hiladelphia Riichi Open, listed by the club as the Philly Riichi Open (PRO2026), is moving to a larger scale for its third edition. After an 80-player tournament in 2025, Philly Mah-Jawn Club doubled capacity for October 31 and November 1, 2026. All 160 seats filled in under 24 hours.
All 160 seats filled in under 24 hours
Philly Mah-Jawn Club opened registration on August 10 and announced the following day that all 160 seats had been filled. The tournament therefore filled its doubled field in under 24 hours, nearly three months before the first hanchan.
Capacity doubles from the 2025 edition
Philly Mah-Jawn Club described its 2025 open as the tournament’s second edition, with 80 seats at the Old Pine Community Center. That edition sold out. For 2026, the organizers have doubled the field and moved the tournament to the Market Ballroom at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia.
The venue change provides a concrete measure of the tournament’s growth: 80 seats in 2025, then 160 in 2026 at the Market Ballroom inside Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia.
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Nine hanchan, all counted
Final standings will be based on the cumulative total from all nine hanchan. Four are scheduled for Saturday, October 31, followed by five on Sunday, November 1. There is no cut or separate final table: game nine counts in the same way as the previous eight, and the total determines the winner.
The organizers specify Swiss-style pairings. Each hanchan has a 75-minute limit with no additional hand. When time is called, the current hand is completed and the table then stops. The schedule therefore has two distinct rhythms: four games on day one, followed by a five-game Sunday before the 8 p.m. awards ceremony.
WRC 2025 rules with three options
The tournament lists the WRC 2025 rules with three options: red fives, +30/+10 uma, and nagashi mangan. Red fives will therefore be in play, the published uma will apply to the standings, and a completed nagashi mangan will be scored.
The American Riichi Association now lists the 2026 Philadelphia Riichi Open as ARA Certified.
Trophies, medals, and cumulative standings
The top four will receive trophies, while players finishing fifth through eighth will receive medals. Because the standings are cumulative, the nine successive results will directly form the final ranking, without an elimination bracket.