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SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
April 25, 2024
Column #805

American Mah Jongg (2024 NMJL card). Various quandaries.
First right. What would you pass?

First across. WWYP?

First left. WWYP?

Second left. What's your play?

1. Three pairs: fours and easts. No hand can use all three pairs. But for this pass, we're just eliminating unrelated stuff, stuff that doesn't go with both pairs of fours. Pass 1C 9B and a seven.

2. Two pairs: twos and eights. But they're distant friends without a 2468 clique. Which pair has the most friends? Answer: the twos (low numbers); the eights are stuck way out in the sticks, as it were. Pass winds and an eight.

3. Seven tiles for Consec #1. Other possibilities are Consec #7 and, um, hm. Never mind! Pass 3B 5B 5D, saving 7B for joker bait; if you can't stomach that, you can blind pass.

4. In the Odds section, 13579 #1 is the only good option, 7 tiles. But Like Nos. #2 is also a 7-tile option. Some say you shouldn't stop the Charleston to preserve two 7-tile hands. I say, assuming your pleasant group isn't going to complain loudly or harbor ill feelings at you, you can do that. You can stop the Charleston. The second Charleston is mostly overrated, anyway. There's also the impact such a move has on the others; they may be caught a little off guard, become overly cautious. They'll never know you were split between two hands. Unless you tell them, and why would you? You can offer your opposite the 5B in the courtesy pass, and it won't be long before you can decide between the two hands.

Second across. WWYP?

What would you discard?

A player is showing the following exposures. Defend.

5. Two pairs: ones and threes. A long way from anywhere, except maybe 369. Keep 1D for joker bait, set aside 2D 8D 7B, and there's your pass.

6. Too bad S&P #3 is "these nos. only." Eight tiles towards Consec #8, and missing the pair. In Any Like #1, we'd have to decide between fours and fives... gotta be the fours (nine tiles). Throw 5B, temporarily holding the other two pairs of fives for joker bait.

7. Kongs of fives and sevens fairly screams 13579, but no Odds hand uses same-suit kongs of those numbers. Always check Consec, right? Could be Consec #3 (hot tiles F 6C). But wait, could also be Lucky Sevens #2 (hot tiles F 2C). Flowers are key in both hands, but flowers make lousy keys. Scan the table for 2C, 6C, and F; risky to discard those.

麻雀

COMMENTS
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  • Questions about the 2024 NMJL card? See FAQ 16
  • Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i. But you're missing a bet if you don't order your NMJL card directly from the National Mah Jongg League! You'll thank me later.
  • Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book about the American game, a good supplement to the League's official rulebook. Note that every owner of the book also needs the errata, which are updated ongoing, as needed. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND every player should have a copy of Mah Jongg Made Easy, the official rulebook of the National Mah Jongg League (see FAQ 3 for info on mah-jongg books).
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