SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
March Forth, 2018
Column #698

American Mah Jongg (2018 NMJL card). The 2018 card is not with us yet. It's coming in 3-4 weeks; I can practically hear the mounting anticipation. I just thought maybe I would share my tips for adapting to the new card, when it comes.

Take both the new card and the old card to a table (no tiles just yet). Have a notepad handy for making observations.

Put the two cards open flat on the table, the older card closer to the center of the table (farther from you), and the new card nearer you.

Start at the upper left corner of the 2018 card and study each 2018 hand, one by one. Compare with the 2017 hands on the 2017 card if that helps you see differences. Then move down and analyze the 2468 hands, and then move on down the left pane of the card. Then down the center pane: Quints, Consec, Odds. Then the right pane, all the way down through S&P. Finish up by making a note of the high-scoring hand and how it's formed this year.

Pay attention to the frequency of flowers. Scan down the left side of each pane to observe whether flowers are much-used (as they were in 2017) or little-used (as they were in 2016). Most importantly, see how many hands in Consec and Odds use flowers.

Scan down the right side of each pane and make a mental note of where the Concealed hands are. While you're looking at those, how many of them are four-pungs-and-a-pair (the easiest hand structure to make)?

Next, get out your mah-jongg tiles. Starting over again at 2018 #1, form each hand using the tiles. Compare with the 2017 card so you are clear on the new way of doing things.

As you study the card, pay attention to the alternating hand structures that have typically graced each card:

Consec #1 and Odds #1 have low pairs in even years, and end pairs in odd years.

That structure might also appear in another section of the card, like Like Nos. or W-D.

Consec #2 is pung-pung-kong-kong in even years, and pung-kong-pung-kong in odd years. The structure of Consec #2 is always reflected in Evens, Odds, and 369.

And before you can truly say that you have analyzed the card, you must read the back—every word. If you read something that strikes a curious chord, check the old card to see if that wording was also present there all along. In the past, it was infrequent to have wording changes on the back of the card, but that has changed of late. There was a change on the 2015 card, and there could well be one on the 2018 card too. You won't know if you don't read the back!

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Column 698

Good question, Libby!
The answer is: "gauge the odds" (by which I mean the probability, the chances). Flowers are more abundant than most tiles. The Consec and 13579 sections afford the most possibilities, given the preponderance of numbers and odd numbers. That's why they're in the center of the card. Of the 108 suit tiles (all of them fodder for Consec hands) in the 152-tile deck, there are 60 odd tiles and just 48 even tiles. Consec hands with flowers could, therefore, be among the easiest hands on the entire card. Odds hands with flowers could take second place. On the 2017 card, there are precious few flower hands in the meaty heart of the card. Who knows what we'll see in the 2018 card?
May the odds be with you.
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
March 6, 2018

A phrase you used in regards to Consec #1 and Odds #1 in column 698

>From: "lindaz
>Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2018 3:44 PM
>Subject: learning a new card
>Hi Tom,
> Thanks for your column on "Learning a New Card". You brought up a lot of things that I never noticed before. Regarding alternating hand structures, what do you mean by "low pairs" (in even years) and "end pairs" (in odd years)? I don't understand what that means.
>Thanks so much, Linda

Hi, Linda!
You've been playing long enough to have seen red cards and blue cards, right? So you've seen Consec #1 and Odds #1 on at least 2 different cards. The structure of these hands is always "2 pairs, 2 pungs, and 1 kong." But it's specifically the placement of the pairs that I was talking about in column 698.

From the 2017 card (a blue card)

Where are the 2 pairs in the hands above, versus the hands below? Are the pairs at the low end of the hand, or at opposite ends?

From the 2016 card (a red card)

The pairs are always the hardest part of these hands; it's vital to strategy to be mindful of the pairs when trying to make these hands. That's why I talk about the pairs in these hands, not the kongs. May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
St. Patrick's Day, 2018

A phrase you used, part 2

>From: "lindaz
>Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2018 6:11 AM
>Subject: column 698
>Hi Tom,
>Thanks for explaining about the pairs. I never really took notice of where pairs were located from year to year. I can't wait to share all this info with my MJ group. You're teaching me to be more observant!
>Thanks, Linda

Cool. May the tiles be with you, Linda.
Tom

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