Turning Lemons into Lemonade

Greetings and salutations from your academic Bubbe, who is thrilled to see that her undergraduate education has not completely gone to waste!

I want to share an interesting tale from the table. This past Sunday, my friend Melanie, the person who originally got me to take mah jongg lessons back in 2003, invited me over to teach a bunch of newbies the fundamentals of mah jongg. It's not something you can pick up in a couple of hours, but I gave it a try. I created a card with some very basic hands, mostly pungs/kongs or a pair of Flowers with three kongs. Every section but Singles and Pairs was represented--it's hard enough that they can't use jokers in a pair of Flowers, I wasn't going to make them try an entire concealed hand! 

Some players adapted quickly to what we were doing, some of them are going to need a more extensive introduction. At one point, Mel had me sit down to play with her and two other players, one of whom had had similar exposure last year but hadn't had a refresher since. The other was brand new to the game. They both caught on quite well.

 

After the Charleston, I had

 

38 4556778 9 N JJ

 

which was a very promising start for my mock card’s Consecutive Run hand:

 

111 2222 333 4444

 

running from 4 to 7 crak. Obviously it is similar, but not identical, to the current CR 4.1. I figured I could use the jokers to complete any two melds, and ideally I would pick up the remaining “missing” tiles both through exchanging for jokers and picking additional useful tiles.

 

I quickly called for a 7 crak to complete that higher kong, and a 4 crak to complete the lower pung. Mel and I explained to the other players that they should figure out which hand I was going for so that they could play defense. I later picked a 7 crak that I redeemed my own joker, and was able to call for a thrown 5 crak to complete the second kong. We went over the hand again to make it clear that the only thing I was waiting for was a 6 crak. I was trying to gather some combination of the remaining 6 craks and Jokers.

 

Meanwhile the player to my left had exposed a kong of 2 bams, including two jokers, and it sure would have been nice to pick a 2 bam to redeem one of those jokers! Unfortunately, it never became available...or at least, I never picked it.

 

We ended up with a Wall game and I was very proud of my tablemates for bringing it to a “tie”. I had three exposures and they knew not to throw me what I needed. Of course, it was possible I could have picked up, or exchanged for, a joker but I never did.

 

Mel revealed what she was playing. Her goal was

 

FF 2222 8888 DDDD

 

The actual tiles on her rack were

FF 22 66 8888 D N J

 

She actually had both 6 craks and refused to throw them, which I fully understand. She was playing defensively. She also had the two 2 bams that she didn't redeem for the Jokers, as well as that kong of 8 dots that she was nurturing but never got to use.

 

I have nothing against Wall games. Especially in tournaments, they still have value to players; a non-win is better than a complete loss.

 

However....this situation might have gone a different way. While I applauded her for playing defensively, I explained that she could have changed up her hand in a way that might have even won, depending on timing. Had she exchanged the 2 bams for the two jokers, and done so early enough in the game, she could have made something of the 6 craks and the 8 dots. My mock card also included what I call the CR junk hand (this year’s CR 7.3):

 

FF 1111 2222 3333

 

She could have built on the 6 craks and 8 dots with a kong of 7 bams in the middle. It was possible to both play defensively AND work toward a winning hand.

 

Some of you have seen my lectures on the “Psychological Benefits of Mah Jongg”. I have a Master’s in Psych, so it’s nice to use my education toward my vocation. My undergraduate degree is in Political Science, and I never thought I would use THAT in mah jongg—but I realized I was suggesting she use the principle of “coopting”:

 

“the act of taking over, assimilating, or winning over an outside person, idea, or group into an established structure, often to neutralize opposition or use their strength for one’s own purpose.”

 

In other words, you can control a difficult situation by turning a tile from an adversarial status (problematic discard) to part of your team (hand). You can do more than simply neutralize opposition, you might even win.

 

Mel was looking at some 6 craks that she knew I needed. She knew she had to hold onto them to prevent my winning. Rather than say, “I won’t give them up but I’ll do myself in by breaking up my original hand,” she could have said, “Let me incorporate them in my hand!”

