Greetings and salutations from your friendly year-end Bubbe!
We all know that, even if the calendar is turning over to 2019, the year doesn't REALLY start
until the end of March, when the National Mah Jongg League releases its newest card. The
suspense is always thick: will we still have hands using six Flowers? Will there be more Winds
and Dragons hands? What will the addition/multiplication hands be? We know 9’s will be hot (for
2019), but beyond that, it's anyone's guess. It's all speculation until approximately April 1st.
Until then, we continue on with our trusty 2018 cards. Unfortunately, some players have grown a
little restless after nine months of the same hands, and are looking for new ideas to keep the
game interesting.
There are table rules that make the game more interesting by changing the payoff: for instance,
add a sticker to make one of your eight jokers “magic”. Any winning hand that includes that joker
earns double.
It doesn't have to be a joker. You could randomly select a tile, before each game, and if the
winning hand uses that tile, it pays double.
To add a mental challenge, you might add a hand-du-jour from an old card. I personally really
miss the 1-9 and 2-8 hands: a pair of Flowers with kongs of 1,9,Dragon or 2,8,Dragon in same
suit or all three suits. Just make sure that everyone at the table is aware of the extra hand(s) so
that they can play defense.
Bubbe says to go ahead and spice up your game a little...it will make these shorter, colder days
fly by!
Let me know if you have any such table rules with your group. You can email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Bubbe Needs YOUR Help!
Greetings and salutations from your always analytical Bubbe!
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of playing with a different group than usual. Unfortunately, I could not find my card.
"That's okay," I said, "I'll probably just play the same five or six hands, anyway."
Everyone was very kind and, since we were playing with a bettor, each one was willing to share her card with me when she was betting. Some had the big print, some had the small print. The one thing that each card had was a little indicator marking every hand that the owner had won.
It was cute. There were dots, or little stars, in blue or black ink. One woman had even glued on little gems--bedazzled, I guess you'd call it. At the end of November, a little over halfway through this card, they'd each "made" about 70 percent of the hands.
As we played, I realized that, even with their sharing, I WAS playing certain hands more frequently than others. I probably could have gotten away with not using the card, after all.
One of the other ladies remarked that she often finds herself playing variations on the knit hand, this year. She was winning with it; I was winning with it.
As a reminder, it's AAAA BBB CCCC DDD where A and C are kongs of the same suit, B and D are pungs of a different suit, and "D" really does stand for "Dragon." The A, B, and C can be consecutive numbers; they can be 3,6,9; they can be 1,3,5 or 5,7,9. As long as the pung of "B" matches the dragon's suit, and the two kongs are both from one of the opposite suits, it works.
It's a very versatile hand. If you find that you've started collecting numbers in different suits and have a dragon here or there, you might be able to finagle your tiles into one of these hands. Of course, it really helps to have jokers...
It got me thinking, though. She said was winning a lot with this hand. While she and her friends (and probably many of you!) keep track of which hands they've won, there's no reflection of how often they've won with each hand. Likewise, there's no record of how often they've crashed and burned, trying for a Singles and Pairs hand....
I have a geeky proposal for my readers. Next time you play, try to keep track and forward the information to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com. Tell me which hands you ended up playing, and specifically which ones you WON! I'll be very curious to see, and happy to share the results.
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of playing with a different group than usual. Unfortunately, I could not find my card.
"That's okay," I said, "I'll probably just play the same five or six hands, anyway."
Everyone was very kind and, since we were playing with a bettor, each one was willing to share her card with me when she was betting. Some had the big print, some had the small print. The one thing that each card had was a little indicator marking every hand that the owner had won.
It was cute. There were dots, or little stars, in blue or black ink. One woman had even glued on little gems--bedazzled, I guess you'd call it. At the end of November, a little over halfway through this card, they'd each "made" about 70 percent of the hands.
As we played, I realized that, even with their sharing, I WAS playing certain hands more frequently than others. I probably could have gotten away with not using the card, after all.
One of the other ladies remarked that she often finds herself playing variations on the knit hand, this year. She was winning with it; I was winning with it.
