OLD ARCHIVE: Bubbe's Bluff

This is an article that I ran back in 2015, on a different website--it's relevant again for the new 2022 card, so I'm running it again and will be referring to it during the year.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Greetings and salutations!

Today Bubbe’s going to give you a little strategy session, using a hand I played a few weeks ago.

I began with two jokers and six Wind tiles, and through passing received several more. In fact, I ended the Charleston with NNNEEEWWWSJJ3—that’s a lot of Winds!!

The obvious hand to play on the 2014 National Mah Jongg League card is NNNN EEEE WWWW SS. You can see that the trickiest part is the pair of Souths, which I did not have. There were several potential impediments to my getting a second South:

·         The other players might throw out each of the three Souths before I was ready to call one

·         The South tiles could be the last ones in the final wall…if we ever got to them

·         South tiles could be just sitting in someone’s hand, never to be thrown

After a few turns, I picked my fourth West, so had NNNEEEWWWWSJJ—with no exposures. I was ready. I just needed to pick a second South, or have someone throw it. But how could I make that happen?

I tell my students all the time: you can’t force a pair….or can you? I couldn’t coax one out of the wall, but if someone was holding onto a South, perhaps I could bluff it out of her hand. All I needed was the right opportunity.

Fate provided me with the proper setup. I picked up a joker which I obviously didn’t need. Rather than discard the joker and tip everyone off that I was close, I used the classic technique of misdirection: I threw out the matching Wind—North.

(As you all know, North goes with South; East goes with West. If someone exposes Wests, it’s logical that they’re also going to need the Easts.)

A few of the Winds had been passed to me during the Charleston, but no one could be absolutely sure that I was collecting them, or guess how many I needed. It also helped that I didn’t have any exposures, which would have made it obvious which section I was playing. By throwing away the North, I distracted my opponents from the fact that I was collecting Winds, and particularly Souths: they would assume that, since I threw away a North, I didn’t need South either. They would expect it to be a safe discard.

Sure enough, the very next player threw out a South! Time is always a factor in this game, and there was no reason to think I could have picked my own South before someone else made mah jongg. I was quite satisfied with the quick, efficient win. I’m still kvelling (being prideful) because it was executed so well.

This strategy works beautifully with Winds—the “North/South” and “East/West” matchups help create the perfect bluff. Does anyone else want to kvell about their own experience of bluffing or “coaxing out” a tile? Looking forward to hearing from you—write to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com !

Bubbe Fischer