A Nibble of the New...

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, with just a taste of the new card!

I know some of you may not have it yet, and I will not publish photos because it’s a copywritten document, but I can give you some very useful PRELIMINARY information to consider—and for those of you who already have the new card, feel free to read along. 

First of all, there are only eleven hands that are identical to last year’s card—that’s only about 21%, a little lower than usual. It’s going to take a little while to forget the old and remember the new.

HOWEVER—super good news: our FAVORITE HAND, Consecutive Runs with matching dragons, is back! Everywhere I went, people told me how much they missed that hand. I guess the League just wanted us to appreciate it more—this year’s version will be kongs of Flowers, N and N+1, with a pair of matching dragons. 

There are a couple of very familiar hands that have also returned. The first Consecutive Run hand is back to a “bell curve,” e.g. pairs of ones and fives, pungs of twos and fours, and a kong of threes in the middle. Same with the upper half of the numberline (five through nine) as well as the first “Odds” hand: pairs of ones and nines, with the high point at a kong of fives.

The “old reliable” pair-free combination (all pungs and kongs) is back to 34-34: a pung and kong in one suit, and then a pung and kong in a second suit. It shows up all over the card: Consecutive Runs, Evens, Odds, 369. There’s also a 3-4-3-4 Year (2017) hand!

Another pattern that returns from last year is the stutter-step: pair, pair, pung, pung, kong. That shows up in many places: two different “Evens” hands, two different “Odds” hands, Consecutive Runs, 369, Winds and Dragons. Remember that the pairs are the hardest part!

One of the biggest surprises of the year: sure, we’ve got hands that use pairs of Flowers, we’ve got hands that use kongs of Flowers—but this year, there are two hands that feature PUNGS of Flowers! (Technically, there are three hands: Kongs of East/West or North/South, and Kongs of Like Numbers). Sure, it means you’ll need six Flowers overall, but remember that you only have to expose three at a time! I recommend NOT putting out jokers if you can at all help it—and certainly not for the first of the pung exposures. It’s too easy for someone else to take those jokers away from you!

Another big surprise: just like last year, most hands are worth 25 or 30 cents, with two each of the 40 and 45 cent Quint hands—but this year there is no 75 cent hand!! The most valuable hand is a twist on the Year hand: only two, with matching dragons, but they must be Craks and Bams! Tricky!

Other key things: the addition hand is back again, using 13 instead of 11. And, needless to say, the “Year” hand is now 2017. Keep in mind that a kong of sevens is now the official “ambiguous exposure” of the year: it shows up all over the card, in Year, Like Numbers, “Lucky 13,” Consecutive Run, Quints, and Odds.

As for Bubbe’s favorite bluffing section—Quints—let’s just say that you can get a lot of mileage out of a Quint of fives or nines—they can be used in any of the new Quint hands. 

My next article will be about ILLEGAL exposures and AMBIGUOUS exposures—by then, many more of you should have cards so you’ll be able to follow along.

Questions, comments—you can always reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you!

Bubbe