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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
May 19, 2013
No. #565

American Mah Jongg (2013 NMJL card). Defense by the numbers. An opponent is showing two pungs. What do you do?

1. Consec #6 is a concealed hand. Call her dead.

2. That's Consec #6, too. Tell her she's dead.

3. Consec. #2; nothing in Odds matches this (not this year, anyway). The hot tiles are 4D 6C.

4. 369 #2. The hot tiles are 6B 9C.

5. 369 #3. 9C and 9B are hot.

6. Odds #1. The hot tiles are 1C 5C 9C. The terminals (1C and 9C) are key. Look to see if either one is dead on the table, because if it is, she's dead.

7. 369 #1. The hot tiles are F 6D Wh. As above, look for F or 6D. If either is dead, so's she.

8. Consec. #6 is that concealed hand I talked about in problems 1 and 2 above. She's dead.

9. Ditto.

10. See #9 above. Or #8 or #2 or #1, I guess.

11. Evens #5 or Consec. #2. The hot tiles are 2C 4B 8D 5C 7B. The first two on that list are key; if either is dead, she's left with Consec. as her only option.

12. Evens #1 or #6. The latter is a concealed hand, so the only hot tiles are 2D 8D Wh. 2D and 8D are key. By now, you should know what I mean by that.

13. Evens #6, a concealed hand. She's dead.

14. She's dead; Consec. #6 and Odds #8 are both concealed hands.

15. W-D #3. N and S are hot.

16. Consec. #6; read #1 above. Or #2 or #8 or #9...

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Question or comment about this column? I often, um... intentionally... "miss" something; maybe you'll be the first one to spot it! Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board.

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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).