Mission

 

The American Riichi Mahjong League’s mission is to create a space where players from all over the country can compete against each other in a long-term structured format.

The concept of the ARML came from the downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the founder’s belief that while he had traveled to many mahjong tournaments held across the United States (and beyond), that tournaments are really just small sample size events and implement different strategies than if one were playing in a league (i.e. regular season vs playoffs).

 

In addition one of his visions was (and still is) to try and build up the riichi mahjong scene in the USA to rival that of other regions of the world - specifically Europe and perhaps eventually Japan. Despite having individual clubs from across the country, and prior attempts at creating such leagues, none of them have really managed to sustain themselves for a long period of time.

 

It was his desire then to have a structured league like he watched online from leagues like the Japanese Professional Mahjong League (JPML), Saikouisen, and RMU to name a few. This league then attempts to fill in this gap, creating a league by which players from across the country can compete against each other in a structured longer-term setting, thereby raising the bar for everyone in the USA to compete with the rest of the world. This while also recognizing that tournaments are still essential in the overall grand scheme of things.

 

History

A compass was chosen for the logo as it represents the journey that the American Riichi community has had to try and come together into a unified community.

The kanji in the middle is 米, as 米国 is the official name for America in Japanese. Fitting as well that technically the kanji points out in all directions, much like a compass might.

 

Logo

Format

 

Based upon leagues in Japan, the ARML is broken into divisions of between 16-32 players*.

Seasons are quarterly in length and involve 6 rounds held biweekly (every 2 weeks) with the 13th week reserved for playoffs if necessary*.

Each round consists of players in groups of 4 (or 5 if necessary) playing 4 (or 5) games at an agreed upon time within the biweekly period.

All games are to be played on Tenhou.

The league will use the WRC ruleset when possible with the following exceptions:

  • No atamahane – multiple ron allowed

  • Kazoe yakuman allowed – counted yakuman (reaching 13 han)

  • Uma is on a sliding scale depending on players above starting points:

    • 2 above/2 below or All 4 below > +15 / +5 / -5 / -15

    • 3 above/1 below > +15 / +5 / 0 / -20

    • 1 above/3 below > 20 / 0 / -5 / -15

      *New structure effective Spring Season

At the conclusion of each season, a percentage of each division will be promoted and demoted for the following season.

There will be a tournament held for the top performers of the highest division to determine the league player of the year (or some similar title).

Due to the ongoing nature of the league, policies are in place for members to request seasons off due to general life events.

*With minor exceptions

While tournaments are small sample size events, it is also understood that they are an important part of the mahjong environment. With that said, the ARML will eventually look to build an event schedule that will cater to the mahjong community as a whole as bandwidth allows.

These may include, but are not limited to the following:

  • An annual open tournament for all league members

  • Tournaments w/other established rule sets (i.e. aka dora, uma+oka)

  • M-League style team leagues

 

Additional Info