WEEKLY MAH JONGG

American Mah Jongg (2011 NMJL card). Today's column is interactive. What do I mean by that? I mean I'm writing it in a hurry, and when I do that I usually screw something up. So readers are invited to send in corrections, which will be posted below.

Defense. What do you do when you see an opponent has exposed the following?

1. Evens #3 (can't be Evens #7 because that's a concealed hand). Hot tiles are 4C, F, 8B, 8D. Check to see if 4C is dead. And watch what eights she throws.

2. Call her dead; Evens #7 is a concealed hand.

3. Don't discard W or the fourth 2B.

4. Like Numbers. Check to see if 2B or G are dead. And watch what she discards.

5. Consec. #3. Hot tiles are 1B 4C.

6. Consec. #3. Hot tiles are 1D 3D 3B 5B (hard to tell which way she's going).

7. Consec. #3. Hot tiles are 3C 4D.

8. Evens #5. Hot tiles are 4B 8D.

9. Evens #5. Hot tiles are 4D 6C.

10. Like Numbers. Check to see if G or 0 or 2B or 2D are dead.

11. Consec. #2. Check to see if 1D, 2D, or 3D are dead.

12. Consec. #1. Check to see if 1D or 5D are dead.

13. 2011 #2. Is 1B dead? Don't discard that or F if not.

14. Quints #4. 3D is hot.

15. Consec. #4. 0 and F are hot. Unless 0 is dead.

16. She's dead. No such hand.

Thanx to sharp-eyed reader Susan S.!

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Question or comment about this column? I often, um... intentionally... "miss" something; maybe you'll be the first one to spot it! Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board.

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October 2010 article on American mah jongg's rise in popularity, from the WALL STREET JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703631704575552683266650568.html ?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel_2.
There's a movie of the WSJ story too -- just click the Video tab on the above page, or go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703631704575552683266650568.html ?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel_2#articleTabs%3Dvideo.

Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book in existence about the American game. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the official rulebook from the NMJL (see FAQ 3). Linda Fisher's website is the only website that describes American rules: http://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/.

© 2011 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.