As a reminder, it's AAAA BBB CCCC DDD where A and C are kongs of the same suit, B and D are pungs of a different suit, and "D" really does stand for "Dragon." The A, B, and C can be consecutive numbers; they can be 3,6,9; they can be 1,3,5 or 5,7,9. As long as the pung of "B" matches the dragon's suit, and the two kongs are both from one of the opposite suits, it works.
It's a very versatile hand. If you find that you've started collecting numbers in different suits and have a dragon here or there, you might be able to finagle your tiles into one of these hands. Of course, it really helps to have jokers...
It got me thinking, though. She said was winning a lot with this hand. While she and her friends (and probably many of you!) keep track of which hands they've won, there's no reflection of how often they've won with each hand. Likewise, there's no record of how often they've crashed and burned, trying for a Singles and Pairs hand....
I have a geeky proposal for my readers. Next time you play, try to keep track and forward the information to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com. Tell me which hands you ended up playing, and specifically which ones you WON! I'll be very curious to see, and happy to share the results.
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Monday, October 29, 2018
DE-FENSE!
Greetings and salutations from your Bubbe, who wants to talk about defensive strategy.
Now, I know that mah jongg is more than just a competitive hobby. If you've ever heard my presentations, you know I discuss the psychological benefits of the game. (If you've NEVER heard me speak, email me and we can figure out how I can share my wisdom with your community!)
Not everyone sits down at the table with the mindset of winning. Occasionally we just want to relax with friends, or distract ourselves from whatever issues are bothering us. We might even see that a fellow player needs a boost more than we do, and throw a tile or two their way. Sometimes winning is the furthest thing from our minds.
HOWEVER...experience tells me that many of you, at least some of the time, are playing to win. There is absolutely no sin in that. We're playing a game, and it's natural to want to be good at it. I'm going to guess that you read my book and my blog because you want advice about how to "get good."
Okay, perfectly understandable. Read my archives. Better yet, buy the book. I talk about how to best prepare yourself. After all, "luck favors the prepared mind." The better you understand the tiles and the card, the better prepared you will be when good tiles come your way.
But as I also say, it's unreasonable to expect to win every hand. Among evenly matched players, over time, you will probably only win about 20 percent of the games. Even with players who are not at your level, it's unlikely that you will win every single hand--the tiles just won't come your way every time.
There are occasions when you don't have a hope of winning. The tiles you want have not come to you; you don't have enough jokers to call for exposures that you need; key pairs are no longer attainable because three of that tile have been thrown or used by other players; you've run out of wall, and there are only so many picks left in the game. For whichever reason, you're not going to win. So what does a smart (and competitive) player do?
Well, another famous Bubbe-ism is "If you can't win, don't lose." Especially when your hand is completely hopeless, to battle back to a tie is its own kind of victory. In tournaments, a wall game earns each player ten points!
In order to not lose, one has to have some defensive savvy. You need to be able to figure out what your opponents are playing, or at least have an educated guess as to what tiles are more valuable. Some players claim they can tell what everyone else is playing from the outset, based on the Charleston and the first few discards. I don't personally believe that--I've done my own research and find that, literally half the time, I end up changing my hand from the one I had expected after the Charleston.
As the game wears on, though, I do believe it becomes more clear what other players are doing. Certainly if they have an exposure or two, you can get a decent picture of where they might be headed. It may not be perfectly obvious: for instance, say my opponent has exposed three 2-dots and three Soaps. They could be playing a variation of either of two hands:
What does "far from winning" mean? Let's be realistic. Say there are 12 tiles left in the wall--three picks each--and my hand is still missing four tiles. It is smart to recognize the impossibility of winning, and shift to defense.
Last week, I was actually shocked at the following scenario: I was one tile away from winning. I was going for
and only had the kong of 2's exposed. I needed a Flower, Soap, or joker to win. We were down to the last four tiles. I picked and did not get a useful tile. The next player picked and discarded and the player to my left called it for exposure--NOT mah jongg, just exposure! This meant that I was entitled to one more pick. Sure enough, the next tile was a Joker, so I picked my own mah jongg! (The final tile was a Soap, so I might have even called for that if it had been discarded).
