Hellloooooo

Here comes another piece of good news!

Introduction of Asean-Oceania Riichi Mahjong Association (AORMA)

For the past few months, I’ve been initiating and coordinating a formation of Asean-Oceania Riichi Mahjong Association. It is made up of Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. The original plan was to have Vietnam as well but there was some issue with them having a stable long-term coordinator. Hopefully once they have somebody, they can join us.

The whole idea of forming this association is to combine the pool of each countries riichi player to form a bigger riichi community. Currently, we are only competing amongst each other in a pool size of around 20-24. With an association, we can double or triple this number. As much as I understand how most of you think oversea tournaments like World Riichi Championship or World Mahjong Sport Games is a bit far-fetched, I hope having this association increase some exposure to oversea players and feel the excitement of competing with others, as a Singaporean Riichi player. 🙂

Trial League

Official activities will start in 2019. But before that, there are some things we need to test as part of our planning. This trial is a 4 sessions of league games, every Sunday from 14 October to 11 November. There is no session on 4th November as there is already International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition on 3rd November. This league will be held via Tenhou platform and uses Tenhou default rules.

We are trying to make this as flexible as possible to accommodate as many players as possible. So players can actually choose to register for whatever number and for whichever game slot that they deem fit! For example, you can register for game 1 and 3 only, or even 1 game or all 4 games!

Here’s the schedule based on SGT.

Registration

All registered players have equal priority to play if they register between 1430 and 1515. This will be gone through a google form which its link will be released on facebook or whatsapp (if you haven’t been receiving my WA messages, let me know and i will add you into the list. You need to add my hp number into your contact book)

After 1515, players can only register through a discord channel. Link will also be provided. These players will have a lower priority and will be slot in only if they make up the number to fill up the tables.

If there are no players who register late, then the sit-outs will be players who have gotten the lowest scores from the previous game. If this happens during game 1 (i.e no previous game), then unfortunately we have to go by first come first serve.

Players can register multiple game at once but for basic courtesy, please do not back out after doing so.

Players match-up

For the 1st session of the whole league, it will be random. Any subsequent session will be based on players’ overall ranking. Seat assignment will be random based on tenhou.

Ranking

A moving average score will be used to rank players. It will be an average from 4 to 12 games. That’s to say, if you play for full 16 games, your first 4 games won’t be counted. To have a rank, players need to have a minimum of 4 games. Otherwise your overall score remains 0 but this means you will be ranked higher than players who have an overall negative score after 4 games.

Facebook Group

We have made a facebook group call “Asean-Oceania Riichi Mahjong Association” whereby we hope to disseminate all related info there and also hope to make it as a common place for everyone across the borders to befriend with. So please join!

At the end of this league, we would hope to survey all players for their thoughts on this. Please do give this a try and support this initiative!

Feng

The new league will begin on 15 September 2018. This time, we will be using the Aka-Nashi ruleset. The summary is given below. This league consists of 10 sessions.

Remember to remove the Aka-Dora before commencing your games this weekend!

Aka-Nashi rules

League Summary

• There will be no Aka Dora (red dora) used for this ruleset.
• There will be no Kazoe Yakuman (counted yakuman). Any hand with 13 or more han is treated as a sanbaiman.
• There will be no Nagashi Mangan.
• There will be no mid-game draws.
• There will be no multiple ron. The player closer to the discarder will win the hand.
• There will be no multiple yakuman.
• All kan declared will open a new kan dora indicator immediately, regardless of the type of kan (kakan, daiminkan, ankan).

League Points (LP) system

The league point system for this league will be as such:

Chombo Penalty: -30 LP , 4000 point payment to all other players, hand is redealt.

Missing sessions: No penalty

Attending the 9th and 10th session: +10 LP for the next league.

LP will be halved after the 8th session of the league.

The winner of the Main League will be awarded $40 vouchers which will be presented in the next tournament.

