Annual Mah Jongg tournament returns to Las Vegas

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2000 | 9:23 a.m.

An even dozen and going stronger than ever.

That's the 12th annual Marjorie Troum Mah Jongg West Tournament, starting Wednesday at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino.

"We are expecting our largest field ever -- about 140 players," said Troum, daughter of the late Dorothy Meyerson, who wrote the first standardized rules for Mah Jongg in the United States in the 1940s. "But, as always, we have room for more Las Vegas players."

Although registration for the tournament ended on Aug. 1 for players from out of state, Troum has, since the 1989 inaugural Las Vegas event at the Dunes, allowed locals to sign up until five minutes before the first round at 9:30 a.m.

The entry fee for this year's three-day event is $75. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the top finishers, and all players will be eligible for door prizes, Troum said.

Troum, who owns a Mah Jongg supply company in Coronado, Calif., runs tournaments throughout the West, but the Las Vegas event has been special to her and her regular players, partly because of the fun distractions away from the game.

"We enjoy coming to Las Vegas, especially the Monte Carlo for the last five years, because we also get to play the slots and try our hand at the tables when we are not playing Mah Jongg," Troum said. "And, of course, the restaurants are great."

There are two Las Vegas stops annually on the Troum tour, including the Dec. 5-8 tournament, also at the Monte Carlo. Co-sponsors are Roberta and Steve Last of Travel Wizard in La Mesa, Calif.

In past years about 80 to 100 of West's top Mah Jongg players, including about 40 Southern Nevadans, have participated in the local summer event.

The tile game that was developed by the ancient Mandarin Chinese features four players at each table. Each contestant uses 14 of the 152 small Chinese-symboled tiles to achieve a winning hand. Unused tiles are discarded to opponents. A player says "Mahj," or "That's it," when making a winning hand.

In recent years Mah Jongg has been featured in two major movies, "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Joy Luck Club" and on television sitcoms.