 

Just something new to think about, if you find yourself in that situation. You don’t always have the opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade (or dangerous tiles into a winning combination), but if it’s early enough in the game….perhaps you do!

 

I’m always happy to hear from you—drop me a line at Bubbefischer@gmail.com

 

Talk to you soon!

 

Bubbe

What's On Bubbe's Mind?

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who’s ready to share lots of thoughts and opinions today.

The first is that, as some of you know from my appearance on Tile Talk, I'm somewhat obsessed with SP3, the singles and pairs hand that is essentially a mini 369 hand. I told Christina and Elizabeth (the two co-hosts) that it is my “white whale” this year. (For anyone who doesn't know, that's a reference to Captain Ahab’s obsession in “Moby Dick”),

 

Well, last night at about 11:30 p.m., I made that hand online. I immediately texted Christina a screenshot and wrote, "What will I do with the rest of my life?" But let's be honest, the bots are not the brightest opponents. They often pass things in the Charleston that a real player would never pass (not jokers, but anything else!) I guess my next challenge will be to make SP3 in an actual, face-to-face game against experienced opponents–although I hope I get to play against people who don't read my blog; otherwise, they'll know not to pass 3, 6, or 9.

 

The second thing I want to share is related to SP3. I was giving a Zoom lecture on Sunday to the nice ladies of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, and I brought up that hand. Later on, during the Q&A, an attendee named Sonia told me that she'd had a problem completing a similar hand, 369 #5. She said her hand was declared dead because the kongs didn't match the pair.

 

Uh-oh, embarrassment for Bubbe! I, too, had yet to successfully make that hand. I looked at the card more carefully and realized I'd been taking it literally. I thought that it always required a pair of 3s and that the kongs only had to match each other. In actuality, 369 #5 is another floating pair hand–you need a pair of ANY one of the singles (3, 6, or 9) and then the kongs have to match that number in the other two suits.

 

I thanked her for bringing me up to speed and said that, hereafter, I'll be referring to it as “Sonia’s Hand.” Now that I know how it works, I have actually won with it twice!

 

The third thing, this morning, was a follow up to my white whale text last night. Christina called me and said Bubbe's mnemonics had been really helpful for remembering hands, so she created some of her own. One of hers was fantastic and she said that I'm welcome to share it with all of you. I'm going to be adding it to my lectures, too, with full attribution.

 

It's W6, the hand that I sometimes refer to as the Secret Super Chow hand. It's like W2, the super chow hand that requires ANY four consecutive numbers in the same suit, but for W6 they MUST be 1234. I say it's a secret super chow because you might, at first glance, not recognize the super chow itself. 

 

I'll still refer to it that way in explaining what chows are, but Christina’s nickname is too darn clever: she has named it the Treasure Map. Picture a little kid in their backyard, trying to decipher where the treasure is buried. “Take one step North, two steps East, three steps West, and four steps South…” (For the engineers and science brains among you, that amounts to taking one step West and three steps South, but that's a whole nother story….)

 

Adorable!! I'd call it “Jim Hawkins,” but I think "Treasure Island" references are just a little bit too obscure. I'm already getting blank stares when calling CR5b, my secret knit hand, “Madame DeFarge” after the woman in “A Tale of Two Cities” who is constantly knitting and observing everyone during the French Revolution.

 

It's not surprising that I draw these parallels between literature or movies and mah jongg hands. This game is always on my brain. When I look at phone numbers, I try to detect a pattern. I just sent an invoice for three books, $42.22, and told the buyer I’d recommend a Like Numbers hand. I watch the basketball playoffs with my husband and find myself comparing rebounding and shot clock management to joker strategies. I'm sure if I thought about it long enough, I’d even find mah jongg analogies about the plants blooming in my garden.... Something involving Flowers, obviously. Give me time.

