2021 Hands Part 3 (right panel)

 

Greetings and salutations from your right-hand gal, Bubbe, talking about the RIGHT side of the card….

 

Today we’ll cover most people’s least favorite section(s). Some of you dread the Singles and Pairs. Most of you pass away the Winds as quickly as you get them. Bubbe herself has a blind spot on the 369 section. But these sections are on the card, and we need to understand them—even if only to identify and play defense.

Once you have learned more about these sections, you may change your mind and learn to love them. I promised you, a few days ago, that we would get through this whole card together. The better you know the card, the more options you will have, and the more prepared you will be when certain tiles come your way. So let’s do this!!

 (Again: apologies for the formatting)

WINDS AND DRAGONS:

Two caveats to this section:

* THIS YEAR, the size of Wind-pair melds always match: if it’s a pung of North, there’s a pung of South; if it’s a kong of East, there’s a kong of West

*ALWAYS remember my Long-E mnemonic: Green, East/West, and Even tiles go together; Red, North/South, and Odd tiles go together.

1)     4 North/South, 3 East/West—no pairs. You can call for any exposure, you can use Jokers to complete any meld.

 

2)    Three suits. It’s really a Like Numbers hand with pungs of the corresponding Winds. A kong and two pairs of the number, in three suits, with East/West for Even or North/South for Odd.

 

3)   North/South pungs and East/West pairs with a kong of Flowers. This is the exact same hand as 2021 #4 with Flowers instead of the Year. Remember that the East and West are the pairs.

 

4)   Three kongs and a pair. Per mnemonic  above: the kongs of North and South will be met with four RED Dragons and a pair of Flowers.

 

5)    Three kongs and a pair. Flip of #4. The kongs of East and West will be met with four GREEN Dragons and a pair of Flowers.

 

6)   It’s a 2021 hand! A pair of Flowers and 2021, with either kongs of North and South or East and West.

 

7)    CONCEALED! Four pungs: North, South, any two Dragons, and a single East and West. Don’t forget it’s concealed, you can’t call for any exposures, just the winning mahj tile.

 

3-6-9:

 

1)     Two suits. 3434 with 3-6 and 6-9. It’s a very simple hand.

 

2)    Single suit. Attention! Note that it’s a 4343—kongs of 3 and 9, with pungs of 6 and the matching Dragon.

 

3)    Three suits. 4433 This hand seems new to me. Kongs of 3 and 6 in suit A, and then pungs of 9 in suits B and C.

 

4)   Single suit. Surprise Quint of Flowers! It resembles CR #4 from yesterday, with a pair, pung, and kong of the same suit. Instead of consecutive numbers, it’s 3, 6, and 9 in order.

 

5)    Three suits. Steps like Evens #3 (although that one is only in one suit). The low numbers (3,6) are pairs in suit A. The next set (6,9) are pungs in suit B. It’s completed by a Dragon kong in suit C.

 

6)   Two versions: Single suit or three suits. It’s the 369 version of the basic pair and three kongs, CR #5. Either 3,6,9 kongs in same suit with a pair of Flowers, or 3,6,9 kongs in three separate suits with a pair of Flowers.

 

7)    CONCEALED: Three suits. Four pungs: 3 and 6 in suits A and B, with a pair of 9’s in suit C. Remember that the pair is the 9’s, and as ever, you can’t call for any exposures, just the winning tile.

 

SINGLES AND PAIRS (or as Bubbe likes to say, the most aerobic activity you can have at a mah jongg table):     

1)     Three suits. There are really six pairs here: Flowers, North, South, and Like Numbers in all three suits, plus one East and one West.

2)    Three suits. This is a true SP hand that shows up almost every year in some form. This year there are two versions, using ODD numbers, either the low (135) or high (579) end of the number line. Suit A is the first pair and second single; Suit B is bigger, with first two pairs and third single; Suit C goes the FULL way, with all three pairs. If this confuses you, just take some tiles and put it together in front of you a few times. You’ll get the hang of it. 

3)    Single suit. Seven pairs, based on the CR section. Any six consecutive numbers (1-6, 2-7, 3-8, or 4-9), plus a pair of Flowers. 

4)   Three suits. Again, seven pairs, based on the Evens section. Pair of Flowers plus 2,4,6,8 in suit A, and then pairs of (your choice of) even number in suits B and C. 

5)    Two suits. Seven pairs based on the 369 section. As straightforward as can be: Flowers and then 369 in suit A and suit B. 

6)   The Classic Big Hand: two Flowers and 2021 in all three suits. It pays 75 cents again this year. What can I say? If you are dealt 1s and 2s in more than one suit, a Soap or two, and a Flower, you might consider playing this—at least to start the Charleston—and see what comes in. Per above—if you get twelve or thirteen tiles, you’ll really get your heart racing!!

BUBBE’S OVERALL COMMENTS:

In general, any hand with only pungs and kongs has the advantage of using Jokers and being able to call for exposures…but remember there are some tricks on this part of the card: only 369 #1 is the typical 3434. WD#1 is 4334, 369 #2 is 4343, 369 #3 is 4433. Why should they make it too easy?

 

Here are some confidence boosters:

·        The Long-E mnemonic will take you a long way in figuring out the WD section.

·        If you’ve been paying attention from the left and center panels, many of the patterns for the 369 hands will be very familiar to you.

·        Think about each of the SP hands as miniature versions of the other sections (WD/Like Numbers, Odds, CR, Evens, 369, 2021). If you don’t have any Jokers, what’s the harm of at least starting with one of these SPs, since it’s a concealed hand…if you suddenly become a Joker magnet, you can switch and no one will be the wiser!

 

So now we’ve seen all three panels, and we’re ready to start thinking of the card as a whole. Tomorrow is one of my FAVORITE topics: illegal exposures!!!

Feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com with questions or comments, so I can steer the material toward what you really want to know. Some of you have sent very kind notes, and it’s made this a lot more fulfilling for ME, knowing you’re reading the blog!

Talk to you soon!

Bubbe Fischer