The lesson to be learned in that scenario was, at the end of the game, think defensively. If you are far enough away from winning that you are calling tiles for exposure (not mah jongg), you probably should not be calling for them. CERTAINLY don't expose at that point, if it means exposing a viable joker (one that can still be redeemed). In disrupting the order, you are allowing players to get extra picks.
One defensive thing to note is that, if you were the only one who would have called for tile X, then X is probably a "safe" tile to throw. No one else wanted or needed it, so late in the game, so it would be the perfect discard.
The ONLY reason to expose so late in the game would be to put other players on the defensive, so that they would break up their own hands...but generally a solo exposure, that late in the game, is not a smart play. If you are playing competitively and are far from winning, try to minimize your risk.
I hope that's helpful. I would love to hear from you. Email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon.
Bubbe Fischer
Now, I know that mah jongg is more than just a competitive hobby. If you've ever heard my presentations, you know I discuss the psychological benefits of the game. (If you've NEVER heard me speak, email me and we can figure out how I can share my wisdom with your community!)
Not everyone sits down at the table with the mindset of winning. Occasionally we just want to relax with friends, or distract ourselves from whatever issues are bothering us. We might even see that a fellow player needs a boost more than we do, and throw a tile or two their way. Sometimes winning is the furthest thing from our minds.
HOWEVER...experience tells me that many of you, at least some of the time, are playing to win. There is absolutely no sin in that. We're playing a game, and it's natural to want to be good at it. I'm going to guess that you read my book and my blog because you want advice about how to "get good."
Okay, perfectly understandable. Read my archives. Better yet, buy the book. I talk about how to best prepare yourself. After all, "luck favors the prepared mind." The better you understand the tiles and the card, the better prepared you will be when good tiles come your way.
But as I also say, it's unreasonable to expect to win every hand. Among evenly matched players, over time, you will probably only win about 20 percent of the games. Even with players who are not at your level, it's unlikely that you will win every single hand--the tiles just won't come your way every time.
There are occasions when you don't have a hope of winning. The tiles you want have not come to you; you don't have enough jokers to call for exposures that you need; key pairs are no longer attainable because three of that tile have been thrown or used by other players; you've run out of wall, and there are only so many picks left in the game. For whichever reason, you're not going to win. So what does a smart (and competitive) player do?
Well, another famous Bubbe-ism is "If you can't win, don't lose." Especially when your hand is completely hopeless, to battle back to a tie is its own kind of victory. In tournaments, a wall game earns each player ten points!
In order to not lose, one has to have some defensive savvy. You need to be able to figure out what your opponents are playing, or at least have an educated guess as to what tiles are more valuable. Some players claim they can tell what everyone else is playing from the outset, based on the Charleston and the first few discards. I don't personally believe that--I've done my own research and find that, literally half the time, I end up changing my hand from the one I had expected after the Charleston.
As the game wears on, though, I do believe it becomes more clear what other players are doing. Certainly if they have an exposure or two, you can get a decent picture of where they might be headed. It may not be perfectly obvious: for instance, say my opponent has exposed three 2-dots and three Soaps. They could be playing a variation of either of two hands:
222 000 1111 8888
or 1111 222 3333 000*
*(note that a third exposure, a kong of 1-bams or 1-craks, would still keep this ambiguous
If the game is almost over and I am far from winning, then it would be smart for me to refrain from throwing 1, 3, or 8 tiles, even if it means breaking up my own hand.
What does "far from winning" mean? Let's be realistic. Say there are 12 tiles left in the wall--three picks each--and my hand is still missing four tiles. It is smart to recognize the impossibility of winning, and shift to defense.
Last week, I was actually shocked at the following scenario: I was one tile away from winning. I was going for
FFFF 2222 0000 18
and only had the kong of 2's exposed. I needed a Flower, Soap, or joker to win. We were down to the last four tiles. I picked and did not get a useful tile. The next player picked and discarded and the player to my left called it for exposure--NOT mah jongg, just exposure! This meant that I was entitled to one more pick. Sure enough, the next tile was a Joker, so I picked my own mah jongg! (The final tile was a Soap, so I might have even called for that if it had been discarded).
