SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
May 15, 2016
Column #652

American Mah Jongg (2016 NMJL card). Charleston exercises, using the Four Step system from columns 630 and 631.

1. First, check for pairs: there are three (5C 6B R). Are they friends: yes, all three pairs go together to make Consec. #4 (six tiles). The only other tile that seems to work with two of your pairs (the fives and sixes) is 6D (for Consec. #3). And F works with your fives and reds for the bottom Odds hand. That's enough analysis; the Charleston is primarily about elimination. Move everything else to the right (2C 2B 9B E S), and choose three passers. I'd pass a two, a wind, and 9B.

2. Four pairs (very rare): F 1B E S. Are they all friends? No. 1B seems to be odd man out, six tiles towards W-D #4 (not counting the joker*). What other options are there (what other friends)? You could hang onto the dragons for a possible W-D #5. You could keep the 1B pair for a possible Elevens hand, but seriously - W-D is a much better option with these tiles. I'd pass three number tiles.

3. Three pairs again; F 2C soap. Those are all friends for 2016, numbers 4 and 5 (eight tiles each, not counting the joker*). 2016 #3 is not a good option: just four tiles. What other friendships are there here? The twos and soaps go with 3D for Consec. #4 (five tiles, not counting joker*). Stay with 2016. Pass 3C 9D N.

4. No pairs. Any obvious friends? No (other than evens, and 6C 7B 8C G). You can pass 1D W and soap. I dislike passing soap in the first pass because it might give an opponent ideas, but offense has to take priority over defense in the Charleston.

5. Three Fs and pair of ones; those are friends for Elevens or for Odds #5. That leaves you a lot of passers to choose from. The seemingly obvious pass is W 0 R, but I don't like passing two dragons at once. Keep soap, chuck a number.

6. Three pairs: 3D 2B 4B. Those can go together for Consec. #4 (you'll need some soaps). But you could also go for Consec. #1 in bams, or Consec. #2 (most powerful hand on the card) with 3B 4B 5C 6C. All those leave 7D 9D and F in the cold. Some authors say "never pass a flower," but I say "never say never."

7. Odds #5, Like Numbers, or Elevens. Pass 6D 9C S.

*I don't count jokers during the Charleston because they don't give you useful information (other than either "don't go for S&P" or "don't go for Quints").

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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. Hit me with your best shot! Like this...

Column 652

>From: Barbara B
>Sent: Friday, May 20, 2016 8:27 AM
>Subject: Charleston - Column #652
>Hi Tom,
>I am puzzled about your analysis of hand #7. I agree on the Odds #5,
>but don't understand why you would pick Elevens or Like Numbers, with
>no pairs other than Flowers and no 7s. My thoughts were: Odds #5 and
>369 #3 (long shot, but let's face it: everything with this hand is a
>long shot). I usually hang onto Whites, at least through the first
>round (and a 2016 is also a possible, though another long-shot).
>Of course, all this analysis leaves me with nothing to throw; I
>decided to keep the Odds and 369s alive, discarding 2D, 5D and S.
>What do you think?
>Barbara

Hi, Barbara. Let's take your email point by point:

don't understand why you would pick Elevens or Like Numbers
With three ones, we have five tiles (as many as we have with Odds #5). With the 9C, we have five tiles towards Elevens #1 (again, five tiles) - but then I recommended discarding the 9C anyway, so moot point.

369 #3 (long shot
That's good, actually. 3B 6D 9C - again, five tiles with the flowers.

Of course, all this analysis leaves me with nothing to throw
Could pass 5D S and soap.

discarding 2D, 5D and S.
What 2D? (^_^) I like 5D S and soap as an alternative pass. But I agree with you that passing soaps goes against the grain on the first right.
I'm appending this to column 652. May the tiles be with you!
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
May 20, 2016

Column 652, part 2

>From: Elisegk
>Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2016 6:57 PM
>Subject: another suggestion for hand #7 in col 652
>There are 6 tiles toward the closed 2016 hand: FF, two 1 dots, one 6 dot and a white so I would have kept the 6 dot and passed the 5 dot instead!

Hi, Elise.
Not sure what three tiles you would pass. It's unclear if you saw Barbara's email about the 369 option. Were you saying you would pass 5D 9C and S (working off my initial pass of 6D 9C S which also kept other options open but ignored the 369 option Elise pointed out)? Or just go for 2016 and ignore all those lesser options? What about the fact that going just for the 2016 hand means never calling someone's discard (Concealed hands being harder, which needs to be taken into consideration when bypassing "lesser" but exposable options)?
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper

トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the weekly Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Rochester, NY, USA
May 22, 2016

Column 652, part 3

>From: "lindaz...
>Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 6:36 AM
>Subject: column 652
>Hi Tom,
>For problem # 6, there are 7 tiles toward CR #6 in bams. They are also useful for CR # 1 (6 tiles) as another option.
>Thanks, Linda

Hi Linda,
Yes, Consec. #6 is a good option. So you'd have to keep a flower, which means you'd have to give up one of the options I mentioned in the column. Not Consec. #1, I gather.
- Consec. #1: 6 tiles
- Consec. #2: 5 tiles
- Consec. #4: 6 tiles
Since Consec. #2 is outnumbered, I presume that's the one you'd kill. So what 3 tiles would you pass?
As I alluded in my response to Elise last night (below), when going for a concealed hand, a one-tile advantage is cancelled out by the concealment requirement. A 7-tile concealed hand is about the same as a 6-tile exposed hand. If I had a 2-tile lead for a concealed hand, then that would definitely sway me.
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper

トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the weekly Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Rochester, NY, USA
May 23, 2016

Column 652, part 4

>From: Elisegk
>To: tom@sloperama.com
>Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 8:30 PM
>Subject: Re: another suggestion for hand #7 in col 652
>yes, I would have passed 5d, south, 9 crack, so would have still kept some of the other options alive!!

Gotcha, Elise. That's a fine option. Some folks are intimidated by concealed hands.
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆斯洛珀
Creator of the weekly Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Rochester, NY, USA
May 24, 2016

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