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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
January 20, 2013
No. #554

American Mah Jongg (2012 NMJL card). It's the Charleston: what would you pass?

1. Odds #5 is strongest here, but to pass all your evens might give someone a head start on Evens #5. If you want to play defensively, you could pass 3C in place of the 6C.

2. Threes and eights make Elevens #1. 9D can go, and E of course; finish with 4C, I guess (you can't spend too much time thinking and analyzing).

3. Those winds are not going to work, but it's not good to pass three of them at once. The numbers are weighted high, so low numbers can go. The Ds are not likely to be useful, so pass a wind, any D, and 1C.

4. Now one question is whether or not you should pass even two winds at the same time. Another is what can be done with that 4D pair (the R pair indicates Consec. #4). Jettison flotsam; 8D 9B and a wind.

5. Think 2012 #3, maybe Consec. #5 as fallback; get rid of G and any number higher than three.

6. The twos and fives don't go together with those Fs. The twos have more friends than the fives do. I'd pass high numbers, see what comes in.

7. Not 369, so with those sixes, what's left are Evens and Consec. Evens looks very week, so go Consec. Low numbers can go.

8. Sixes and dragons. Evens #2 doesn't look good, and neither does Consec. #6. For now, pass 3C 2B E.

9. Lows and evens. Pass high odds and E.

10. With all those jokers, look to Quints first. Maybe #2 with sevens and eights. Pass 1B W R.

11. Ones, sixes, eights. The sixes and eights go together better. Think high consec., pass lows.

12. If you can't blind pass, you have to pass three tiles. I would pass 5B 7B 9B, and hope some come back.

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Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book in existence about the American game. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the official rulebook from the NMJL (see FAQ 3). Linda Fisher's website is the only website that describes American rules: http://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/.