 

Anyway, I am always happy to hear from you. You can email me at Bubbefischer@gmail.com. Feel free to send any questions or comments you have, and please check out my other articles. I'm also happy to give a zoom lecture to your group, or if you're local enough, in person–I might even help out with a fundraising event!

 

Talk to you soon.

 

Bubbe

 

Thought Experiment

Greetings and salutations from your tile-loving Bubbe who has finally emerged from the kitchen after a week of Passover cooking, happily reporting that her loved ones survived a week without REAL bread.

I did get to play a lot of online games (my favorite version is Real Mah Jongg)--I am loving the new "scorecard" feature where statistics are available for review, showing my winning hands and wall games. I seem to get wall games about half as often as a victory--sometimes tying is a triumph, in itself, so I can't complain. Of course, I have no idea how many TOTAL games I've played.

I have gravitated to a few sections of the card. Of my 54 wins to date, I had 23 (43%) divided almost equally between Evens (7), Odds (7), and Winds (9), but a total of 22 (41%) just in the Consecutive Runs section!! On the other hand, I seem to be avoiding and/or not succeeding in some areas: one Quint and one 369 victory so far, and NO Singles and Pairs wins yet.

Usually I have a sense of where I am headed by the end of the Charleston, between two or three different hands, but I'm open to changing if my tiles show me something new. Of course, sometimes what I'm dealt, and what I have at the end of the Charleston, is total dreck (garbage). I haven't a clue what direction to take. For instance, what would you do with this beginning deal:

                       2357 3568 12368 W  

No strongest suit; almost the same number of evens as odds. No Flowers, no pairs, no dragons, no jokers. I showed it to my friend Bobbi, who said, "My friend would say you have a dog from every village."  

It reminded me of a contest I ran a few years ago, for "the worst hand you can think of". Most of them resembled the one I showed, above. 

It occurred to me that I should try a new thought experiment about those worst hands. After all, even if you're dealt absolute garbage, there are 152 tiles in a set. There are 99 tiles still in the walls, and I get to pick as many as 25 of them...right? Maybe I'll suddenly collect great tiles, maybe a bad hand can be salvaged.

Most of you have seen how I sometimes keep statistics at tournaments: how many Flowers and Jokers I was dealt, what I thought I was playing at the end of the Charleston, what I ended up playing, how many Flowers and Jokers I had, and whether it won.

This time, since I'm limited to online games, I'm going to take a time series of screen shots: what I was dealt, what it looked like at the end of the Charleston, what I ended up playing, whether it won or even "walled". I want to see examples of all kinds of things: village dogs and hands I figure "can't miss," and everything in between. I'll be writing about a few of them next week, wish me luck!

As usual, if you have questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Enjoy the Spring weather!!

Bubbe 

 

 

 

Spring Renewal and Tile Talk

Holiday greetings and Spring salutations from your festive Bubbe on this multi-celebrational weekend!

Spring is a time for rebirth, for blossoming hope and the fertile growth of ideas. Certainly the new NMJL card itself gives fodder for innovative strategies, and sometimes fresh opportunities even come across our path...if only we're brave enough to try them!

Last month, I wrote an extremely fond recollection of Fern Bernstein. Since 2021, Fern had been the first person I would discuss the card with, on her podcast, "Mah Jongg Mondays." She was my trial audience, my sounding board for all of my crazy ideas and mnemonics. Sadly, Fern passed in September of 2025, and as the 2026 card debut approached, I was particularly missing my friend, wondering about how to cope with her absence. I decided that my article would to coincide with the first Monday after the new card came out, in her honor, but I definitely knew I would miss our give and take.

Fortunately, another dear friend, Johni Levine--founder of the "Mah Jongg, That's It!" Facebook group--had me in mind. She was contacted by a fledgling podcast, Tile Talk, created after Fern's passing, that was looking for a guest with whom they could discuss the new card! Johni asked if I would be willing, and passed my name and contact info on to its two co-hosts, Christina Nonni and Elizabeth Wallace. (Note: They always have a male mahj "civilian" in the studio with them, an engineer who sits in on the discussion and asks occasional questions, but the lineup has varied from session to session)

Christina and I had a great introductory phone chat. I was a little bit thrown off to hear that she wanted our recording to be on VIDEO as well as audio. Bubbe would have to brush her hair for this, whereas Fern and I recorded audio, only, sitting around in our pajamas... but I was still excited to connect with people who take the game as seriously as I do!

