Legal Advice--Don't Pass it Up!

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, with more insights on the new NMJL card! This time I'm talking about illegal exposures and tiles you should think twice about passing.

First of all, when you get your card, take a look at the Winds section. Just as they did, last year, those sneaky folks at the League office have set the two Concealed hands in the middle of the pack. Make sure you pay attention to which hands are open vs. closed—it’s very easy to have your hand go dead by accidentally confusing matters and exposing three Winds. Don’t do it!! Some people even use a highlighter to indicate which hands, throughout the card, are Concealed. Just a hint from Bubbe.

The other exposure that is absolutely illegal, and will result in your being called dead, is three dragons. You may recall that last year’s card had one legal dragon pung exposure: three soaps in one of the 2016  hands. This year, the similar hand is part of a “3-4” hand so the correct number of soaps would be FOUR. The only use of a pung of dragons, in any suit, is as part of the Concealed Consecutive Runs hand or the pung of soaps in the Concealed 2017 hand (thanks, Karen Hasty-Zhang!).

Meanwhile, we know that this is the first year, in a long time, that a pung of Flowers is legal. The final hand requires two sets of three, or six, altogether. Between pairs, pungs, and kongs, this is a year where passing Flowers is a terrible idea. If you don’t need them, yourself, you should keep them in the hope of exchanging them for jokers.

Another slight change is the “big hand” no longer requires three sets of the Year. It’s now two sets, in craks and bams, with pairs of the red and green dragons. For me, this means that all dragons are valuable. I used to be more cavalier about passing red or green dragons, NEVER passing soaps—now I will be hoarding any kind of dragon. Kongs of dragons appear all over this card, quite often in a contrasting suit from the number tiles. Just as with the Flowers, above, you should hold onto your dragons for the possibility of a joker exchange.

The number tiles that are most valuable are ones, twos, and nines. In a “bell curve” hand, the tiles at either end of sequences are pairs, and in the Consecutive Runs and 13579 sections, these are ones and nines (fives are slightly less important). Twos are also valuable for a similar reason, needed as a single or pair in the 2468 section and necessary for making most of the 2017 hands. Finally, if you must pass a seven tile, pass it by itself, not as a pair or with one of another suit: don’t make it easier for anyone to use these tiles to build their hand.

Of course, you don’t need to use these suggestions as absolute law. Any tile except a joker is fair game for passing, but IF you have a choice, I recommend avoiding the tiles listed above. Once in a while you’ll find yourself in a circumstance (e.g. five jokers or perfectly set-up singles and pairs) where you’re forced to pass things you would rather not give to another player—a pair of the same tile or a Flower or dragon. In such a situation, you do what you must.

One thing I don’t recommend is stopping the Charleston just to avoid passing a good tile. Even more so, I discourage players from stopping just because they can’t decide what hand to play. In “Searching for Bubbe Fischer,” I use the term Charleston Karma about hesitant beginners who stop the Charleston after first left: they are uncomfortable choosing between two equally mediocre hands, and don’t want to give either one up. A person in that kind of situation, who stops the Charleston due to indecisiveness, often ends up losing—hence, Charleston Karma.

I participated in a tournament, earlier this month, where one player stopped the Charleston twice in our four games. In the second such game, she offered three tiles for her optional across. Apparently, she had three tiles she could pass across, but not for second left. It would have been inappropriate for me to question her about it. Any person is entitled to stop the Charleston for whatever reason they want, and does not need to provide any explanation….but true to Charleston Karma, she lost both of those hands.

Hope you’re enjoying the new card, or if you don’t have it yet, that you get it soon. If you want to check in with me, I’m happy to hear your questions and comments: email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Talk to you soon!

Bubbe