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WEEKLY MAH-JONGG


By Tom Sloper

July 15, 2007
Column #327

American Mah-Jongg (2007 NMJL card). Let's look at a collection of exposures. What would you do if you saw that an opponent had these showing?

1. Call her dead. There's only one hand on the card that uses unlike pungs of dragons, Consecutive Run #6. The hand must be concealed. In last Friday's game, my opponent thought she was making Winds - Dragons #6, but that's supposed to have a pung and a kong, not two pungs. Either way, she's dead. And assuming that the soaps were exposed second, the soap joker is dead. The pung should be returned to the sloping front of the player's rack (out of temptation).

2. Call her dead. There's no hand that uses pungs of two winds. As with #1 above, the East joker is dead, because it was erroneously exposed. The East pung should be returned to the dead player's rack.

3. Call her dead. There's no hand on the 2007 card that fits. If the fours and sevens were in two different suits, she could be making Consec. Run #2. But since they're in the same suit, she's dead.

4. Call her dead. She can only be making 2468 #7, which must be concealed. The 2D joker is still alive, assuming it was exposed first.

5. Call her dead. She could be trying to do any of a variety of hands in 2468 or Consecutive Runs, but no matter which one she thinks she's doing, she's doing it wrongly. The joker in the 2nd exposure is dead, so that exposure should be returned to her rack.

6. Call her dead. She can't be making 13579 #2 or #4, and she can't be making 369 #6. 13579 #2 needs a pung and a kong. 13579 #4 needs a pair and two matching pungs (not two unlike pungs), and 369 #6 must remain concealed. Presumably the 3Bs were exposed last - they should be returned to the dead player's rack.

7. Call her dead. There are just two flower sextet hands on the 2007 card. Neither of them may be played with an odd number kong. As usual, the most recent exposure should be returned to the dead hand.

麻雀

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Haven't ordered the 2007 NMJL card yet? Read FAQ 7i.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is published by HarperCollins, and can be ordered through Amazon.com. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the booklet from the NMJL (see FAQ 3).



© 2007 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.