The 2012 Card is here!

When the card arrived in the mail yesterday, right on schedule, the doctors met to evaluate and diagnose.

Some of our findings:

• There are 9 hands on the 2012 card that are the same as on the 2011 card.
• There are only 7 hands that have NO singles or pairs.
• As always, there are some hands that have returned from years past.

The doctors are personally pleased to welcome back some of those favorites.
In particular:

FFFF 1111 9999 DD  (We've missed you ones and nines!!)
and
The Elevens Hands....(we love seeing you again)

So, if your card has arrived it's time to review and become familiar with the new hands.

Our prescription for you:

Get a game together asap.  If that's not possible, play with a friend.  With two players, just pick 13 tiles each, no walls, and pick and throw until one of you makes a hand.
Even by yourself, you can randomly select 13 tiles and pick and throw until you make a hand.

Either way, you'll get a head start on learning the new card.

good versus bad exposures

Lets talk "exposures".  That was our lesson in class this week:  Learning to be a defensive player by recognizing what your opponents are playing. One of the ways you can do that is by evaluating what they expose on their rack.

A Good Exposure.  We often call a particular exposure a 'good one' because it doesn't reveal exactly what hand you are doing.

This is one that came up last week.

It is always better if you don't have to expose any tiles and can just call for Mah Jongg and put all of your tiles up at once.  But realistically.....we can't expect that to happen very often.

So, if you do expose, some exposures are better than others.
Lets look at the pung of 3 BAMS and kong of 5 CRAKS

What hands could they be a part of?

222 333 4444 5555
 or
333 444 5555 6666
 or
111 333 3333 5555
or

11 333 5555 777 99

That's quite a few hands to choose from.  You might be able to tell further by what your opponent throws....or doesn't throw...or by what tiles are already on the table.

 How about a 'not so good' exposure....not really bad, but does indicate exactly which hand you are doing.  A Pung of any dragons is always this hand:  11 DD  111 DDD  1111

Of course your opponents don't know WHICH number you are doing, but would be very hesitant to throw a green or white dragon.  They will figure out the number if you call for either the pung or kong of numbers.

Lets say you call for a kong of 6 BAMS as in the photo below, now your opponents know exactly what you need:    6 CRAKS,   a pair of WHITE DRAGONS, and a pair of 6 DOTS.  This is also a hand where you can be sure if a player is dead.  If 3 6 DOTS or 3 White DRAGONS are out on the table, this player is dead.  You can call them dead and they will stop picking.  More picks for the rest of the players.

Rules are Rules and Welcome!

Before the rules, we want to give a big welcome to our new class of Mah Jongg students.
15 folks are ready to learn new strategies and improve their game in our spring class:  Guided Play.
We're so glad you're here.  Hopefully our blog will add additional information that will support your game.

Now to the rules.  Here's the nice thing about rules.  It standardizes the game.
You can go anywhere and play Mah Jongg and know that the rules are the same.

USUALLY....

A friend that I learned Mah Jongg with told me yesterday that in her current game there is a woman who hates to pass!  So....after the first Charleston, she stops the passing.  EVERY GAME.

The other players hated it so much, that they made a 'table rule' that you could NEVER stop the passing.  (I don't think this is Kosher, BTW)


Then my friend gets a hand with 3 jokers and as the hand comes together in the first 2 passes, she has to start giving away needed tiles because she can't stop the passing.

If you want to stop the passing in every game, you can!  That is a rule.  You don't have to have a reason, or give one.  Nor should you.

But to make a rule that you can never stop the passing is more than a table rule, I think.

Table rules are about stakes and idiosyncrasies about your table and your game:  how much money are we playing for....do we want to double the amounts on the card.  Do we kick into the kitty after a wall game?  Are we playing with a bettor?  Do you have to announce 2 games ahead that you're quitting for the night?  Those are examples of 'table rules'

That's what we doctors love about the National Mah Jongg League Card.  All of the important rules are right there on the back of the card.  And for some folks who think you can use a joker in a pair!!  You can't.  Ever.  It's right there.  On the back of the card.