your payment needs SEK companies at all own their entire to optimize too early. Generally this under one roof: with many payment supply chain. But within the gambling is true, but when you are looking at options, ranging from credit cards with that industry, this is where few options are your server foundation you will have 7994 coding, E-wallets, bank transfers to be found. to remember that the platform sets the and on to vouchers and cheques. Scaling in Cubeia Firebase is bar: you will never be faster than the ”We believe in robust Baseline handled by adding more hardware, platform you’re standing on, never technical solutions that allow you to USD which can be done without faster than your baseline. But with carry out your business undisturbed interrupting any game play. This Cubeia Firebase, that baseline is set – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 AUD horizontal scalability makes it possible sky-high. days a year. It does not matter if you When you start a business, when to run truly large installations on have customized payment pages or use you want to bring innovations to the commodity servers, without the need Lars J. Nilsson our white label solution; either way, market, when you truly believe your for solid state drives, back planes your customer will enjoy a smooth, idea will be a game changer: take or other exotic – not to mention secure and reliable payment experience, a good hard look at your technical expensive – hardware. For example, a ensuring many return visits”, Lars platform. Because if you’re right, recent load test during the release of Broberg at Mahjong Logic continues. and you will get not just a few i-BANQ, Mahjong Cubeia Firebase 1.7 Enterprise Edition Part of a great gaming YEN players but thousands, and in this loaded up forty thousand concurrent experience is being able to access era of social gaming even hundreds Logic´s Latest poker players on three cheap “pizza your winnings, and winning players of thousands of players, can your box” style servers. Payment know the sites where it is quick platform handle that load? and convenient to cash out. We have Focusing on the challenges of massive FACTS Method fast payouts! JPY EUR scalability too early is a mistake, Mahjong Logic is using Cubeia especially if you want to build a multi- Firebase Enterprise Edition for for Japanese Finally Universal player game. The kind of stability and their Mahjong product. Customers A System that Keep high availability you want comes at a Currency price if you want to do it yourself, not In addition to elastic only in terms of sheer development horizontal scaling, Cubeia Firebase Unlike conventional payment solutions Scammers Away The US dollar is well known all cost, but also in risk: a few years comes with a blistering performance which involve regular forex exposure, over the world, which is why many back Sun Microsystems, now Oracle, as well. It is easy to forget, but long duration to affect the actual games use it as a base currency. But estimated that nine out of ten multi- performance impacts scaling: the credit and complex administration Proper fraud screening is critical. Mahjong Logic uses a sophisticated allowing players to play with the player server projects failed. And more effi cient your system is, the less procedures, i-BANQ is a very Not only does it save you money fraud detection system that analyzes currency they collect their salary in is yet, you will only scale as far as your hardware you will need for a given – it can also save your business. the playing patterns of any given important to give the player a good platform; it will form the baseline for number of players. And less hardware player on the network. Ensuring a feel for the bets they make. Mahjong your future operations. Can you be equals less cost, and less risk of failure. High chargeback rates may also fair and safe online environment free Logic already supports deposits of US sure that you will make it? Or will the Performance is also impacts lead to higher processing fees or of fraud is essential to all operators. dollars regardless of which currency potential of a success actually be your revenue streams directly. Games termination of your merchant account. The Mahjong Logic Network’s Anti- the user has his funds in, and the game a risk? may have their revenues tied directly The Mahjong Logic system offers Fraud and Collusion team is made platform is not bound to any specifi c Cubeia Firebase was created to the speed of the game play: poker straightforward solution wherein a a complete banking and payments up of world-class experts in the fi eld, currency. An upcoming feature of early six years ago when we realized that is one example, where the number of person wishing to make a deposit will system which is able to track all player dedicated to ensuring the fairness 2012 is that exchanges will be handled almost everyone was building their hands per hour is directly correlated merely remit the money into a local deposits and withdrawals individually. of play. The team monitors game by the platform so that players with own gambling platforms in-house. to the rake. But game performance bank account; and from then onwards, It includes carefully designed checks play, identifying and preventing different currencies in their game In many other markets this would also has a direct impact on customer i-BANQ managers will seamlessly that tie in withdrawals with game play. fraudulent activity. accounts can play against one another. be considered a folly: in banking or retention: a responsive system and credit the client´s account.