Through the miracle of technology I was able to record our interview from my house in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Christina and Elizabeth recorded from where they reside, in Northern Florida. I will hereafter refer to them as my Tile Talk Gals (TTG's).

The podcast was taped earlier this week, and I certainly had a great time. I hope you will take some time to listen to it (or even watch, as soon as I get the link up!!). The TTG's are younger than I am, and it gave me fresh perspective on a new generation of mah jongg players. They came up with some great, sometimes unconventional or unexpected, questions--and I look forward to talking with them again soon!

Give it a try, and check out their previous recordings, too. Let me know what you think about their podcast (including the special announcement at the end for Tile Talk listeners)... You can always reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com 

 

Talk to you soon!!

 

Bubbe 

Count On Bubbe

 

Greetings and salutations from your reliable Bubbe, with hand selection advice you can count on (or, for the grammarians, “upon which you can count”).

Whenever I sit down to play, there's at least one game that makes me think, “THIS is is a teachable moment.” Today's happened during an online game. I took a screenshot so that I could come back to it and give you my two cents. Especially for beginning players, I think this is going to be really, really useful advice.

I've heard many people talk about how to decide between two hands. Some say, “Count the tiles toward each of the hands you're considering. Which of the hands already has the most tiles?”

Well, as I learned, that's not the whole story. First of all, the lesson that even Bubbe sometimes forgets is “don't commit until you have the pairs!”

 

So, Game 1: I had pairs of 2s and a matching dragon in each suit, and decided I would go for LN2. Jokers and other 2s were slow in coming, but I picked up a second Green dragon and a Flower. I completed the 2 kong in craks on my rack (unexposed), and decided, “What the heck, let me just keep the Greens and wait for that last Flower.” To anyone who's counting the tiles, you can see that there were 11 tiles towards either LN2 OR LN3

                        2222 D 22 D 22 D... FD   (LN2)

                        F 2222 22 22 DD .... DD  (LN3)

I threw out the Red and the Soap. I exchanged for a joker and was ready to call for the second kong in either suit, when a 2 dot was thrown. There I was with an exposed kong of 2 dots, while concealed on my rack were a Flower, pairs of 2 bams and Green dragons, plus a kong of 2 craks. I was patiently waiting for that last Flower. 

I didn't pick any more Flowers, and no one discarded one. We had a wall game.

Now you might say, “Obviously people weren't going to throw Flowers,” but I might have picked one, there were eight of them.

I threw away the single Red dragon and Soap that had offered a clear shot to LN2. For those of you who thought maybe I was just being ambitious/wanted more points, I just checked again: there really was NO financial reason to go for LN3, it paid the same as LN2 even though it required three pairs!! [Note: some people would say three singles are as hard to get as three pairs, but I disagree, as you only need one of each. Pairs are harder!] I guess I just thought the Greens looked cute together...?

 

Well,"Don't commit before you have the pairs" is a lesson that can never be said too often. But what I really want to talk about is more of this “count your tiles” concept, vis-a-vis deciding which hand to play.

In Game #2, I had a great deal. I mean, GREAT. I started with two jokers and two Flowers. Understand that you average 2/3 of a joker and 2/3 of a Flower with each deal. Sometimes you get none of either, sometimes you get one of each, sometimes you get two of one and none of the other. On average, over time, you'll have 2/3 of each of them in each of your deals. Getting two of each is quite the bonanza!

Well, the Charleston was equally positive. I ended up holding onto even number tiles and dragons, plus received a third Flower. [Obviously bots aren't as smart as people when it comes to Charlestons]

The hand was

                        FFF 888 22 8 D D JJ 

and I was trying to decide between E4 and LN1. One advantage I had was knowing that if an 8 crak came out, I should definitely call it. It was required for either of the two hands, so that was a very easy decision.