Side League

The main league consists of 10 sessions which will have two side leagues consisting of 5 sessions each. In each of the side league, the same LP system will be used, and the winner of each side league will be entitled to fee waivers for one session.

Bonuses from the previous league will not be added to the Side League. Also, LP from the Side League will not be halved after the 8th session.

However, penalties from chombo will still be deducted from the Side League.

Attendance Points (AP) system

The attendance points system for this league will be as such:

All player’s attendance points will be reduced to 10% at the start of the WRC league. Newcomers, this is the best opportunity to get higher AP than the veterans to avoid sitting out for your first game!

This ruleset is the same ruleset used in WRC 2017.

This ruleset is the same as the previous league’s ruleset with the Aka Dora removed.

That’s all for the Aka-Nashi league! Be sure to attend so that you do not miss out on all the fun!

Feel free to ask any questions regarding this league’s rules if you’re unsure.

Eric Quek

Hello Everyone!

We just found out about this broadcast function in whatsapp, which we think it can serve as a good notifications/news updates in replace of e-mail. It is a mass sending message function but at the recipient side, you will only see a personal message (PM) sent to you, just like anybody message you on whatsapp. You can reply or comment or ask about it immediately. Since it is a PM, your replies are private too.

Understand that not everyone check or read their e-mail or use facebook that frequently. With the broadcast function, we hope to bring you updates seamlessly, making it more convenient for you and perhaps in a more engaging manner.

To be eligible in the participant list, please make sure you have added me (9176 6611) and Eric’s phone numbers (8282 0550) into your address. I will first be adding active and semi-active members for this coming week, before the session report is released. So those in the list, should receive a PM about session report. If not, that means my message has failed to reach you so please take note!

If you do not wish to join, you can also let us know and we will remove you from the list.

Feng

The new league will begin on 23 June 2018. The aka-ari ruleset will be utilised. See below for the summary. There will be a total of 10 sessions for this league.

A gentle reminder to this evening’s players to include the aka dora into the set before commencement of the games!

Aka-ari rules

League Summary

• Aka dora (red dora) will be used.
• There will be no Kazoe Yakuman (counted yakuman). Any hand with 13 or more han is treated as a sanbaiman.
• There will be no Nagashi Mangan.
• There will be no mid-game draws.
• There will be no multiple ron. The player closer to the discarder will win the hand.
• There will be no multiple yakuman.
• All kan declared will open a new kan dora indicator immediately.

League Points (LP) system

The league point system for this league will be as such:

Chombo Penalty: -30 LP , 4000 point payment to all other players, hand is redealt.

Missing sessions: No penalty

Attending the 9th and 10th session: +10 LP for the next league.

LP will be halved after the 8th session of the league.

Side League

The main league consists of 10 sessions which will have two side leagues consisting of 5 sessions each. In each of the side league, the same LP system will be used, and the winner of each side league will be entitled to waivers for one session.

Attendance Points (AP) system

The attendance points system for this league will be as such:

All player’s attendance points will be reduced to 10% at the start of the WRC league. Newcomers, this is the best opportunity to get higher AP than the veterans to avoid sitting out for your first game!

Note that most of these rules follow WRC rules, with the exception of the Aka-Dora.

That’s all for the aka-ari league! Be sure to attend so that you do not miss out on all the fun!

Feel free to ask any questions regarding this league’s rules if you’re unsure.

Eric Quek

As pointed out by Yong Chuan I’ve taught some steps in the wind seat assignment wrongly. Thanks Yong Chuan for pointing this out! Here’s the complete quote from the add-on portion of World Riichi Championship 2017.

