2021 Hands Part 2 (middle panel)

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, in the middle of reviewing the 2021 card—seriously, we're focusing on the middle panel!

This means we’re going to look at all the hands in Quints, Consecutive Runs (CR), and 13579. As I said yesterday when reviewing the LEFT side of the card:

 

The whole point of all of these articles is to help prepare you to do as well as you can with the 2021 card. That means knowing the whole card. I don't want anyone being intimidated by Singles and Pairs hands (or ANY concealed hands), Quint hands, three-suited hands…whatever worries you, we're going to get through all of this together. I promise.

 

With apologies for the formatting....

 

QUINTS:  

1) 1) The annual “junk Quint” hand. This year, the combination is five Flowers, a kong of ANY number in any suit, and five Winds. It should be noted that, theoretically, you could make this hand with just one Joker! 

     2) Two suits, 5225. Remember those “sandwiches” I talked about yesterday, in the Evens section? This is a Quint of a sandwich, using two suits and consecutive numbers. The “bread” is two quints in suit A, separated by three (e.g. 1 and 4; 2 and 5; 3 and 6, etc.).  The “filling” is pairs of the two consecutive numbers in between, in suit B. 

     3) Two versions, either in one suit or three. This is CR #5, below, “supersized” to be a Quint. Essentially, it’s a quint, a kong, and a quint (545 or 545), consecutively. 

     4) Two suits. Another CR supersize, this time of CR #6, below. It’s two consecutive numbers, first the pair and then the quint, repeated in two different suits. Think of it as 2525 using the exact same numbers.

 

CONSECUTIVE RUNS:

1) Single suit. Two versions. The most intuitive hand on the card. One suit, five consecutive numbers laid out as a bell curve, either 1 through 5, or 5 through 9, with pairs on either end. The pairs are the hardest part!

 

2) Two suits. Everybody’s easiest hand: 3434.

 

3) Single suit. Very clever stair climb: four consecutive numbers as a single, pair, pung, then kong, completed with a kong of matching Dragons.

 

4) Single suit. Pay attention: a Quint of Flowers thrown into the CR section! The three consecutive numbers are presented as a pair, pung, and kong.

 

5) See Q #3. These are almost the same hand, except CR #5 has a pair of Flowers instead of bookend Quints. It can be played in either one suit or three. ALSO: note that the card description is incomplete. This can be ANY THREE CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS.

 

6) Three suits. An interesting beginning: pair, pung in suit A; same pair, pung but in suit B; and then a kong of the third number, in suit C. As I mentioned above, it begins similarly to Q #4. The way to spot this one during hand selection is to note your number line distribution, rather than your suits: you might see that you have (for example) several 4’s and 5’s, in two suits, and 6’s in the third suit.

 

7) Three suits. Simple pattern to remember: three consecutive pairs in suit A, then kongs of the next number, in suits B and C. The pairs are the hardest part, hence this is a 30 cent hand.

 

8) CONCEALED; THREE SUITS. It’s deceptively easy, since it’s just a pair of Flowers and four pungs—two consecutive numbers and the opposing Dragons--but that’s why it’s concealed. You can only call for the mah jongg tile.

 

 

13579

 

1) The companion to CR #1. Two versions. Again, it’s a bell curve, with the pairs of 1’s and 9’s and the kong in the middle. The single-suit version is much easier to remember. The three-suit version is a little trickier. Remember that the 5’s (the kong) are in suit B, the dividing line, and that the first two numbers (pair of 1’s, pung of 3’s) are suit A and the last two (pung of 7’s, pair of 9’s) are suit C.

 

2) Single suit. Two versions, on the lower and upper ends of the number line. If you put the pair of Flowers at the end, it’s another bell curve: numeric order, with the pung of DRAGONS being on the descent back to the Flowers.

 

3) Two suits. 3434. Again, remember that there are two versions, on the lower and upper ends of the number line. Very easy hand, once you remember the pattern.

 

4) Three suits. Two versions, lower and upper number line. It’s a pure bell curve. Very similar to Odds #1B (the three-suited hand version)—the kong in the middle suit is of DRAGONS, with the numeric ascension of pair, pung in one suit and the descent of pung, pair in a third suit.

 

5  5) Single suit. Two versions, lower and upper number line. Again, like yesterday’s second Like Numbers hand, it’s a pair and three kongs (including Flowers). The trick is that the pair is the middle number.

 

6) Three suits. Similar to CR #7. Pairs of three lowest numbers in suit A, with kongs of 7 and 9, suits B and C. Again, pairs are the hardest part so this is a 30 cent hand.

 

7) CONCEALED. Three suits. Two versions, lower and upper number line. It’s one pair and four pungs; as in CR #8, what makes it hard is that you can only call for the mah jongg tile. Pattern is pungs of the two lower numbers in both suit A and B, with the pair at the high end in suit C.

 

 

BUBBE COMMENTS:

 

A later blog will discuss how the hands can be switched, but as you can see from my descriptions, there are some hands that are “supersizes” of others. 

 

Yesterday, I mentioned holding onto one suit of even tiles, with matching Dragons and Flowers, for three different 2468 hands. You might be dealt several tiles in one suit of consecutive numbers with Flowers and matching Dragons. Start collecting, and you may find yourself deciding between CR #3,4,5 and even Q#3!

 

Always remember that, as in CR #1, there may be a “high end” version of the Odd hand; five of the seven hands actually have both a 1-5 and a 5-9 version.

 

Also remember that there may be a three-suit variation on a one-suit hand, as in Q #3, CR #5, and Odds #1.

 

 

Tomorrow, we tackle the right panel of the card. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments at bubbefischer@gmail.com …I love hearing from you!

 

Talk to you soon.

 

Bubbe Fischer