Just Keep Swimming

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who promised a follow-up about my last tournament!

We all understand that mah jongg can be a streaky game. One week, you're a joker magnet--no matter where you begin with the deal, you end up picking jokers or exchanging for others. You have a fantastic afternoon and come home with an extra $3--or $8--or $60 (for you high rollers)...it's a great day.

For most of us, there are other weeks where we're wiped out. "Sorry, I've only got this last dime," we say, handing over every coin to the others in our group. We can't seem to pick a Flower, or get that last tile. It's very frustrating.

As I say in my book, Searching for Bubbe Fischer, on average and over time, with a well-matched group, you ought to break even. Some weeks, you're hot; others, you're not. Because most of us play with a pie (loss limit), it doesn't get too painful.

Tournaments are a different story. We all pay the entrance fee. Once we're in, there are no further costs. Someone takes home big money; most of us leave with slightly less of our dignity intact. After all, in a room full of people, we can't ALL be winners, right?

I've always been curious about what it takes to be a winner at a long tournament. I've won a few small competitions (3 rounds or less), and I know that it was because I was very lucky with jokers and good picks. I didn't expect that such a hot streak would last for all 12 rounds. 

DO the tournament winners remain "hot" for all 12 rounds? Are they the leaders throughout the entire event, or do they rely on one or two hot rounds to buoy their average performance? What kind of fluctuations are there on the leader board? Finally, what kind of score does it take to win a tournament, and what's considered "average"?

The last questions were the easiest to answer, since the Destination Mah Jongg ladies (Fern Oliphant and Sheryl Perry) put up final scores from two of their last events. Surprisingly, the big winners from each tournament had the identical score of 655 for 12 rounds. I've remarked, before, that this is slightly low--I know from my experience at tournaments like Joanne Bourne's Four Seasons and Gladys Grad's Mah Jongg Madness that the top score is above 720, or 60 points per round.

As for what was considered average in the last two DMJ tournaments, the mean (calculated "average") and median (middle of the pack) score for each tournament was virtually identical. The Las Vegas event had a mean score of 372.3 and a median of 370; the Sugarland, Texas, event had a mean score of 360.6 and a median of 360. Basically, if you were getting about 30 points per round, your score fell right in the middle.

In responding to the earlier questions about fluctuations and what it takes to win, I'm going to use the standings after the 2nd, 3rd, and final sessions (6th, 9th and final rounds) of the Las Vegas tournament to determine whether the other winners got VERY hot--200+ points in one session--or were models of consistency, scoring somewhere around 150 points in each of the 3-round sessions. As they say in the world of clickbait, "the results may surprise you!"

My previous article stated that my friend Barney Gallassio finished "in the money"--in fact, his score of 530 placed him among the top 14. That means that anyone who averaged less than about 45 points per round was not in the winner's circle. Anecdotally, Barney played consistently--14 wins and 12 Wall games out of 48 games--but only won one Quint hand the entire time. He never had a really hot session (above 200 points), but rather played steadily: his "worst" session had three wins and four Wall games, and a few penalties, for a net of 100 points.

What of the tournament winner, Bonnie Wise? Did she dominate every round? Actually, Bonnie started steady, with 295 points after 2 sessions (6 rounds). That was an average of 50 points per round--nothing to be disappointed about, but not the most impressive, either. There were eleven players with higher scores, and she shared her rank with two other players. However, as the tournament continued on Sunday afternoon, Bonnie got very hot. She had 205 points in the third session, raising her (at 500 points) to #1. She held on through the final Monday morning session with another strong, consistent 155 points, to remain at the top of the board.

What of those eleven players who were well ahead of Bonnie after two sessions? The top player, #823, actually had 380 points--an outstanding performance in six rounds of mah jongg, definitely on pace to win a tournament. Did this person finish in the money, after two very strong sessions? Sadly, they fell back to Earth. Their third session netted only 30 points in 12 games, and their rank dropped to twelfth. In the final session, player 823 only earned 55 points, for a final score of 465. This placed them 28th overall--in the top quartile, but certainly not as strong as they had once hoped.

As I said above, Bonnie got very hot and pulled ahead in the third session. The most truly consistent, strong player was #847. This person had 340 points after two sessions--enough to be tied for the fifth highest score. In the third session, they got 150 points to move up to third place. For the final session, they earned an additional 150 points and ended up in second place with 640 total points. This person was the model of consistency.

Other players in the top 14 were not as consistent. Player #841 started modestly, with 205 points after 6 rounds. It was a middle-of-the-pack performance, 57th out of 148. This player could not possibly have anticipated that their Sunday afternoon session would go so well--260 points--moving them up to the fifth score, overall. On Monday, for the final session, they cooled off a bit--only 85 points, with a final score of 550, tied for 7th place.

What about the people who had worse luck--not in the middle of the pack, but after six rounds of play, netting 75 points, with their score near the bottom of the third page of rankings? These were the folks who, when asked "How's it going?", would graciously reply, "The weather here is fabulous," or "I've seen a lot of good players." Fortunately, none were so dispirited as to give up.

Of our three slowpokes, one improved their score by another 55 points but still remained at the bottom, after session three. They ultimately moved up to the bottom of the second page of the score sheet, a source of some comfort. Another of the three had a stronger third session--70 points--to move up slightly, but had a poor fourth session (10 points) and finished second to last, overall. I hope they had better luck at the casino and made many friends.

The third slow starter actually improved significantly. Their Sunday afternoon session was very good--165 points--and at the end of the entire tournament, their overall score was 330--just below the median! This is my example of "over time, on average"--their luck must have turned, and they started getting good tiles again.

