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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
December 29, 2013
No. 589

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

1. You're dead if others can tell that you cannot complete your hand.
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
2. Say "same" when discarding same tile as the previous player.
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
3. Never pass a pair in the Charleston.
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
5. Atomic (making a hand from seven random pairs).
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
6. Don't call yourself dead.
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
7. Charleston: Take tiles from the dead wall when playing with just three players.
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
8. Each player takes her own tiles during the deal.
    a. Mandatory rule
    b. Optional rule
    c. Table rule
9. Don't give information about your hand (i.e. whether or not you have jokers, how close you are to mah-jongg, etc.).
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette
10. Do not pick a tile until after the player at your left has completed her turn.
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
11. Skip the Charleston when playing with just three players.
    a. Official rule
    b. Tournament rule
    c. Table rule
12. Keep an unwanted pair for joker bait.
    a. Rule
    b. Strategy
    c. Etiquette

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

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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/.