Take time to Smell Spring Flowers

Greetings and salutations from your Bubbe, happy that--at long last--Spring seems to have come to New Jersey.

The snow is finally gone. No more grey landscape: there are buds on the magnolia and cherry blossom trees. Daffodils and forsythia are in bloom. Suddenly there is color in the landscape, and our seasonal allergies kick into high gear.

The other mark of Spring is the return of the Snowbirds.

On Wednesday, I received a quick Facebook message from Helene, a relative rookie at the game: "Ok, pick and throw or throw and pick?"

I knew immediately what was up. Some of my friends will say, "I've got a quick mahj question," or "Can I ask you something about playing?" Others will say, "Bubbe, I need you to settle a dispute."

It was possible that some of the ladies in Helene's group were rusty on the rules, or perhaps they just forgot the order of how things happened, e.g.,"Do I push out the walls clockwise or counterclockwise?" "Do I pass the Charleston Left, right, or across?" "Do I pick first or throw first?"

On the other hand, it could be that most essential question, about the style of play.

I answered: "Pick and throw. Takes longer but makes better hands."

She immediately replied. "Thanks that’s the way we were playing but there’s a movement underfoot to make things go faster."

As I suspected, it was a style question, and I knew where it came from.

"Who went to Florida?" I asked. "Tell her those aren't League rules."

Helene's reply: "Lolololol! How did you know?"

I know because I have been to the Ground Zero of 14-tile mahj. I stood in the lobby of the Mandel JCC in Palm Beach Gardens watching the best of the best. They got through each game in five minutes, tops, with payoffs that were double, if not five times, the value on the card.

Frankly, it was like a fevered addiction. No one was talking, no one was laughing. Throw and pick, and lord help you if you slowed down the game.

Not all of the Florida ladies play 14-tile games, and even among those who do, there are friendlier and less stressful variations. But the single explanation I hear most often about why anyone chooses the 14-tile game is "It's much faster."

It certainly is. In mah jongg you must be decisive. With the throw and pick variation, you have a few extra beats to decide your next move. You determine which tile you are going to throw, and then once you pick the next tile you are able to consider it while the three other players throw and pick. Of course, you need to pay attention to their discards--if you want them, you'll have to think and speak quickly in order to stop the next player from throwing.

Bubbe has a lot of questions. The most obvious one is: What, exactly, is the hurry? If your game takes 10 minutes instead of five, you still get in 5 or 6 per hour. Are you having any fun?


Besides that, what does this version of play mean for strategic thinking? Don't people make mistakes all the time, throwing and then forgetting to pick because someone calls for their discard? How do you plan strategically: what if you throw a tile and then pick the exact same one, e.g. you decide to go jokerless so throw your only joker, and then pick another one? How can you switch your hand--don't you have to determine what you're playing, and stick with it, much earlier in this version?

So many questions...

The rumor (validated by someone who works at the NMJL headquarters) is that questions about the 14-tile game, usually phoned in from Florida, can't be answered since they aren't part of the official rules. Like all other table rules, they must be settled among the players, not the League. 

Some of you are 14-tile die-hard fans; some of you will never try it in your life; some of you can go either way, however the rest of your group decides. Among this third group, most agree that it's a faster game, but then concede that they don't win as often at it. Certainly someone who reads this article will be willing to answer any and all of the above questions, but again, the one that strikes me the most is, "What's the hurry?" If you want to try to convince me of the merits of a 14-tile game, you can reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Talk to you soon!

Bubbe Fischer