And how did other people end up in the middle, like our third slowpoke? Did they play a middle game, throughout? Well, yes, actually. I looked at the other players who netted 330, and none ever scored more than 135 in a session. They did respectably, but never really ignited.

I found it very interesting to watch the journey. I'd call my own scores "modest"--I had 205 after the second session, in 57th just like player #841 who ended up in seventh, overall. I didn't have the great Sunday afternoon that they had--I only got 40 points, a truly dismal showing, and fell to below the midline. I got a boost on Monday morning, however, with a 150-point session, and ended up in 62nd place--hey, that's still top half!!

The lesson to take away from all this, vis-a-vis tournaments, is just keep swimming. Play every hand and enjoy it. Keep your head in the game, keep hoping that you will be dealt four jokers and/or a perfect setup. There's no reason why the next hand couldn't be the best of your entire mahj career!

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to write me at bubbefischer@gmail.com ... I love hearing from you!

A sweet, happy and healthy New Year to all my Jewish friends... and to those who aren't, enjoy the beautiful weather!

Bubbe Fischer

Vegas Bubbe

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, still racking up the Frequent Flyer miles!

A week ago, I was sitting in a ballroom at the Paris Las Vegas hotel, surrounded by 150+ other mah jongg players. We were at a three-day mah jongg tournament sponsored by Destination Mah Jongg. In fact, it was billed as "the World Championship" of American mah jongg, with it largest prize ever awarded--$5000!

Most novice players have never participated in a tournament. In fact, many experienced players have never tried an extended event, either. Although you may have spent a full afternoon, or maybe a weekend getaway, with a group of 4--or 8--or a dozen--friends, a mahj tournament has a few factors that make it an experience like no other. Scoring, time limitations, rotating tables--all of these make the environment a little more challenging than usual. If you want to read more about my own early tournament experiences, check out Searching for Bubbe Fischer.

This particular tournament featured many winners of previous events. The organizers, Fern Oliphant and Sheryl Perry, contacted competition directors all over the country, offering "Golden Tickets." If a person came in the top three in his/her local contest, they were awarded a ticket. It served as both invitation and discount at the Championship. Of course, other players (Super Enthusiasts) were allowed to enter at full rate, but I can assure you that the invitations resulted in some highly skilled players attending this event.

How do I know? Well, Bubbe organizes tournaments three times a year. In addition, I attend events all over the country. I've seen my share of players...and scores. In most tournaments, scores are based on the NMJL card--plus bonuses for self-picking mahj or having a jokerless hand (this doesn't include Singles and Pairs hands). There are penalties for throwing a mahj tile, as well, and a ten-point score for Wall games. What I have seen, consistently and over time, is that the winner does not necessarily play the hardest hands, e.g., Quints and Singles and Pairs hands, but rather brings in an average score of 60 points per round. In our four-round events, a score of 225-250 is generally the top score; for a twelve-round, three day event, the winner breaks 700 points.

This DM tournament was actually slightly more generous with scoring than many of the events I have attended: rather than the usual 10-point bonus for a jokerless hand, they awarded 20 points. As with most tournaments, they penalized 10 points for throwing to zero or one exposure, and 20 for throwing to two exposures. I know that, in my own tournaments, players grumble about this, but I remind players that they would pay double for throwing the mahj tile--the worst penalty in a tournament is 25 points for throwing to three exposures, so really, 10 is not so bad.

In my own experience as an East (the person who keeps score), in 48 games, there was only ONE hand that earned the 20-point jokerless bonus! This, to me, was extraordinary! Obviously, it varies from event to event, but it indicates just how important jokers are to winning.

At this particular event, even with the additional bonus for jokerless hands, the scores were surprisingly low. The winner, Bonnie Wise, had 655 points--about 55 points per round. This is a full 5 points per round less than I ordinarily see.

Bonnie made a few extraordinary hands, including the 60 point Singles and Pairs, the consecutive run Quints (twice), and two other Singles and Pairs including starting a hand with F 7788 7788 7788! She also self-picked mahj several times. I have to assume there were quite a few Wall games. At my own table, we had 12, or 25%, of games end with no winner. I heard similar stories from other players. Although each player ends up with 10 points in a Wall game, no one is able to "run away" with the score. It's hard to rack up hundreds of points at the rate of only 10 at a time.

So how did Bubbe do? I ended up in the middle of the pack, just shy of 400 points or just above 30 points per round. This came from winning 11 hands, having  those 12 Wall games, and racking up a good share of penalties--seven altogether, including one where I took a chance and threw to two exposures! My "biggest" hands were a Quint--FF 66666 77 88888--and a Singles and Pairs--NN EE WW SS 44 44 44. (By the way, for any Bubbe fans who wonder whether I ever stop the Charleston, I did for that Singles and Pairs--I had 12 tiles!) Neither of these big hands was a self-pick, but they were nice points, all the same.

In comparison, my friend Barney Gallassio finished "in the money"--tied for twelfth place--with a final score of  530, or just under 45 points per round.

Fern Oliphant crowning King Barney

He allowed me to look at his scorecard to see what his distribution was like:

Barney had a consistent showing. He never won more than two games in a round, but he also never went scoreless. Out of the 48 games, he won 14 hands, only the last one of which could be considered "big"--55 points for picking his own Quint hand. Like me, Barney had 12 Wall games and never got the jokerless bonus, either!! He only received penalties five times, so essentially, his three extra wins and fewer penalties made a big difference.

I think, in general, the players were more competitive, very careful not to throw obvious tiles. There were many Wall games overall, throughout the room, but no one player dominated the competition from round to round. I'm going to do another blog about it, with a score analysis of the Leader Board, to show you overall score fluctuations.

Write to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com if you have any questions about Tournaments, I love hearing from you.

Talk to you soon.

Bubbe Fischer