SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
May 19, 2024
Column #807

American Mah Jongg (2024 NMJL card). Various quandaries.

1. Two pairs: threes and Gs. Could go Any Like, or Consec, or 369. Pass 7D, N, and 6B or 9C.

2. Either high consec or high odds. Look for hands that use flowers: Consec #3 (six tiles, two ways), Odds #3 (six tiles) and #5 (no, that's no good). Preserving the two reasonable options, the bams (other than the sixes) look iffy. Any non-flower options that might be better than six tiles? Yes indeed: Consec #4 (eight tiles). Should've gone there first! Forget those other options. The flowers turned out to be a red herring, but you don't have to pass them and don't want to, either. Pass 9D 8B 9B.

3. Following the previous. Best not to pass flowers. That 5C strengthens the possibility of Consec #3, anyway. Not a bad backup for Consec #4. That leaves the pair of soaps. This is the second across, and those soaps have gone around, so they're probably safe to pass them together (just the way they came). Offer two.

4. With this many jokers, beware hands that require pairs unless you already have them. You have six tiles towards 2468 #2, but you're missing an entire pair. You have five tiles towards 2468 #1 and #3. You have two ways you can go for #1, strong direction. Preserving that means the 2Bs and 4B are left out in the cold. 2468 #3 needs those low bams, but you have to either kill one of the options for #1, or kill #2. Throw a low bam: 4B, keeping the 2B pair for joker bait.

5. All you need is N. It's a waste to call and expose, because then you'd just have to discard a joker. And everybody would be like, "Whaa...?"

6. Scan the card looking for "DDDD." Could be Consec #2 or Odds #6. Hot tiles are 6D 8D 9D 5C 7C. 6D and 8D are key tiles for Consec #2; if either one is dead on the table, you can forget Consec #2. And 5C and 7C are key tiles for Odds #6; again, if either one is dead on the table, Odds #6 is out. Scan the table for those tiles: 6D, 8D, 5C, and 7C. If the player's hand is alive, do not discard any of the hot tiles.

7. Hot tiles for Quints #1 are all the dragons and all the numbers. The hot tiles for Consec #6 are all numbers. Throw tiles that have already been thrown, if you can. The longer the wall, the lower the danger.

麻雀

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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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