As to counting the tiles: there were nine tiles toward either of the two hands, and this time NEITHER needed pairs. You might call it a tossup.

 

                            22 DJ 888 DJ    FFF 8  (E4)                        

                         FFFJJ 888 8    22 D D  (LN1)

 

With three Flowers and two jokers, that sextet was calling out to me: “here's your chance!” but there's a very important old adage, “Don't fall in love with your tiles.”

Looking at it more pragmatically, how close was I to *completing* each hand? What did I need to complete each of the melds?

As we've ascertained, those 8 craks were just waiting for their long lost sibling to be thrown, so that I could expose that kong. That would be the same for either hand, so not part of my calculation.

As for the rest of LN1, yes, another joker or another Flower would complete the sextet, but I only had one 8 dot….that kong was at least two tiles away. You could say, “Use the two jokers as soon as the 8 dot comes out, to complete that kong….” but that leaves me with only three of the six necessary Flowers; I would need some combination of two more jokers and/or Flowers to be able to call the sextet.

 But E4? I could use one joker to call for each of the dragon pungs when tiles were thrown, just like I was ready to call the 8 crak kong–I just needed either a 2 dot or a joker–*just ONE tile*–and I'd be ready for that last meld. Sounded much more attainable, so I went with E4.

As it turned out, I picked a second Soap, so I didn't need to use my joker when a third Soap was thrown. One joker was used to call for the kong of 2 dots, the other to call for the pung of Red dragons.

 

Of course, in order to attain this hand, I needed to throw out all my Flowers. This is where “don't fall in love with your tiles” comes in. E4 didn't use ANY Flowers, which seemed like a shame. On the other hand, Flowers were very sought-after on this year's card so in theory, perhaps I might be able to exchange for a joker or two (see the brilliant Tom Sloper's explanation of Joker Bait). In fact, nobody called for my Flowers. Nevertheless, I did achieve victory.

 

So what have we learned? It's not just the number of tiles themselves, because in both of these scenarios, the two options had the same number.

There are other things to consider, including

* Is either hand missing singles or pairs?

* How many melds are close / are you “on call”?

* What are you going to have to discard? Is it something that one of your opponents obviously needs? Could it be joker bait, or are you throwing out the winning tile?

Re. the third question, you may need to get rid of some of your favorite tiles in order to win, but ultimately that decision is up to you. Do you want to win, or do you want to look at your pretty tiles? You can play it the way you want. HOWEVER, if it's absolutely obvious what an opponent needs, and you choose to throw it to them, understand that everyone else at the table will be furious. "You can't mahj second," and giving away the winning tile is definitely not great strategy. Better to have a wall game, breaking up your own hand so that no one wins.

There's always another game in a few minutes--don't be disappointed that you won't win every hand.

 

As ever, feel free to contact me at Bubbefischer@gmail.com. I've gotten some really fun emails lately! I like to hear about how you're doing with the new card. Tell me if what I'm teaching has helped at all, and which hands you seem to be gravitating towards.

 

Talk to you soon!

 

Bubbe

From Bubbe's Bag of Tricks

Greetings and salutations from your wiped-out Bubbe--I worked pretty hard on those articles!

I've earned myself a break, so I'm going to offer a hint for how to improve YOUR game--by linking to one of my favorite older pieces. Obviously it has nothing to do with the 2026 card, per se, but strategy is strategy! Maybe you'll learn a few tricks!

Bluffing and/or deception is a key component of Bubbe's game. I'll devote a new article to it, another day, but for now enjoy some ancient history!

As ever, you can reach out to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com . Maybe you want to share a story about your favorite bluff!!

Talk to you soon!

Bubbe

Switching to Backup Hands--When, Why, How?

Greetings and salutations from your detail-focused Bubbe, ready to talk even MORE about backup hands. 

