Global Sports: Mahjongg - An Ancient Game of Estimation

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Mahjongg - An Ancient Game of Estimation

By Gregory Brooks


Mahjongg is a tile based game that originated in China. Literally, "Mahjongg" means "the game of a hundred intelligences," and has numerous versions to its credit. It uses 136 tiles containing Chinese characters and symbols. Usually it's a four player game, each player is given thirteen tiles. The remaining tiles are placed at the center of the table. One by one, players pick up and discard tiles that help them acquire a fourteenth tile to form four groups and a pair (called a legal hand). The fourteenth tile can be picked up from the wall, or from a tile that another discarded. The first player to get a legal hand wins the game. The first is called winning from the wall and the other, winning from a discard.

Mahjongg is a favorite in the gambling world, having online versions as well. In 1981 Brodie Lockard created the first electronic version of the game, which saw an official release in 1983, by Control Data Corporation. Three years later, Activision gave the game a boost in popularity by releasing a version named Shanghai.

The variations of the game are Ever Mahjongg, Mahjongg Quest, Mahjongg Medley Solitaire, Ultimate Mahjongg 10, and Mahjongg XP Champion, Gekko Mahjongg, etc. These games are absorbing and interesting and include many layouts, devises and sets. You will not feel time passing, when you are playing the game.

In the internet, Mahjongg online holds international tournaments. The most noteworthy, the World Series of Mahjongg is an annual event that determines the best Mahjongg player in the world. As with any game, players need a certain amount of skill and practice to be able to compete at the larger level. Hence, practice is needed to a very large extent, and with practice comes expertise in the game. Practice is easy with the Internet popularity. Numerous websites offer opportunities to play the game with players from different parts of the world. So needless to say, it is very educative in terms of gaining practise and learning new tactics.

Be that as it may, not all websites can be trusted for those who want to play a serious game for money. One has to do some bit of search to find out truly authentic web versions of this wonderful game. Unfortunately, this can be a really difficult task.

By reputation, an excellent site is the 4Mahjongg. The site makes sure that only genuine Mahjongg tournaments are listed. Millions of players from all over the globe are using it. So you will find that the players can visit this site and choose the game, observe and enjoy every aspect of the game.

So, pick out one of the sites, and play as much as possible to gain insights to the finer aspects of Mahjongg. Playing with people of different nationalities will give you a great learning experience enabling you to polish your skills at the game. Moreover, if the World Series of Mahjongg is your target, this is just the place to be. Tournaments are held every day, and you can use these to bring your game to a level that gives you the confidence to beat your opponents.

The World Series of Mahjongg is the annual international tournament of Mahjongg. Players will have to be at least 21 years of age to participate, and have to pay an entry fee of $5,000 up front. Though this may seem like a big amount, the prize money should offset your apprehension about paying this up front. If you win the tournament, up to half a million dollars are yours! So go ahead and play. If you win, you owe me a treat!




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