The order in which players are seated must be decided before deciding the first
dealer. Whether it’s the luck of a certain seat, or simply the order in which
players will be drawing with respect to each other, it matters. So, one of each
wind (North, South, East, West) and one odd and one even tile (usually 1p and
2p in Japan) will be used. One player will turn the tiles face down, shuffle, and
then arrange them in a row of 6. The player across from him rolls the dice as if
he were rolling to determine where in the wall to start drawing tiles, except that
here it determines the temporary East seat. The east marker is placed in
front of that seat. The tiles are turned up and the two numbered tiles are
moved to their respective outsides of the row. If the number rolled is even,
start from the even number, if it is odd, start from the odd side of the row, and
distribute a wind tile to each player moving around the table counterclockwise
starting at the temporary East seat. The players move to the wind seat they
received with respect to the temporary East seat. Finally temporary East rolls
the dice once to determine the first Dealer (Oya), counting off
counterclockwise in the same manner as above. This procedure happens prior
to the game and timer starting

The portion in bold orange was the portion that should correct my mistake.

I will make visual aids after I’ve completed my studies and travelling. Those who have understood this procedure, please guide those who can’t. Always appreciate everyone for cooperating and helping out each other!

Also, the schedule for the 2nd quarter out. Will update the webpage when I’m free.

Every Saturday has SMC session except 14 April 2018 and 30 June 2018.

As for our biannual tournament, we are planning it to be 10th June but await confirmation from C.C. The alternative date will be 3rd June. Either way, they will be on a Sunday.

Feng

The next league will be on aka-nashi, meaning without the red-dora. Other rules will remain unchanged. This ruleset emphasise more on hand-building than speed and utilising the normal dora. So cherish your dora more!

Position Scores

This time, we will be using a total score accumulation. Every end of your game, your total score will be calculated by Final score/1000 – 25 + position score.

For example, if you have gotten first place with 40k. Your final score will be 40 – 25 (base score) + 15 = 30.

Chombo Penalty

Chombo Penalty will be paying 4k to all players + offline deduction of 20LP. This is a reduction from the previous usual 30LP because this league is based on total score. So having a 20 LP penalty effectively means -32LP.

Halving of LP

LP will be halved after session 8.

Side-League

There will be a free 1 session fee waiver for the winner of a side league. A side-league is a minor league consisting of 5 sessions catered to players who ain’t able to commit for the whole 10 sessions or players who have fallen too far behind in the overall league to give it a shot again to do well for the remaining 5 sessions to win the side league.

Strategy Implication

This will be the first time we start an official league based on this scoring system because a typical tournament uses such system in a round-robin format. Even elimination format is still ranked based on such scoring system rather than pure position.

How does this change the game? If you’re dead last, it doesn’t mean you have nothing to lose! You still have to remain calm and not to take any unnecessary risk just because you’re in the last place. It is definitely not wrong to win an 8,000 hand to end the han-chan and still remain last. You still lose 8 points less overall!

Wish everyone will have fun in this new league!

Feng

Added Chombo penalty and halving of LP on 5th April 2018

Dear players, the registration deadline for sessions have officially changed. The details are as follows:

(Saturday Sessions)
Old registration deadline: Friday 2359 hours
New registration deadline: Friday 2159 hours

We have decided to shift the registration deadline to 2 hours earlier for several reasons.

• MCR side has officially changed their registration deadline as well. Changing our registration deadline to match theirs makes it easier to reduce sit-outs for both the MCR and riichi side, in case there are any dual (MCR & riichi) players who will be playing MCR for that session in order to reduce sit outs.
• The most important reason: Allowing more time for the organisers to find extra players to help reduce sit-outs.

As such, I would like to urge all players to adhere to the new registration deadlines. Helping us by registering earlier is as good as helping all registered players to reduce sit-outs, making it a better session for all players. These new changes start from the upcoming session on 24 March 2018.

With these changes, the new registration window for Saturday sessions will be from Sunday (at 0000 hours) to Friday 2159 hours before the session. Any registration after the deadline will be handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on the number of sit-outs.

With that, I would like to thank all players for their cooperation and understanding. If you have any queries, feel free to contact me or any of the organisers.

Eric Quek