Last week, when I went over the three panels of the card, I offered you backup options for almost every hand. I recommend looking over those suggestions, every few weeks. It never hurts to think about these concepts. You stay focused on possibilities and get yourself ready for what could actually happen during a game. Remember, luck favors the prepared mind!!

The answer to that first question, then--when do you need a backup hand?--is every game. That doesn't mean you'll have to use it, it's just good to consider it. Even if there is a hand that fits for your tiles, you should have a second (or even third) hand in mind in case of several specific situations. 

This is the answer to the second question: why do you need these hands, why would you switch? The GOOD situations include suddenly picking useful tiles: completing a pair, or drawing additional jokers, Flowers, dragons, etc.--tiles that open up more possibilities for you, either to achieve mah jongg more quickly through an "easier" hand, or (if you're like Bubbe and love a challenge) perhaps make you eligible for a more interesting and/or higher-scoring hand. Another Bubbe saying is, "Life's too short to play boring mah jongg hands"--if you find yourself with three Soaps and a bunch of 2's and 6's, maybe this IS your time to go for the Big Hand!!

The BAD situation, of course, is when your current plan is no longer viable. An example from the new card: you thought you were going for LN2, with single dragons in each of the three suits, but someone else exposed a jokerless kong of Green dragons. Sure, you could stoically just keep playing that hand, even though it won't win--especially if there are only ten or so tiles left in the wall--but if it's early enough in the game, you can switch your hand and still possibly pull out a victory! I will also add that sometimes just stopping the other players, and coming to a draw/Wall game, is a victory in its own way, especially at a tournament. One of my favorite examples is this game, from a long time ago at a tournament at the Kalahari in Wisconsin. 

So we know when you should consider a backup hand, and we know why you would switch to that hand. These are things you can consider in advance--preparing, if you will, by imagining scenarios or playing with bots, or reading old articles of mine...all sorts of ways to think about switching, before you've even sat down at the table!

Then, suddenly, you are faced with either the good or bad situation. How are you going to switch? If you've made an exposure, you'll have to live with it; the new hand must incorporate it. If you've made two or more exposures, it could be a lot tougher to find a good fit. Remember, if your hand goes dead/is no longer viable, you do NOT announce it--it's for others to figure out, and question you. And it's the HAND that is dead, not the player!!

But what if you've got a good situation? Simple example: you pick a joker, or are able to exchange for one. Unless you were going for a Singles and Pairs hand, it has become a lot easier to make your current plan....but maybe you do want to switch to something else. Per the above, at worst you would make the current one faster than originally planned. There may be something more interesting to switch to, e.g. you can suddenly go for a Quint hand, or although you were originally hoping to draw a second Flower, you now have the opportunity to easily switch to a hand with a pung of Flowers. There are all sorts of possibilities, and it helps to consider what would be a good switch for you. Look at the card after the Charleston and think about what hands might work for your tiles--both with what you have, and in a best case scenario, where a pair gets completed or another dragon, or a Flower, or a joker comes in.

The most important thing to remember if you do switch hands is to make sure you have all the details in mind. Remember that this year there are a bunch of pung-pung-kong-kong hands, but they aren't ALL in that specific order. Double check before making any exposures; it's a bit tricky. It never hurts to familiarize yourself with the different hands, especially ones you don't play often. And never be so brazen as to think that you don't need to have your card at the table!!

I truly believe switching is one of the most important skills to have if you want to be a more advanced player. I keep statistics when I go to tournaments (playing 48 or more hands in less than 48 hours gives you a lot of data!). I write down how many jokers and Flowers I am dealt; at the end of the Charleston, I write down what hand I think I will play. At the end of the game, I write down how many jokers and Flowers I ended up with, what hand I ended up playing, and whether I won. I have found that I switched my hand literally 50% of the time, from Charleston to final tile. And a slight majority of my winners were on switched hands!!

Finally, I absolutely recommend reading my old articles from previous years. Obviously the hands change, but the strategies themselves do not!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com ; I love hearing from you!

More exciting mahj talk to come....

Bubbe