Don't Forget!

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who just remembered what she wants to tell you!

My last blog entry was all about how I had three jokers, and with a little insight I was able to pick the hand that was easiest to make. I developed that insight from understanding certain design conventions used by the NMJL.

**Psst: Here's where I give the disclaimer: Hands as designed on previous cards are not a guarantee of future cards' hands...but after seeing the last 16 years' worth, I'm pretty sure they will continue**

The most basic convention is one that everyone MUST know, as they begin to play the game: each suit has a matching colored Dragon. Green goes with Bams; Red with Craks; and White (Soap) with Dots. Some people remember by saying that bamboo is green; the characters are written in red; and dots look like soap bubbles. My personal memory trick is to rely on alphabetizing: BCD (Bam Crak Dot) match with GRW (Green Red White).

There are two additional NMJL conventions involving affiliations between number tiles and Winds, and between certain Dragons and Winds. I used these conventions to pick my hand in the last blog article--and I'm going to teach you a really great mnemonic for them, going forward.

Both of these kinds of  "relations" appear in the Winds and Dragons section of the 2018 card.

1) Even vs. Odd numbers
 On the 2018 card, there are two similar hands involving kongs of Winds (East and West or North and South), each with pairs of the same number tile in all three suits:

NNNN 11 11 11 SSSS (any odd tile)

EEEE 22 22 22 WWWW (any even tile)

This N/S Odd and E/W Even design convention has appeared in other years' cards, e.g. a concealed hand of 11 NN 111 SSS 1111 and 22 EE 222 WWW 2222  

2) Colors 

On the 2018 card, there are two hands that involve kongs of Winds and a pair of Dragons:

FFFF NNNN RR SSSS

FFFF EEEE GG WWWW

This color/wind relationship does not occur every year, but when it has (in the last 16 years), it remains consistent, following the N/S Red and E/W Green convention. 

"Okay, Bubbe, how are we supposed to remember this, short of memorizing the hands themselves?"

Glad you asked. Say the words out loud. EAST goes with EEE-vens and GrEEn dragons. Nothing in the other group (North/South, Red, Odd) has the "Long E" sound.

I have had 25-year veteran mah jongg players tell me that they never realized these pairings before!! I hope I have enhanced your knowledge--and maybe my little memory trick will save you some time and aggravation when working out what hand to play. 

If I think of any other cute little tricks, I'll be happy to share them. Meanwhile, if you have a question or comment, please feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Talk to you soon.

Bubbe Fischer