SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

Did you say farewell to the Year of the Dog last night? Today is the first day of the Year of the Pig.

豬 Year of the Pig Begins Feb. 5, 2019 Ends Jan. 25, 2020

It is a Sloperama tradition to design a special hand each Lunar New Year. This year I add a fortune cookie along with it. Here is the Year of the Pig hand:

Pungs of twos, greens, ones, and nines - all green (bamboos required), plus a pair of any wind. This is a variation on the American use of the white dragon as "zero." This hand uses green for the zero because letter G. P for pungs, G for green. Just haven't figured out how to represent the "i". How about "Pungs and Greens In the hand" ... no, that's PGI. "Pungs In the hand with Greens." The pungs then spell "2019," and with a wind pair, the fortune cookie for this hand reads:

This does not constitute any attempt at prognostication. But perhaps the fortune cookie helps explain the logic behind the Year of the Pig hand.

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Photos of the 2007 WMJC in E Mei Shan, China.
Photos of the 2007 OEMC in Copenhagen.
Photos of the Fourth China Majiang Championship and Forum in Tianjin, 2006.
Photos of the Third China Majiang Championship and Forum in Beijing, 2005.
Photos of the 2005 OEMC
Photos of the 2003 CMOC.
Photos of the 2002 WCMJ.



See Tom Sloper's interview at sinovision.net:
http://video.sinovision.net/?id=24552&cid=122
http://video.sinovision.net/?id=24550&cid=122

• FAQ 22 answers the most frequently asked questions about Chinese Official scoring.
• Download the official English translation of the Majiang Competition Rules for free at http://www.chinamajiang.com/ssxx20.html.
• And be sure to download the MCR Errata/Addenda HERE. And you should also download Per Starbäck's "Beyond the Green Book" at http://starback.se/mj/beyond/.
• Competition Mahjong Official International Rulebook ("OIRB"). Takeshobo, 2002. ISBN 4-8124-0944-6. Condensed and now somewhat outdated English translation of the official Chinese rules, still useful as a reference. Translator: Ryan Morris. You can download it HERE.
• World Champion Mai Hatsune and fellow Japanese champion player Takunori Kajimoto have written the definitive strategy guide to Mahjong Competition Rules. It's been translated into English and is available for free at http://museum.takeshobo.co.jp/kokusai/index.html.
• Another useful MCR strategy tool is at http://www.mahjong-o-matic.com.

© 2018 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.