The lesson to be learned in that scenario was, at the end of the game, think defensively. If you are far enough away from winning that you are calling tiles for exposure (not mah jongg), you probably should not be calling for them. CERTAINLY don't expose at that point, if it means exposing a viable joker (one that can still be redeemed). In disrupting the order, you are allowing players to get extra picks.
One defensive thing to note is that, if you were the only one who would have called for tile X, then X is probably a "safe" tile to throw. No one else wanted or needed it, so late in the game, so it would be the perfect discard.
The ONLY reason to expose so late in the game would be to put other players on the defensive, so that they would break up their own hands...but generally a solo exposure, that late in the game, is not a smart play. If you are playing competitively and are far from winning, try to minimize your risk.
I hope that's helpful. I would love to hear from you. Email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon.
Bubbe Fischer
Friday, September 7, 2018
Mahj-ical New Year's Hand
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, with l'shanah tovah (Happy New Year) to my Jewish friends!
I've commented before that there are several different calendars that we recognize:
The Julian calendar is the conventional one that we all use, with 30 days in September, April, June, and November--31 in all the others but February.
The mah jongg New Year begins around the end of March, when the new card comes out, and ends the following year when the next card comes.
The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar schedule and generally falls between late January and mid February. There is a 12-year cycle of characters, with the current one being the Year of the Dog, and although they don't faithfully keep the total year number, it's somewhere in the 4000's.
The Jewish calendar is also based on the lunar schedule, and its New Year generally falls in late summer/early fall, between September and October. This year's begins this Sunday evening, and the new year is 5779.
Bubbe couldn't help but notice the mahj-ical nature of this number, and is hereby recommending a table rule for you and your friends:
I propose that there be a Singles and Pairs hand, worth 50 cents (concealed, obviously), consisting of
I've commented before that there are several different calendars that we recognize:
The Julian calendar is the conventional one that we all use, with 30 days in September, April, June, and November--31 in all the others but February.
The mah jongg New Year begins around the end of March, when the new card comes out, and ends the following year when the next card comes.
The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar schedule and generally falls between late January and mid February. There is a 12-year cycle of characters, with the current one being the Year of the Dog, and although they don't faithfully keep the total year number, it's somewhere in the 4000's.
The Jewish calendar is also based on the lunar schedule, and its New Year generally falls in late summer/early fall, between September and October. This year's begins this Sunday evening, and the new year is 5779.
Bubbe couldn't help but notice the mahj-ical nature of this number, and is hereby recommending a table rule for you and your friends:
I propose that there be a Singles and Pairs hand, worth 50 cents (concealed, obviously), consisting of
FF 5779 5779 5779
As with ALL table rules, you must inform everyone at the table before you start playing. It's not fair to suddenly spring this on them with no warning.
I hope everyone has fun with it. Feel free to call it "Rosh Ha-hand," "Bubbe's Hand," whatever you want.
If you want to get in touch with me (and send photos of your winning hand) you can reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.
Bubbe Fischer
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Don't Forget!
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who just remembered what she wants to tell you!
My last blog entry was all about how I had three jokers, and with a little insight I was able to pick the hand that was easiest to make. I developed that insight from understanding certain design conventions used by the NMJL.
**Psst: Here's where I give the disclaimer: Hands as designed on previous cards are not a guarantee of future cards' hands...but after seeing the last 16 years' worth, I'm pretty sure they will continue**
The most basic convention is one that everyone MUST know, as they begin to play the game: each suit has a matching colored Dragon. Green goes with Bams; Red with Craks; and White (Soap) with Dots. Some people remember by saying that bamboo is green; the characters are written in red; and dots look like soap bubbles. My personal memory trick is to rely on alphabetizing: BCD (Bam Crak Dot) match with GRW (Green Red White).
There are two additional NMJL conventions involving affiliations between number tiles and Winds, and between certain Dragons and Winds. I used these conventions to pick my hand in the last blog article--and I'm going to teach you a really great mnemonic for them, going forward.
Both of these kinds of "relations" appear in the Winds and Dragons section of the 2018 card.
