New Albany, Old Friends

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, back from Ohio with a NEW article!

I've been fortunate enough to travel all over the US, speaking about my two books, Searching for Bubbe Fischer and Small World . I've met many great mahj players, some of the friendliest of whom live in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. About a dozen of them were among the 90 women gathered together New Albany, OH, for the annual New Albany Mah Jongg Classic (NAMJC).

The Classic was created in 2013 by Shelby Rhyne and Alice Sadaka. It's a one-day tournament full of fun and surprises. Shelby has since relocated to North Carolina, and the current co-director, Lisa Crawford, is about to depart for New England, but Alice has an able new partner in Andi Malinger, who has shown herself to be ready for duty!

In what promises to become an ongoing tradition, this year's four-round event was preceded by a three-round mini-tournament and dinner on Saturday evening. Because my third table on Saturday night finished so quickly, we added an extra "bonus" hand (without official points) so in fact I played 29 hands altogether.

If you have read some of my previous blog articles, you know that I both play and take notes during tournaments--usually on those little pads you get at hotels. Tournaments provide great research fodder. The main reason I choose to analyze tournaments, rather than weekly play, is because I am exposed to so many games in such a brief period. One weekend I played 76 hands--48 as part of the actual tournament, plus three- and four-round mini-tournaments. I like to analyze my winning (and wall game/not losing) percentage, as well as look at my overall patterns.

Did I mention that I'm both a math and mahj nerd?

So, as is usual at these events, some of my opponents who weren't familiar with me or my work wondered what the heck I was scribbling between hands. I explained that I like to keep notes on what I start with (pre-Charleston): how many jokers, but this time also how many Flowers. I also write down the hand I'm considering, post-Charleston; the hand I actually play by the end of the game; which hand won; how many jokers it had; whether it was picked or called for...this time I even (occasionally) noted when a Charleston was stopped after first left.

Keeping these statistics, I'm able to test out some of my theories. If you've read "SFBF" or heard me speak, you know that I feel that, over time, a well-matched group of players can each expect to win about 20% of the games, and have a wall game about 20% of the time. In my 29 games in New Albany, I won 6 games and had 6 wall games: 20.7%, each. Pretty much on target, as far as that goes.

I will write more about my tournament results in another entry--gotta run to another game! If you have any questions or comments about YOUR tournament experiences (or want to invite me to come play or speak in your town?!) email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Talk to you soon.

Bubbe