Left Side 2022

 

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who can’t wait to get started!

 

There is so very much to say about this new card. I know most of you don't have it yet and I don't want to get too far ahead of my skis on this.... And yet I want to put the information out there for those who are ready.

 

I will go through the three different panels of the card for the next 3 days, explaining each specific hand, and then I'll talk about illegal exposures, and ambiguous exposures (including how you can flip from one hand to another), and then as I'm seeing your feedback and emails I'll start responding to specific questions. Remember that a lot of this may not make sense to you especially if you don't have the card in front of you yet, but it's all here for you to come back to whenever you want. Bubbe is always here for you.

 

Let's dig in.

 

 

2022 section. (Going forward I'll refer to the hands as Y(year)1, Y2, etc.)

 

I'm going to begin this section with the huge reminder that the soap is a zero, and that the “2022” meld per se is not a kong. You cannot call for one tile to complete it except for mah jongg, and you can't use a joker for ANY part of an official "2022" meld—it is four discrete single tiles, and therefore each piece must be natural. 

 

Y1. You will need kongs of both of the other dragons, Red and Green. No ambiguity about that. You may use jokers for any and all of those R/G dragons. You will need to complete the 2022 meld in any one suit, all three natural 2's must be in either bams, cracks, or dots and there must be a soap. A pair of Flowers complete the hand.

 

Y2. Hurray, we can use jokers anywhere and everywhere in this hand! It is legitimately a pung/kong hand where every meld could use jokers and/or be called for exposure. Breathe a sigh of relief, this one can be attained with a good Charleston, a lot of jokers and some luck--and you know what Bubbe says about luck.

 

The 2s appear in all three suits, via one pung and two kongs. There is no specific demand that one of the kongs must be in dots. Obviously, the soaps (or jokers, since it’s a pung) are the only things that can represent zero, so don't even try to use a different dragon for this hand.

 

Y3. Collecting 2s again? Got a soap? Maybe you collected a few Flowers as well.... With enough jokers, you can make this hand. 

 

Although it appears to be a kong kong pung pung hand, remember that the 2022 meld must be natural singles, no jokers. Therefore, as you're collecting your 2s, keep an eye on seeing whether you actually have three natural 2s in one of the suits. You can complete the other two pung melds with any jokers, call them for exposures, etc, and obviously you can complete the Flower kong with jokers. The trickiest thing to remember is to keep three natural 2s in one suit to go with the soap.

 

Y4. This is one of those years when there are two concealed "year" hands. That’s okay, the only melds that can use jokers or could have been called for exposure are the pungs of East and West. As you'll see in a future post, any exposure of a Wind pung is illegal this year. Keep that in the back of your mind, and that'll help to remember that this is a concealed hand. Also if you think of this as a bell curve where “2022” is the peak / center, you can remember that the North and the South pairs are the lowest points and the East and the West pungs build to and from the center.

 

If you have a nice selection of Winds, some 2s in one suit and a soap, this is definitely a hand worth trying for. Bubbe always says, concealed/Singles and Pairs hands get your heart racing--they are the most aerobic thing you can do at the mah jongg table!

 

Y5. Okay, there's getting your heart racing, and then there's descending into madness. Johni Levine, the doyenne of mah jongg tiles, speculated that this hand is undervalued. It's what would ordinarily be considered the “big hand” in the Singles and Pairs section, but they moved it over to the Year section, and Johni thinks it's unattainable. I personally believe somebody's going to get it sometime, and hereby state that the first person who does, IN A LIVE, IN-PERSON GAME, whose tablemates can attest to it, can email me and I will send them a collection of all of my books.

 

Anyway, it is the Moby Dick of hands. Per yesterday's article, you have to get three natural 2s in each of the three suits, as well as three soaps and two Flowers. I know it's going to happen. I don't think it's going to happen soon but I know it's going to happen. If you have proper documentation, you know where to send in for the books.

 

 

2468 section (hereafter referred to as E1, E2, etc.)

 

Oh, you thought our obsession with 2s was over? LOL.

 

It's a big section this year--eight specific hands with two tri-suit variations--so really ten hands. Pretty brave of the League to put such a premium on even numbered tiles this year. Let's go.

 

E1. I mentioned yesterday that pungs of Flowers are back! This one doesn't handily fit into either my "bell curve" or "stair" pattern. You're just going to need to remember that there are five components to the hand, and consider it a pung of Flowers and then a shorter stair, with the pairs of 2s and 4s, the pung of 6s culminating at the top with a kong of 8s. It is a single-suit hand, so if you are collecting Even numbers and get those first two pairs, you should be fine. Just remember you are competing for natural 2s with everybody else. The Flowers, 6s, and the kong of 8s can all use jokers and/or be called for exposures.

