May 16, 2004

Column #162

American mah-jongg (2004 NMJL card).

1.
What tiles should you call for exposure?

2.
Two equal hands. You have to discard, but what?

3.
What hand do you target, and what do you discard?

4.
Which to discard - S or J?

5.
Three ways to go with this. What should you discard?

6.
What tiles should you call for exposure?

7.
Two families: 2468 and 369. What do you discard?

8.
You've just received the 1st Right pass. What do you do?

1. Plan A: Call 7C, 8C, 9D. Discard the two 6Cs and one 7B. The danger is that 8B will go dead before you're ready. Plan B: If you pick jokers, go for the 2nd Runs hand instead of the 3rd.

2. Unfortunately, only one pair works for both hands. The 3-pair hand (13579 #5) is harder to make than the 2-pair Winds-Dragons hand, and Fs are the easiest tile to get, so discard F.

3. Go for Run #1. The 1Cs are good as joker bait, so save them for later. Flowers likewise may be useful as joker bait, should you pick another (which is somewhat likely). 5C for now.

4. It hardly matters. Either one reduces your alternate options. J will raise eyebrows - and maybe cow your opponents a little, if you bluff it well.

5. The best discard is 6G. That still leaves 13579 #5 and #7 (two options). Throwing G leaves you with just one option; the same for throwing 7B or F.

6. A kong of 8D would go towards 2468 or a Run.

7. The soap doesn't go with either option. 6D is the hinge pair here.

8. Your options will be narrowed too much if you pass 3 tiles. Stop the Charleston, quickly.

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

Haven't ordered the 2004 NMJL card yet? Read FAQ 7i.

© 2004 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.