Hello everyone! Its me, the entertainment officer blogging after a long hiatus. My semi-retirement from the blog scene however does not represent my retirement from LCCB (of course not!), as I continue to bring fun and entertaining activities to members of the club! On Monday, the 27th of January 2007, 8 specially selected members of the club were invited to participate in the inaugural Mahjong King tournament.
The tournament, held at my place was proudly sponsored by our vice president, who personally ordered the staff to be awarded to the Champion. The eight players, coming from different backgrounds and having different levels of skills, were to pit their skills against each other in the preliminary round to decide the top four players to advance to the final round.
The groupings of players to the different tables were decided by luck, and Kae Sian and Tzeyeong seem to have slightly better luck, as they were drawn into the same table as Zong Xian and Melissa; whilst the Lucky King and Queen of Mahjong, Kenrick and Kai-Lyn were drawn into the same table as the 'self-proclaimed' Mahjong Queen Serene and the jester Alvin, who often presents with varying levels of skill and luck.
The competition was flagged off by Queen Elizabeth, I mean, Evangeline, who had declared the tournament open with the powers vested in her by the mahjong gods. She was subsequently relegated to the position of domestic helper, as she was the only person with time on her hands. Queen E volunteered her services in cooking, but none of the players were audacious enough to make such a request. Thereafter the poor Queen was relegated to player with the hamsters and trying to make them do stunts. Oh, and of course having her daily 5 minutes of workout on the exercise machine while showing off her lovely vocals.
Back to the games, Melissa seemed to be having a hard time at her table, as Kaesian got off to a flying start, with a self made 4 fold semi pure characters win. Tzeyeong was not to be outdone, as he took the second game with a 4 fold running sequence win, courtesy of Zong Xian, who had proudly declared before the start of the tournament that he had a strategy that would ensure his smooth progression to the final round. True to his word, Zong Xian subsequently declared a five fold win with a semi pure hand consisting of honours and characters, the win being granted by the hapless Melissa. Tzeyeong also had the blessings of the queen as he garnered a limit win upon a kong, consisting of bamboos and honours, shortly followed after by a 4 fold semipure triplets. Kaesian managed to hold on to his lead against Zongxian, progressing to the finals with Tzeyeong, who garnered a grand total of 199 chips.
On the other table, things were more evenly matched, as shouts of joy erupted from various players at various junctures. According to Alvin, the biggest win at their table was his self made running sequence without flowers. In the end, despite a brave effort by Kai-Lyn in the final round, with her two kongs (and her discarding her own winning tile in her folly), she failed to advance to the finals. Alvin and Serene maintained their position to challenge for the champions trophy while Kenrick and Kai Lyn could only watch from the sidelines.
The finals was a tense affair, the atmosphere made more electrifying by Alvin's constant exclamation at the beauty of his cards. After Alvin's self made limit 5 fold win consisting of honours and dots, the other players could only vie for second. Alvin's luck seemed to be overbrimming, as at one juncture, he had proclaimed he would 'suck balls' if he had failed to win.
Indeed, he had such a great hand, having kongs of the East Wind, and the One character, and with 1 bonus flower tile and 2 animal tiles setting him up perfectly for a limit win with semipure cards. Serene, never being a defensive player went all out, discarding the South wind for Alvin to pong, thus facing the horrible prospect of paying for all should Alvin self pick, as he was in South position with South as the prevailing wind. Fortunately for Serene, Alvin discarded a 6 characters for Tzeyeong, who won a meagre 1 fold running sequence win. The waiting tiles for Alvin? The red scholar and the 3 characters.
In the end, Tzeyeong managed to garner 2 four fold wins to overtake Serene. In the North prevailing wind, with Kaesian as the final dealer, Alvin had 135 chips to Tzeyeong's 127 chips. A self pick one fold win from Tzeyeong, or a hidden kong would have Alvin and Tzeyeong tied for first place. Fortunately for Alvin, he took the final round with a 1 fold win, thus consolidating his position as the first Mahjong King of LCCB. The final result reads as follows: Alvin in first place with 139 chips, TY in second place with 126 chips, Serene in third place with 99 chips, and Kaesian in fourth place with 36 chips. For the next Mahjong King tournament, the top seed Alvin and fourth seeded KS will face off in one table while TY and Serene, seeded second and third will vie for a place in the finals again.
Till then, do remember to hone your mahjong skills by playing regularly and watching more mahjong movies on Youtube, such as Kung Fu Mahjong 2, Fat Choi Spirit and Bet to Basic! May the 3 scholars and 4 Heavenly Winds bless your games!
