FAQ 16. Frequently-Asked Questions about the 2008 NMJL card (American-style mah-jongg)
Where do I get the latest NMJL card?
Read FAQ 7i (click here).
1123 11111 11111
(Any 3 Suits, Any 3 Consec. Nos., Pr Any No., Pr & Quints Match)
(Quints #1)
Do the quints and the pair have to be the first number in the run?
No. They can be the second or third number in the run, not only the first. Read the parenthetical very carefully. The phrase "Pr Any No." means that the pair can be any number in the run (not only the first). The word "any" always means "any." (It also means that you don't have to make this hand only with 1s, 2s, and 3s -- you can use "any" number.) The phrase "Pr & Quints Match" means that the paired number must be the same number used in the quints.
Read the Tom Sloper philosophy of how to read the card, in Read FAQ 19J (click here).
- and read column 357.
1123 11111 11111
1223 22222 22222
1233 33333 33333
Do the quints have to be in craks and dots, since they're red and blue?
No. The colors are symbolic - they are not to be taken literally. Read FAQ 19AK (click here).
5567 55555 55555
7889 88888 88888
2344 44444 44444
Can I use a joker in the 1123?
No, of course not. A 1123 is the same thing as a 2008 or a NEWS.
Read FAQ 19E (click here) and read the back of your NMJL card.
Can I call a discard to make the 1123?
Not unless it's for mah-jongg. Read FAQ 19E (click here).
1111 FFFFFF 5555
13579 #4
Can I expose five flowers, and add one later to make the sextet? Or can I expose it as two flower pungs, or as a kong and hold a pair?
No. A sextet must be exposed all at the same time. A sextet is one set of six identical tiles. Yes, it's hard to do - that's the point! But hey, it's flowers, and there are eight of them - and there are eight jokers too.
I heard it was a mistake, that it's supposed to be two pungs, not six of a kind.
You heard wrong.
FFFF 2222 0000 08
(2008 #2)
If somebody has a jokerless kong of soaps, a kong of flowers, and a kong of twos, can I call her dead?
Yes. There is no other hand on the card she could be making except this one, and everybody knows (because it says so on the card) that a joker may never be used for a single (as part of the 08). She's dead. Dead, dead, dead. Read FAQ 19AA (click here). And read column 357, too.
333 66 999 333 333
(Any 2 Suits, Like Pungs 3s or 9s Only)
... x 30
(369 #5)
That must be a mistake, that the two pungs are shown in the same color - that would mean I need six of the same number in the same suit!
It's not a mistake. Don't forget, there are eight jokers in the mah-jongg set. And you may expose a pung (the hand isn't marked c).
What does it mean "Like Pungs 3s or 9s Only"?
It means the two pungs can be either matching threes (as illustrated) or matching nines -- but not sixes!
333 66 999 333 333
333 66 999 666 666
333 66 999 999 999
Can I claim a tile to expose a 2008?
Not unless it's for mah-jongg. Read FAQ 19E (click here).
Can I use a joker in a 2008?
No, of course not. Read FAQ 19E (click here) and read the back of your NMJL card.
Can I claim a wind tile to expose a NEWS?
Not unless it's for mah-jongg. Read FAQ 19E (click here).
Can I use a joker in a NEWS?
No, of course not. Read FAQ 19E (click here) and read the back of your NMJL card.
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