The World Series of Poker can move aside now. The three-month 2012 Sichuan Mahjong Competition ended on Saturday with Jing Daiju, a 33-year-old woman, winning 200,000 yuan. Runner-up Wang Chao, a 24-year-old woman, took home 50,000 yuan. Organized by the Chengdu Chess and Card Association, the event drew more than 300,000 participants, including online players. “Mahjong is the symbol of the laid-back lifestyle of Chengdu,” association director Shi Tefan told China Daily.
How does one win such a massive mahjong tournament? “It’s basically up to luck,” one participant said, as quoted in Guangming Net. BJC’s Alicia, who “loves” playing mahjong, insists it’s “strategy, like chess.” Let’s call it a combination of both and leave it at that. Being a dice player myself (forthcoming: “a primer on how to play Chinese liar’s dice, and be awesome at it like me”), I’ll just slowly back away from this topic.
[Image via Ministry of Tofu]
