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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
October 27, 2013
No. #582

American Mah Jongg (2013 NMJL card). Defense.

1. Like Numbers #1. Hot tiles are 2B F. F is key (she needs a pair; if she can't make a pair because more than six Fs are visibly dead on the table, she's dead).

2. Consec. #2 or #5. Hot tiles are 1B 3C 3D F. F is key (if you see more than six Fs dead on the table, she can't be making Consec. #5, so defend against Consec. #2 instead).

3. Sevens #2. Hot tiles are 5C F; 5C is key.

4. Evens #3; Fs and fours and sixes are key. Look to see if F or 4D or 4B or 6D or 6B is dead on the table. If a four or a six is dead, she ways she can make the hand are limited (and you know how to defend). If F is dead, call her dead (and as I've explained before, you should call her dead).

5. If she has discarded since making the exposure, call her dead. "2013" is not a legal exposure.

6. Consec. #5. Hot tiles are 2B 5B F. Watch her discards, and watch how she reacts if a player riskily discards 2B or 5B.

7. Consec. #2 or Consec. #5 or Odds #2. Hope for clues (this is a toughie). Watch what she discards, and how she reacts to the discards of others.

8. This is 369 #4. 9C and F are hot; F is key.

9. Sevens #3. Hot tiles are 4B F. 4B is key.

10. She's making 369 #4. 6B and F are hot.

11. No such hand. Call her dead.

12. Consec. #3. Hot tiles are R F. R is key.

13. Consec. #5. Hot tiles are 3C 6C F. Watch her discards.

14. Consec. #2 or Consec. #5. Hot tiles are 3B 5D 5C and F. F is key; watch for clues.

Click the entries in the header frame, above, to read other columns.

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). Linda Fisher's website is the only website that describes American rules: http://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/.