Hongkonger Alex Ho Kwok-hung won the Second World Series of Mahjong tournament in Macau last night, taking away a cash prize of US$500,000 as the new mahjong king after beating off challenges from two other Hongkonger finalists and a Japanese enthusiast.
Mr Ho, 34, a financial adviser with AIA, had a hard final round at the Wynn Macau, with strong challenges from the finalists, retiree Tong Kam-wing, 58, University of Hong Kong history graduate Lam Ho-nam, 22, and Shigeru Aono, an entertainment industry researcher from Japan.
After clinching victory, Mr Ho, who has been playing the game for 10 years, said he had never thought he would win and would now tell his father to retire and start his own business or invest in the stock market.
Mr Tong took home a cash prize of US$150,000 for second place, followed by Mr Lam (US$80,000) and Mr Aono (US$50,000).
Seven members of Mr Tong's family also competed, including doctor son Tong Kwan-ho, 32, and niece Wong Ngai-yin, who came 28th and 31st.
Mr Aono had been leading in the first game of the final round but lost his luck to Mr Ho in the following 16 hands. Mr Aono said he had found Japanese mahjong boring and switched to Chinese mahjong. He had been rewarded with many good performances at competitions on the mainland.