WEEKLY MAH-JONGG
By Tom Sloper

August 14, 2003

Column #114

Chinese Official rules. Waiyee looked at her tiles and had no ideas whatsoever. So she started by discarding winds and dragons. A few turns later, she'd picked in a few things, and it was time to think about what hand to make.

She decided it had to be Mixed Straight - maybe Pure Straight. The 123 is obvious. From there you can see which suits will make the 456 and the 789, and you should be able to see which tiles to discard. Right? (See answer below.)

Her next pick was 1B, and she threw the other of the two discardables.

As she picked in tiles, other players made visible progress too. Samantha made a chow (678C). Earl made one too (456B). Noriko made a pung (9B). Then Noriko picked the 4th 9B and made it a kong. When Samantha threw 6B, Waiyee made her first chow. And that's when she made her big decision of the hand. What to discard?

She had three ways she could go. She could discard 7C or 9C, then wait for the mate of the remaining tile. Two 9Cs had been discarded (no 7Cs). One 7C is showing in an exposure. There are one 9C and two 7Cs somewhere (either in the wall or in somebody's hand).

Or she could throw 1B and wait for 8C. Two 8Cs show on the discards, and one 8C is showing in an exposure. Time to do math.

Mixed Straight (8), One-Chance (1), Case Tile (4), All Chows (2). 15 points at least (she might self-pick or something).

Mixed Straight (8), One-Chance (1). 9 points at least.

Mixed Straight (8), One-Chance (1), Case Tile (4). 13 points at least.

She could go for the easy 9, or she could go for the gusto. What the hey. She threw 1B. Waiting for 8C. E picked and declared "wu" for a lousy 15-point hand. Oh well, it had been a gamble.

Answer. At this point Waiyee could discard 6D or 5B.