SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
May 25, 2014
Column #606

American Mah Jongg (2014 NMJL card). Defense. What do you do when you see these exposures atop an opponent's rack?

1. Three possibilities: Like Nos., Consec. #5, Odds #3. Key tiles are 1D 1C 3B G.* Also hot: 2B 5B.

2. Could be Consec. #2 or 369 #2. Hot tiles are 4B 6B 5C 9C.

3. Consec. #1 or #2; hot tiles are 1D 2D 3D, and twos, threes, sixes, and sevens in the other two suits. 1D and 2D are key (eliminating one of three possibilities).

4. Consec. #2; hot tiles are 6C 7B.

5. Consec. #6 or Evens #3. Hot tiles are 2C 4C 6C 7C 4D 7D. Craks are key.

6. Consec. #5; hot tiles are F soap. Soap is key.

7. Odds #1; hot tiles are 1C 3C 7C. 1C and 3C are key.

8. Consec. #2; hot tiles are 3B 4D.

9. Like Numbers. Hot tiles are 1D F; 1D is key.

10. Consec. #6; hot tiles are 7B 7C 8C. Craks are key.

11. 2014 #3; hot tiles are 1C 4C F. 1C and 4C are key.

12. Consec. #2; hot tiles are fives and sixes in the other two suits.

13. Odds #2. The hot tiles are 1C 5B.

14. 2014 #2; hot tiles are 2C 2D soap.

*For recent comers to this column, the term "key" means a tile that's needed for a single or pair. Because jokers cannot stand in for a single or pair, a player who needs a single or pair in the hand can find herself stuck when her tile is not available. When an exposed hand has a "key tile," scan the table (the discards and exposures) and if you see that tile, you have key information about her chances of making that hand.

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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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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/.