 

E2. I use the skinnylicious term yesterday. It's based on the Cheesecake Factory menu where they offer lower fat versions of their regular dishes. In mahj hands, “skinnylicious” is my abbreviated (well, not really) way of saying that a hand uses singles and pairs where you might otherwise expect larger representation.

 

For this one, it's a three-suited hand. You have to go skinnylicious in suit A: pairs of 2s and 8s bookending a single 4 and a single 6. All in the same suit, and all must be natural. Don't worry about what it looks like on the card, with kongs of 2s of the other two suits: you can use any even number for those two matching kongs. You're seeing a lot of 4s circling around during the Charleston? Grab 'em.

 

E3.2 and 3.3 (Two and three suit variations). It's our dear old friend, pung pung kong kong. Any component can use jokers and/or be called for exposures. The thing to remember is it's 3344, and that the 2 and 4 pungs are in suit A. You get to choose whether the kongs of 6s and 8s are BOTH in suit B, or have one each in the complementary suits (B AND C)

 

E4. This a tri-suit hand with five components. 

 

I'm going to give another of my food analogies (Bubbe is obviously hungry, she hasn't had breakfast yet...) 

 

Think of this as a lunch special. The first suit is a sandwich, with kongs of 2 and 6 as the bread surrounding the pair of 4s. You then get two little "sides": pairs of 8s in the other two suits.

 

While you're collecting your even numbers in the Charleston, keep an eye on the 8s. If you can pick up 8s in two suits and then have a nice selection of twos, fours, and sixes in a third suit, voila: lunch special…and you get that extra nickel because it uses three pairs!

 

E5.1 and 5.3 (One and three suited versions) Again there are five components to each of the hands. Think of this as a stutter step with three sections: 23 23 4 (pair/pung, pair/pung, kong)

 

I'm going to explain it as the three suit version--just remember that you can also do it with all the components in one suit. Your first pair/pung combination is the 2 and the 4, in suit A. Your second pair/pung combination is the 6 and the 8, in suit B. Your culminating Kong is the dragons in the third suit.

 

Of course you can call the pungs of 4 and 8 for exposure, as well as the dragon kongs, and use jokers for any of those melds.

 

E6. Oh joy, oh rapture. Such a pretty hand. Let's call this the wedding day hand. The bride and groom's mothers have matching pung corsages, but of course the bride's mom, a kong of 2s, would never wear the same style or color as the groom's mom, in her kong of 8s.

 

We can use jokers for anything, can call any meld for exposure. A perfect wedding day.

 

E7. Another three-suit stutter step hand, very similar to E5.3 except that we don't need any dragons. The first pair/pung section, 2s and 4s, is in suit A. The second pair/pung section, 4s and 6s, is in suit B. This time your culminating kongs are the 8s in suit C. Only the first 4s, the 6s and the 8s can use jokers or be called for exposures.

 

E8. Ah, the return of skinnylicious. If you didn't look too closely, you would think it was a pair of Flowers with four pungs.

 

In a way you should be glad it only needs one 2 in each of two suits, since 2s are such a hot commodity. Once you remember that, and that it's skinnylicious, it's a pretty easy hand to commit to memory: In each of the two suits, you need a meld of 246 (three single tiles) with a true pung of three 8s. You can use jokers on the 8s only; all of the Flowers, 2s, 4s, and 6s must be natural. And please do remember that it is a concealed hand.

 

 

Like Numbers.

 

Oh, we all love this section. Anybody that's going for the "Year" hands and just can't nail down the soaps can always fall back on doing Like Numbers in 2s. Anyone who is dealt dreck should pay attention in the Charleston and notice whether certain numbers are very unloved (I'm guessing 1s, 4s and 7s this year)--start grabbing them and hold tight!

 

LN1. Another easy pung kong pung kong hand. 

 

It's similar to the wedding day hand (E6), but this time we have bridesmaids in a rainbow theme. The girls still have matching bouquets of Flower pungs, and they are wearing the exact same number (“style”) kong dress in two different colors.

 

LN2. Another five component hand. Easiest way to think of it is having Like Numbers in all three suits, only one of which is the kong. For the other two suits, each pung has to have a matching pair of dragons. Jokers can be used in any component except the dragon pairs.

 

LN3. Oh, this one's fun. It's the straightforward pattern of a pair with three kongs. This time it's Like Numbered kongs in suits A and B, being complemented in suit C by dragons. Any of the kongs can use jokers and/or be called for exposure.

 

 

Phew. I have to admit, at the beginning of the 2468 section I thought we'd never get through this side but we did it!

 

Lots to think about and digest. Tomorrow we will go over the middle section of the card, and of course follow it up with a post about the right hand side of the card.

 

If you have any questions or comments, you can always reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com  

 

Somehow I missed breakfast. Bubbe's going to have a little brunch now... and think about weddings.

 

Talk to you tomorrow!

 

Bubbe