1) Even vs. Odd numbers
On the 2018 card, there are two similar hands involving kongs of Winds (East and West or North and South), each with pairs of the same number tile in all three suits:
My last blog entry was all about how I had three jokers, and with a little insight I was able to pick the hand that was easiest to make. I developed that insight from understanding certain design conventions used by the NMJL.
**Psst: Here's where I give the disclaimer: Hands as designed on previous cards are not a guarantee of future cards' hands...but after seeing the last 16 years' worth, I'm pretty sure they will continue**
The most basic convention is one that everyone MUST know, as they begin to play the game: each suit has a matching colored Dragon. Green goes with Bams; Red with Craks; and White (Soap) with Dots. Some people remember by saying that bamboo is green; the characters are written in red; and dots look like soap bubbles. My personal memory trick is to rely on alphabetizing: BCD (Bam Crak Dot) match with GRW (Green Red White).
There are two additional NMJL conventions involving affiliations between number tiles and Winds, and between certain Dragons and Winds. I used these conventions to pick my hand in the last blog article--and I'm going to teach you a really great mnemonic for them, going forward.
Both of these kinds of "relations" appear in the Winds and Dragons section of the 2018 card.
1) Even vs. Odd numbers
On the 2018 card, there are two similar hands involving kongs of Winds (East and West or North and South), each with pairs of the same number tile in all three suits:
NNNN 11 11 11 SSSS (any odd tile)
EEEE 22 22 22 WWWW (any even tile)
This N/S Odd and E/W Even design convention has appeared in other years' cards, e.g. a concealed hand of 11 NN 111 SSS 1111 and 22 EE 222 WWW 2222
2) Colors
On the 2018 card, there are two hands that involve kongs of Winds and a pair of Dragons:
FFFF NNNN RR SSSS
FFFF EEEE GG WWWW
This color/wind relationship does not occur every year, but when it has (in the last 16 years), it remains consistent, following the N/S Red and E/W Green convention.
"Okay, Bubbe, how are we supposed to remember this, short of memorizing the hands themselves?"
Glad you asked. Say the words out loud. EAST goes with EEE-vens and GrEEn dragons. Nothing in the other group (North/South, Red, Odd) has the "Long E" sound.
I have had 25-year veteran mah jongg players tell me that they never realized these pairings before!! I hope I have enhanced your knowledge--and maybe my little memory trick will save you some time and aggravation when working out what hand to play.
If I think of any other cute little tricks, I'll be happy to share them. Meanwhile, if you have a question or comment, please feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon.
Bubbe Fischer
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Easy Choice!
Greetings and salutations from a very remiss Bubbe!
It's almost like Confession: "It's been three months since my last post." The problem is that my new dog keeps me from sitting down at my desktop computer. Such is my life. It's certainly not the worst thing in the world, having an adorable puppy, but it does keep me from checking in with all of you. I apologize.
Fortunately, today I had such an interesting deal that I knew I had to write about it, especially for you fledgling players who wonder how to choose which hand to play.
I started with 66 6 6 D D N W JJJ 4 8 --yep, THREE jokers in the deal!
If you've read my old blogs about statistics in tournament play, you know that jokers provide a definite advantage: the more jokers, the more likely it is that a hand can win. You have 65% chance of starting with a joker in each deal: sometimes you'll get one or two, and sometimes none. It is very rare to get more than two at the start, so if you get them, you need to think about how to take advantage of such a windfall.
or possibly the other Quint hand involving Winds and Dragons:
Another attractive option based on my starting point was Like Numbers with Dragons:
Obviously, without going through the Charleston there was no way to know exactly what hand to choose. I decided to play my usual Sesame Street-inspired "One of these things is not like the others," in order to eliminate unnecessary tiles.
Because my beautiful Sixes were even, I knew that I would not need a "North" tile (unless I suddenly picked up enough for Quints). I decided that the North, the Four bam and the Eight dot were expendable. I decided to keep the two Dragons on the chance that I might get more of them--especially a pair of Reds, which would make the Like Number/Dragon hand simpler.
