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the most FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS
about the 2001 NMJL CARD.
(As it turns out, the answer to all of them is "No.")
Q: In the hands that contain a "2001" group, can I call a 2, zero, or 1 for exposure?
A: NO. See explanation below.
Q: In the hands that contain a "2001" group, can I use a joker in the 2001?
A: NO. See explanation below.
Q: In the hands that contain a "NEWS" group, can I call a wind tile for exposure?
A: NO. See explanation below.
Q: In the hands that contain a "NEWS" group, can I use a joker in the NEWS group?
A: NO. Here's the explanation for FAQs 1-4:
The only groupings that can be exposed prior to going mah-jongg (AND the only groupings in which jokers may be used) are: PUNGS, KONGS, AND QUINTS.
A pung is three identical tiles.
A kong is four identical tiles.
A quint is five identical tiles.
"2001" is not a kong.
"NEWS" is not a kong.
2000 is over! (^_^)
(Of course you can call any tile needed to complete the hand and declare mah-jongg.)
Q: In the first two 2001 hands and the first hand in the Singles & Pairs section, must the hand use tiles from three suits?
A: NO. You may use two suits if you have the tiles to do it that way. "Zero" is suitless (when whites are used as dragons, they belong to the suit of dots. But when used as zeroes, they do not belong to any suit).
As our friend Sandy wrote:
"I called the NMJL... the kongs in first hand can be dots or bams or cracks, regardless of the 2001 tiles, because you can use jokers for kongs. It doesn't have to be 3 suits. Same thing for the second hand with dragons. Kongs can be dots as well as reds and greens."
And our friend Judi Nachenberg added:
"I called the Mah Jongg League and the first singles and pairs hand can be played with one of the pairs of dragons being soaps. They said if you were lucky enough to have 4 soaps, play it that way."
Finally, since the soaps (zeroes) are suitless, the 2 and 1 can be ANY suit (just as it says on the card), regardless of ink color on the card. (See #7 below if you're not sure what "any" means in this context.)
Q: In the bottom Winds - Dragons hand, do I have to use bams for the pairs?
A: NO. The card is more flexible than that, in regards to the colors. Green does not mean that bams are required.
11 DD -- you can use any number in any suit, with a pair of dragons in the same suit.
111 DDD -- you must use the SAME number you used for the pairs. These pungs must be a DIFFERENT suit from the pairs. The pung of dragons must be the same suit as the pung of numbers.
DDDD -- the kong of dragons must be from the THIRD suit (the suit not used for the pairs and pungs).
Pairs of any number and dragons, suit #1.
Pungs same number and dragons, suit #2.
Kong dragons, suit #3.
This principle (that color does not dictate a specific suit) applies across the entire card. Zero always means white dragons, but zero can be used with any suit (when used as zeroes, soaps are suitless).
Q: In the bottom Quints hand, do the numbers have to be a different suit from the dragons?
A: NO. For your future reference, here is the Tom Sloper philosophy of how to interpret a [seemingly self-contradictory] hand on the card:
The color-coding on the card cannot say it all in every case. So when the color-coding isn't sufficient to explain the requirements of a particular hand, the card designer writes a parenthetical to give more information. Sometimes some folks might think that there is a conflict between the parenthetical and the color-coding (that the color-coding conflicts with what it says in the parentheses). In such cases, you have to consider the parenthetical as being the final word.
Therefore "Any suit" means just that: "ANY SUIT." The quint of numbers can be any suit, regardless of the dragons' suit. Different suit, same suit, whatever ya got. ANY suit.
Why are you still using the 2001 card??? Everybody is playing the 2004 card now! Read FAQ 7i and go get the 2004 card already! And click here to read the FAQ for the 2004 NMJL card. And click here to read the FAQ for the 2003 NMJL card. Can't stand to modernize all the way so quickly? click here to read the FAQ for the 2002 NMJL card.
Copyright 2001 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved. The contents of this page and this website, including and not limited to text, graphics, and photos, may not be reproduced or published without written permission of the author. This site is not associated with the National Mah Jongg League.