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40 41 A Museum Devoted to Mahjong

There are actually two museums in the world devoted to the game of mahjong: one in Ningpo in China, the birthplace of the game; and one in Chiba outside Tokyo in Japan. We took the bus the latter and discovered over 3000 different games, including one – “The Imperial Palace Set”, made from ivory and ebony with inlays of noctilucent shell – that once was played at the court of Aihsinchuehlo Pui, the last Emperor of China. Here are some of our favorite pics from our visit. One of a kind museum we must say.

Adress: 1-2 Nakahara, Misakicho, Isumi, Chiba Phone: +81 470-87-8886

TEXT AND PHOTOS Dan Glimne Macau is the biggest gaming market in 18 May 2004 is a day forever etched in the history of the world – by far. It left Vegas in its dust Macau. It was the day the Sands Macau opened, the first Macau Yesterday, day for some 42 years that a non-Stanley Ho casino was back in 2006. In fact the Macau gross operating in Macau. It was quickly followed by the Galaxy gaming revenue is now four times the size casinos (Waldo, Rio, President, Grand Waldo, StarWorld of that of Las Vegas. And it’s only going and Galaxy Macau), Sands’ two sister casinos the Venetian Today and Tomorrow and the Plaza, Wynn, MGM and the three Melco Crown to get a lot, lot more. casinos (Crown which went on to rename itself Altira, Taipa Square and City of Dreams). Of course the 20 or so Stanley Many people don’t know there has been a thriving gaming Ho casinos continued to operate (and a few more opened), market in Macau for more than 400 years. According now through the STDM subsidiary company SJM. to Macau’s gaming regulator, gaming was alive and well TEXT Andrew W Scott CEO, World Gaming Magazine The liberalization, coupled with the inexorable in Macau as far back as the 16th century, and it was the economic growth of mainland China, caused Macau gaming Chinese that were driving it back then too. The Portuguese to boom in a way no one could possibly have imagined. Macau government regulated gaming in 1847, and fantan So much for the past. What about the present? was the main game back then. Gaming boomed. The first Where are we at right now? monopoly concession was awarded in 1930 to Hou Heng Undoubtedly, the mainland Chinese visitor drives company headed by Fok Chi Ting, and the second in 1937 the Macau gaming market. It is true that around a third of to Tai Heng company headed by Fu Tak Iong and Kou Ho visitors to Macau are from Hong Kong, but they tend not Neng. to be the big players. Almost 60 percent of the visitors to But one cannot talk about Macau without talking Macau are from mainland China, and those players make of Stanley Ho. Indeed for many, Dr Ho is Macau. In years up the grand majority, probably more than 90 percent, of gone by it was often said the action on our gaming tables here in Macau. The average about a quarter of the stay in Macau is a mere 1.5 days. entire work force of Macau was employed either directly or indirectly by Dr Ho. MACAU GROSS GAMING REVENUE (US$ BILLIONS) Some 24 years after it was awarded, Tai Heng’s monopoly 33,1 concession expired, on 31 December 1961. An upstart +39% young company called STDM managed to win the 23,8 public bidding process and wrestle the licence away +58% from Tai Heng. The company was set up by four men: Yip Hon, Teddy Yip, Henry Fok, and a handsome and relatively 15 young businessman who had just turned 40: Stanley Ho. 13,8 +9% STDM won a 40 year monopoly concession and the rest, as 10,5 +31% they say, was history. Stanley Ho emerged as the kingpin of STDM, but 7,1 +47% 5,9 he was eventually to suffer the fate that he inflicted on Tai +21% Heng company some 40 years earlier. Ironically, losing the monopoly would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to STDM and Stanley Ho. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

