5th Annual Poker in the Park to Break European Mahjong Record
Europe’s biggest poker festival embraces ancient Chinese skill game
26 July 2011 (London, UK)- As well as catering to thousands of poker players with two giant Poker Domes spreading sit and go’s around the clock, the 5th annual Poker in the Park will also unveil a Mahjong Dome when it hits London on 2nd and 3rd September.
Organisers are hoping that hundreds of eager Mahjong players will flock to the new venue of Hanover Square, a stone’s throw from Oxford Circus, in order to set a new record for the biggest Mahjong tournament outside China.
Mahjong, “sparrow” in Chinese, is an ancient Chinese tile game with broad similarities to western games like rummy, in which a player must look to form sets of tiles to score points. Legend has it the game was invented by Confucius in about 500 BC, although historians believe it was based on a card game called Mǎdiào which can be traced back to the early Ming Dynasty.
Organiser Michael Caselli said, “The addition of Mahjong is not only a way to involve the large Chinese community from nearby China Town in our festival, but we also hope it will introduce a large number of poker players to what is one of the most widely played skill games in the world.”
ENDS
Media contact:
Jessica Tomsett
[email protected]
+44 (0) 7771 124 513
About Poker in the Park
Poker in the Park is Europe’s largest poker festival. With 20,000 eager visitors last year, Poker in the Park is now a permanent fixture on the poker calendar. Now, as it enters its fifth year Poker in the Park 2011 promises to be bigger and better than ever, with more marquees, more lectures and activities, and, most important of all, more live poker. Poker in the Park V will take place in Hanover Square London on 2nd-3rd September.
Follow Poker in the Park on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pokerinthepark or visit online at http://www.pokerinthepark.com
