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By Tom Sloper
April 1, 2024 Column #801 |
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By Tom Sloper
April 1, 2024 Column #801 |
American Mah Jongg (2024 NMJL card). Continuing my analysis of the 2024 card. As promised, let's delve deeply into specific hands.
2024 #1: Lynn B pointed out in column 799's comments that this is an intermittent biannual alternator, two pungs and two kongs. It isn't on the card every year, but when it is, it takes the shape of either pung-pung-kong-kong (3-3-4-4) or pung-kong-pung-kong (3-4-3-4). Not having any pairs, this hand promises to be fairly easy. If you have soaps.
2468 #1: This, too, is a biannual alternator, 3-3-4-4 this year and 3-4-3-4 last year. It's important to consider this hand, and Odds #2, and 369 #1 as all being strategically relevant to Consec #7, the most powerful hand on the card. If you see two even exposures two numbers apart (4s with 2s or 6s, or 8s with 6s) you can't just assume the player is working in Evens; could actually be Consec #7!
If you are showing the same two even exposures, others will likely assume you're making a 2468 hand. But if you can feign interest in the occasional discard of an in-between odd number, that could throw your opponents off a little. Note that this hand needs a kong of sixes, a high-demand number. We'll get to that.
Quints #2: An unusual new hand, using "Any 2 Non-Matching Nos." This might turn out to be one of the easiest Quints hands.
Consec #1: As already noted in column 799, this traditional alternator's shape is usually either pair-pung-kong-pung-pair (2-3-4-3-2, a pyramid), or pair-pair-pung-pung-kong (2-2-3-3-4, a ramp). But this year we have a new shape: pung-pair-kong-pair-pung (3-2-4-2-3), sort of a "W" shape.
The significance here is which tiles you have to worry about because they're the pairs: no longer are 1s, 5s, and 9s key tiles. The pairs are key because the hands can't be made if both pairs aren't complete, and pairs are hard to make. Now the keys are 2s, 4s, 6s, and 8s. And sixes are high in demand. We'll get to that.
Consec #4: I'm not intimidated by the two singles, two pairs, and two kongs. I think this is the same difficulty as a 2-2-2-4-4 hand (like 2468 #5 and Odds #4 and 369 #5), if not actually easier. I do not view two singles as harder than a pair; just the opposite. If you have one tile and need its mate, there are just three in the deck. But if you need a single, there are four in the deck, increasing your odds of success.
Consec #6: This new hand contains a "chow," a sequence of three consecutive single tiles. This 3-tile combo is about the same difficulty as a pair, since singles are easier than pairs. A quint of flowers isn't that hard to make. While the combo of the quint and chow with two kongs
pungs
is fairly valued at 30, the flexibility of Consec hands makes this hand worth consideration. Chow time!
COMMENTS
Column 801
Column 801
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On Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 11:25:39 AM EDT, Win D wrote:
2024 Mahjong Card
In your column #801, Consecutive Run #6
Don’t you mean “quint chow pung pung” NOT “quint chow kong kong”?
Love your column!
Thanks,
Win D.
囧 Yes. Yes, I did. Thanks, Win.
Play safe out there. And
may the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Rochester, New York, USA
April 4, 2024
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind"
Donations appreciated
On Sunday, April 7, 2024 at 09:48:37 PM EDT, deba wrote:
Clarification RE Strategy Column #801
Hi Tom:
You write that “if you see two even exposures two numbers apart (4s with 2s or 6s, or 8s with 6s) you can't just assume the player is working in Evens; could actually be Consec #7”. I agree with respect to a pung of 4s with a kong of 6s (could be either Evens #1 or Consecutive #7) but with any other even combinations using 2s, 4s, 6s, or 8s the structure of the exposure would reveal the player’s hand possibilities. Three examples: an exposure showing a pung of 6s and a kong of 8s (in either one or two suits) could only be Consecutive #7; an exposure showing a kong of 6s and a kong of 8s in the same suit could be either Evens #1, or Consecutive #3 but not Consecutive #7; a kong of 6s and a kong of 8s in different suits could be Evens #4 or Consecutive #3 but not Evens #1 or Consecutive #7.
If I have misinterpreted what you wrote, please correct me.
I am a long-time reader of your columns which have helped me to both play and teach the game.
Best,
Deborah
Hi, Deborah!
囧 Confession time: I hadn't done a direct comparison between the biannual alternators when I wrote that. I was stating a general principle that applied to biannual alternators in past years, and perhaps not as reliably as I made it sound. You have a good eye, and my hat's off to ye!
[Edit, next morning, April 8]: In that column, I didn't specify pungs and kongs. In future columns I'll examine some two-pung exposures and two-kong exposures, as well as pung-kong and kong-pung combos.
Play safe out there. And
may the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Rochester, New York, USA
April 7, 2024
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind"
Donations appreciated
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