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WEEKLY MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper

November 26, 2006
Column #294

American Mah-Jongg (2006 NMJL card). A follow-up on the topic discussed in the November 12 column. This time, two-exposure dead hands. This is not a completely detailed list. If any of these are not clear to you, see explanation in italics.

1. The only hand on the 2006 card that uses a flower kong and a dragon kong is 2006 #4 - and that dragon must be soap.

2. There's only one hand on the card that can use pungs of sixes in two suits: 2006 #5 (concealed).

3. There is no hand on the 2006 card that uses a dragon kong with a kong of threes. The only number kongs that can be used with a dragon kong are 2, 8, 1, and 9.

4. There is no hand on the 2006 card that uses pungs of sevens and nines, and no exposable hand that uses pungs of number tiles separated by one number. Consec. #6 must be concealed.

5. No such hand. A lot of other numbers also cannot be combined in two pungs: ones and fours, ones and fives, ones and sixes, ones and sevens, ones and eights, ones and nines... And that's just the ones.

6. No such hand. On this year's card, every number can be konged in combination with a flower kong except one and three.

7. No such hand. Lots of other numbers also cannot be combined in two kongs.

8. No such hand. To be combined as different-number quints, the higher number must be the lower number plus three.

9. Quints #1 must be same suit only.

10. Consec. #2? Impossible - the last kong (in the third suit) would have to be tens. No such thing exists.

麻雀

Click the entries in the header frame, above, to read other columns.

Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Jean Goldstein for help fixing an error in this column.

Question about this column? See an error? Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board.

Haven't ordered the 2006 NMJL card yet? Read FAQ 7i.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Go to http://www.geocities.com/linfishr. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the booklet from the NMJL (see FAQ 3).