44 45 THE FIRST EVER MACAU YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW About half the people that running joke amongst employers is that if you’re a Macau WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP local, and you have a heartbeat, we’ll hire you! There has come to Macau don’t even stay been a wages explosion in Macau – kids are earning ten overnight. Given the border gate times what their parents made at the same age. The GDP OF MAHJONG per capita of Macau citizens now exceeds that of their with China is closed from midnight Hong Kong counterparts – something that would have been - ONLINE! to 7am, many players are on a inconceivable just five years ago. What a great source of pride for the citizens of Macau! mission – get to a casino fast, play TEXT Lars Broberg, COO, Mahjong Logic I was recently asked to hard, and get out. estimate the gross gaming revenue The first ever WCOOM, World US$100,000 IN THE MAIN EVENTS The top one or two ranked players Let’s do some math. With around 80,000 people Championship of Online Mahjong, is There will be 3 Main Events with (depending on the setup for that coming to Macau every day, staying on average 1.5 days for Macau in 2020… After doing taking place in October 2012 and will a combined price pool of over particular tournament) on each table each, there are an average of 120,000 visitors in Macau some calculations and giving it a feature a total of three Main Events US$100,000. will progress to the next round while at any given moment – even more on weekends. But there with over US$100,000 in combined • Riichi: Japanese style Riichi the other players are eliminated are only around 24,000 hotel rooms in Macau (we know, lot of thought, I came up with a prizes! The three main events will be from the competition. As the rounds because we place a copy of WGM in many of them). Some number. It’s a number that will get Riichi, Hong Kong and MCR rules. • Hong Kong – regular Hong progress, the number of remaining of them stay at saunas (a uniquely Chinese phenomenon), The 2012 WCOOM is the inaugural Kong mahjong rules with point players and tables decrease, the final but again, there are “only” 28 saunas in Macau (again we me laughed at today… How much? event, and will in the future be hosted calculation using a fan-laak table. round consisting of the top four know, WGM is available in all 28 of them), so only a few annually. players who have made the final table. Just a lazy US$250 billion. • MCR (Mahjong Competition thousand could be crashing overnight at a sauna. So where The winner of the final table is the Rules) – also known as are all these 120,000 people? Many are just day-trippers, In short, Macau is doing very, very well for herself. SATELLITES overall mahjong champion in that International Rules, or Chinese some are sharing rooms, but the honest truth is that many Some people think Macau has boomed so much, and so The players can either qualify through discipline! Official rules. of them are playing in casinos through the night. While hugely, that it has to crash at some point. Or at least stop the available satellite tournaments, or All Mahjong Logic licensees do-gooders may see this as a bad thing, we don’t. It’s just growing. You can’t sustain 35 percent growth every year, buy in directly to the Main Events. A will offer the WCOOM tournaments symptomatic of the passion of the Chinese player. Playing right? Our response: “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Macau satellite tournament in mahjong is a TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE on their respective sites. in a casino isn’t just a pastime, it’s a war of attrition! A will continue to grow, and grow fast. There are a number of qualifying tournament, and the top The tournaments will be played in challenge! A business. Serious stuff… reasons why. The number one fundamental driver is China. players in these satellites each win a shootout format. Each tournament For more information go to Baccarat is king. Over 90 percent of the play right There’s a huge growing middle class in China, seat in the corresponding Main Event. is divided into successive rounds. www.wcoom.com now is baccarat. VIP play crushes the mass gaming floor by currently at around 150 million people, but expected to more than 2 to 1. grow to 300 or 400 million in the next decade. Most of

Junkets control everything, and rightly so. They are them live on the thriving eastern seaboard, within a few 1 2 3 the lifeblood of this boom. Without them Macau would be short miles of the new China Railway high-speed (CRH) FINAL FINAL FINAL nothing. They are travel agents, concierges, credit providers, network. The CRH is massive and growing fast – by US$100,000 hosts, marketing executives, banks, customer relations some time later this year China is expected to have more SATELLITES SATELLITES ofﬁcers and in many cases pseudo-casinos themselves. The high-speed rail track than the rest of the world combined. junkets have copped a lot of bad press in the past, much Travelling to Macau will become incredibly convenient.

of it unfair. The days when the line between “junket men” I was recently asked to estimate the gross gaming 1 2 3 and, shall we say, “unsavoury characters”, was thin (or revenue for Macau in 2020. My ﬁrst thought was I know SATELLITES MAIN EVENT MAIN EVENT MAIN EVENT SATELLITES even non-existent) are long gone. Junkets are now legitimate it’s going to be a wild ride over those next eight years, and I RIICHI HONG KONG MCR businesses, many listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. know our magazine WGM and our website wgm8.com will Their role in this dance is crucial. No junkets, no Macau. be here every step of the way to document and commentate What has all this boom done for Macau locals? on it, so we’ll have to defend the number as the years roll by! SATELLITES SATELLITES Well, a lot. Macau has an extremely low tax rate and every After doing some calculations and giving it a lot of thought, Macau citizen has received an annual US$750 cash social I came up with a number. It’s a number that will get me SATELLITES SATELLITES SATELLITES dividend from the government for the last few years. The laughed at today. But in eight years from now, maybe I’ll be country enjoys a mere 2.4 percent unemployment. The laughing loudest. How much? Just a lazy US$250.billion.

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