After the first Across pass, I had
Seeing those two "Even" winds--East and West--made the choice easy for me. I would keep both the Winds, and one of the Dragons, because they provided more options: either the Wind/Dragon Quint hand OR the Wind/Like Numbers hand:
It's almost like Confession: "It's been three months since my last post." The problem is that my new dog keeps me from sitting down at my desktop computer. Such is my life. It's certainly not the worst thing in the world, having an adorable puppy, but it does keep me from checking in with all of you. I apologize.
Fortunately, today I had such an interesting deal that I knew I had to write about it, especially for you fledgling players who wonder how to choose which hand to play.
I started with 66 6 6 D D N W JJJ 4 8 --yep, THREE jokers in the deal!
If you've read my old blogs about statistics in tournament play, you know that jokers provide a definite advantage: the more jokers, the more likely it is that a hand can win. You have 65% chance of starting with a joker in each deal: sometimes you'll get one or two, and sometimes none. It is very rare to get more than two at the start, so if you get them, you need to think about how to take advantage of such a windfall.
I assessed my tiles for strengths. The most obvious assets were the three jokers, the Sixes in all three suits, and matching Dragons to two of the suits. At first glance, with a wealth of jokers, one might be tempted to go for the Quint hand of Like Numbers:
11111 11111 1123
or possibly the other Quint hand involving Winds and Dragons:
11111 NNNNN DDDD
Another attractive option based on my starting point was Like Numbers with Dragons:
11 DD 111 DDD 1111
Obviously, without going through the Charleston there was no way to know exactly what hand to choose. I decided to play my usual Sesame Street-inspired "One of these things is not like the others," in order to eliminate unnecessary tiles.
Because my beautiful Sixes were even, I knew that I would not need a "North" tile (unless I suddenly picked up enough for Quints). I decided that the North, the Four bam and the Eight dot were expendable. I decided to keep the two Dragons on the chance that I might get more of them--especially a pair of Reds, which would make the Like Number/Dragon hand simpler.
After the first Across pass, I had
66 6 6 D D E W JJJ 2 9
This is where Bubbe's wisdom comes in handy. Luck favors the prepared mind. KNOW THE CARD AS WELL AS YOU CAN. If you understand all the different possibilities, you can make the best choice.
Seeing those two "Even" winds--East and West--made the choice easy for me. I would keep both the Winds, and one of the Dragons, because they provided more options: either the Wind/Dragon Quint hand OR the Wind/Like Numbers hand:
EEEE 22 22 22 WWWW (any even number)
More importantly at this point, I would stop collecting Dragons in more than one suit because the Like Number/Dragon hand was a Concealed Hand. Having three jokers was lovely, but if I was playing a Concealed hand I wouldn't be able to call for any exposures!!!
Once I decided to give up on the Concealed hand, I had confidence going into my first Left pass. Unfortunately, after my second Left, I was actually kind of stuck:
66 6 66 EE W JJJ 3 7
As much as you hate to pass away a tile you need, there is no way out of that second Across--you must pass three tiles. Obviously the Three and the Seven were going, but I needed to select a third. I decided that it would be foolish to give up any of the Sixes, since the pairs were so essential. The second East was the most expendable--it still might come back in the passing, or if it got thrown, I would call for it and hope that I got a chance at another joker, either by exchanging back for it or picking---or perhaps picking a second West.
Luck favors the prepared mind...and Bubbe was prepared, let me tell you. In the final, optional across I was passed a North and TWO Easts. Somehow no one had an inkling of what I was playing.
66 6 66 N EEE W JJJ
It was probably as close as I have come to a heavenly hand (starting the game with mah jongg). All I needed was to complete my East and West kongs before the third Six bam was discarded, and hopefully either pick it myself or have it thrown to me.
I threw the North as my first discard, hoping someone would assume Winds were safe. Sure enough, someone threw a West and I called for it, exposing two of the Jokers. No one would have any idea that I didn't even need the fourth East, since I had a Joker to cover it. It was now a waiting game to see if a Six bam would come my way.
Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long. About four turns later, I picked my own Six bam--and won sixty cents from each of my opponents, who were shocked at how quickly the game ended.
