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September 25, 2005 (Year of the Rooster)
Column #233
Chinese Official Tournament Rules. Earl had a quandary. He had the chance to win on a discarded terminal, but his score would be better if he got lucky and picked a six instead.
If he went hu on the nine from Noriko, he'd score All Chows and Mixed Shifted for eight points. But if he managed to get a 6, he'd earn All Chows, Mixed Shifted, and All Simples. What would you do? What Earl did was to reason, "Two extra points that I might get? Not worth the risk." He said "hu."
Let's look at another play. Noriko's deal:
A strong start for a pure dragon (Full Flush) hand. Waiyee threw 9C but Noriko wasn't ready for it. She picked 4D and threw E; Earl punged it. Samantha threw 2C but Noriko couldn't chow from Samantha; besides, Earl punged it. Noriko started to harbor feelings of ill will towards Earl. Waiyee threw another 9C. Noriko's feelings now extended to Waiyee.
Picked 1B, threw N. Samantha threw the final 2C, and now Waiyee hated everybody.
Waiyee threw 1C but Noriko didn't care, then Noriko picked its twin.
She could do a Mixed Shifted Chows hand, but it wasn't certain whether the bams would be a 123 or a 345. So she couldn't throw 6C. She decided to break up the 1C pair. Possible to make it into an All Simples hand, and if she got 5D, Mixed Triple Chows.
Her hatred for the others began to subside as she saw this new plan. She didn't even feel a twinge when Waiyee's discard was 6C.
She picked 2B. Not ready to take this as a sign, she continued the plan and threw the 2nd 1C.
Earl threw 2B and Samantha chowed it (123). Noriko's next pick was G - threw it back. Earl threw a second 2B. Noriko picked 7C. Change of plan again.
Throwing 5B, she was ready to hu two ways - 5C/8C. Good old Mixed Shifted.
The Third China Majiang Championship and Forum is now just a few short weeks away. Expect to see this column focus on Chinese Official in preparation for this event.
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