Greetings and salutations from summertime Bubbe, who’s happy to pass the storytelling baton to another player.
Barbara Joyce responded to my request about having readers share their most interesting hands. Hers happened on a previous card, and she had actually posted the story before in a mah jongg Facebook group, but thought it was worth sharing again. I have to agree, she had quite an adventure!
Barbara writes,
“I had a fun hand that reinforced an important lesson: Never Give Up! After the Charleston, I had seven of the tiles I needed (33 6 99 DD), going for 3333 666 9999 DDD. I did not have any jokers in my hand, and never drew a joker from the wall.
“As the hand progressed, I sadly watched as the tiles I needed were discarded. The players on my right and left each had an exposed pung which included a joker. Someone threw a Red dragon, and I debated whether to even bother. The hand seemed hopeless. Yet I felt I had nothing to lose, so I called for the tile and exposed three Red dragons.
"Next turn, I drew a tile and
exchanged it for the exposed joker on my right [joker exchange #1].
Someone threw a 6 crak, and I called for it, utilizing that joker. Then the
player across from me exposed a quint of Flowers, including two jokers.
Next turn, I exchanged a Flower for one of those jokers [joker exchange #2].
Next turn I drew the match for my 6 crak exposure and took the joker back into
my hand [joker exchange #3]. Next turn I drew a tile and exchanged for
the joker on my left [joker exchange #4]. Suddenly, thanks to three
jokers supplementing the pairs of 3’s and 9’s, I was only one tile away. A
player threw a 3 crak and I called it for Mah Jongg!
“Several people on Facebook pointed out that my fellow players really helped me
by exposing those jokers and making them available to me. And the person who
threw the 3 crak should never have discarded that tile. The comment I liked
best, though, was the person who pointed out that my calling for the Red dragon
changed the order of tiles that would come to each player, thereby changing the
trajectory of the entire hand!”
Barbara accurately points out that she was smart to “never give up,” but she leaves out something Bubbe wants to reinforce, as well. “Luck favors the prepared mind.” Sure, she wasn’t dealt any jokers, she didn’t pick any jokers, but she was PREPARED, paid attention to all of the exposed jokers, and was ready to make exchanges when the opportunity arose. She's absolutely right, she never drew a joker from the wall, per se, but she knew what to do with the tiles she DID draw...and it made all the difference!!
By the way, Barbara just informed me that she's only been playing since May of 2021!!
Do you have a tale from the table that you'd like to share? I love to hear them. You can contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Enjoy your August, and I’ll talk to you again soon!
Bubbe
