SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
April 14, 2024
Column #803

American Mah Jongg (2024 NMJL card).

First across. What would you pass?

1. Step one: count pairs. There's just one (3B). Step two: look for "friends" of the pair. Three is a low number, so all low numbers are friends of the pair. It's expected that some players are going to rid themselves of winds, and W-D #3 is a possibility, so I wouldn't pass winds just yet. There are two nines and two eights you don't need; pass any 3.

2. Two pairs: twos and soaps (I don't count jokers among my pairs, because their strategic value is limited at this phase.) Can I find tiles that are friends with both my pairs? I can: the 2024 family, Any Like #2, and Consec #2. The 2C pair and the white pair are not well suited for 2468 #3. In the first pass, it's just elimination; anything that doesn't fit 2024 or near consecutive numbers can go. Pass 8C 9C E.

Second left. What's your play?

3. Three pairs: twos, fours, eights. Awkward generality: fours and same-suited eights hardly ever go together in a multi-suited 2468 hand. Maybe #4, but those don't... wait, why are we thinking so much? Obvious 2468 hand -- get rid of threes and nine.

4. Two pairs: nines and matching dragons. What friends do we have... The nines and dragons work in Any Like, Consec #5, Odds #3, and 369 #4. Set aside 1B 2B 4B 7B 8B, and choose 3 to pass.

Courtesy. WWYP?

5. This can go Like Nos. or Consec #4. Why give up anything? Tell your opposite, "Nuttin', honey."

What would you discard?

6. The tiles want to go twos (Any Like Nos.). Throw a one or a three.

A player is showing the following exposures. Defend.

7. This combo is a dead giveaway; nothing on the card that it could be but Any Like #1. You know right off that the player needs ones in the other two suits, and it would be highly risky to discard one.

8. Only two "two dragon pung" combos on the 2024 card: Any Like #2 and W-D #2. The W-D hand is easy to defend against: their hot tiles are flowers and reds. But for Any Like, it could be any numbers.

麻雀

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Questions about the 2024 NMJL card? See FAQ 16

Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i. But you're missing a bet if you don't order your NMJL card directly from the National Mah Jongg League! You'll thank me later.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book about the American game, a good supplement to the League's official rulebook. Note that every owner of the book also needs the errata, which are updated ongoing, as needed. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND every player should have a copy of Mah Jongg Made Easy, the official rulebook of the National Mah Jongg League (see FAQ 3 for info on mah-jongg books).

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