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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
December 15, 2013
No. 588

American Mah Jongg (NMJL rules). Is it a rule, a strategy, etiquette? Is it an official rule, a table rule, a tournament rule, an optional rule?

1. Hot wall
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
2. Cold wall
    a. Mandatory rule
    b. Optional rule
    c. Table rule
3. Pay for the party
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
4. Don't pass jokers in the Charleston
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
5. Don't pass flowers in the Charleston
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
6. Kitty / pot / pishke / pushke
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
7. Double dice
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
8. Don't take a discarded joker
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
9. You're dead if you call someone dead and she rightly denies it
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
10. Fifth player bets on who will win
    a. Mandatory rule
    b. Optional rule
    c. Tournament rule
11. You're dead if you put a taken discard into the concealed hand
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
12. Pause a beat before picking from the wall
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette

Answers:
1: c. 2: c. 3: c. 4: a. 5: b. 6: c. 7: c. 8: a. 9: b. 10: b. 11: b. 12: c.

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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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Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i.

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/.