What was the most valuable lesson here? Know the card, and make your decision based on what is most attainable. Especially with a wealth of Jokers, don't go for a Concealed hand if an easier, open hand is possible. I agree that it was risky--what if someone had been playing a hand that used three of the Six bams, so I could never make that last pair? Honestly, even if I had exposed both Easts and Wests, my hand would not have been called dead. There was still NNNN EEEE WWWW SS, or FFFF EEEE GG WWWW, or the East/West kongs with pairs of any other even numbered tile. The prospect of my hand being called dead was certainly not enough to detract from making this easy choice!
What I always recommend is thinking about these situations in the abstract, so that when you are in a game situation it is EASY for you to make the right choice! Faced with the options of Open vs. Concealed, I definitely chose well. Waiting around for Sixes and Dragons that I couldn't call would have been so frustrating!!
I hope this was helpful to you. You might want to read my book for more ideas. If you have questions or comments, you can always check in with me at bubbefischer@gmail.com I am REALLY good at replying quickly to emails--finding the time to sit down and write a whole article is quite another story.
Talk to you soon--
Bubbe Fischer
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Better Late than Never
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who had an epiphany the other day--I'm not joking!
Those of you who have followed my columns for a while know that I like to keep statistics when I play in tournaments, because I'm playing a great number of games over a short period of time. I write down quick notes about each hand: how many Flowers and jokers did I start with, what did I think I was playing at the end of the Charleston, what did I end up playing, who won, how many jokers were in the winning hand?
The overall trend has been pretty clear--the winning hand has almost always had jokers. Obviously this would not be true with the Singles and Pairs hands, but with "regular" hands involving pungs, kongs, and quints, jokers played a role a large percentage of the time.
It makes sense: jokers allow you flexibility; you are able to call for more tiles, to complete "melds" more easily; they bring you closer to winning.
Knowing that jokers are so valuable, I always get very happy when I am dealt one or more jokers.
All that being said--last week, I had some really frustrating hands. The first game we played, I was dealt two jokers. I thought, "This is going to be great!"--and proceeded to lose to someone who just had better tiles than mine. The second game, I was dealt three jokers--again, lost to someone because I wasn't able to make much of the tiles that came to me during the Charleston.
I finally kicked it into gear and started winning--yes, I won 3 hands out of 13, a little more than 23% of the games--but it wasn't because I was dealt more jokers. Sometimes I picked a joker; other times, I was able to exchange a tile for a joker. The jokers showed up at opportune moments so that I was able to call for certain discards, but I would not have been able to count on them at the beginning of the game. I just played and hoped, and when lucky tiles came I knew what to do with them.
That's Bubbe's wisdom in a nutshell: "Luck favors the prepared mind." You need to have some good ideas about what your tiles can do, and be ready when tiles come in.
For instance, there was a hand where I was dealt some pretty mediocre tiles: some Winds, a Red dragon, one joker, one Flower, plus various numbers in all three suits. Nothing looked that promising, but people passed me some interesting things and I "saw" that the Winds hand: FFFF NNNN RR SSSS might fit as an option. I ended the Charleston with the pair of Red's, one Flower, two Norths, and two Souths, plus that joker. I knew I could call for one of the Winds, but then I'd be stuck when the other was thrown...
As we played, I picked up a third North. This made it easier for me: if someone threw the last North, I could call for the kong; if they threw a South I could use the joker to call for that kong. At least I knew I wouldn't be hung up and miss my chance to call for those exposures.
Sometimes the Flowers keep coming at you--especially when you don't need them. Other times, you can't get a Flower to save your life. Lucky for me, I picked a second Flower, and then later exchanged for a third joker. My hand was now FFJ NNN RR SSJJ 2
Someone threw the fourth North. I called for the exposure, and my hand was set. I knew I might never see another South, after that, but then I picked up a third Flower to complete the hand. I had ended up winning using three jokers, even though I only started with one (and only one Flower, too!). It taught me to manage my expectations about jokers. You could be dealt quite a few, but not get any other useful tiles; then again, you might cobble together a win despite a mediocre deal. In the example above, it was an inauspicious start, but the jokers and Flowers did come.
How about you? Are you a joker magnet? Do they come when you need them, or only when you've decided to play a Singles and Pairs hand? Drop me a line at bubbefischer@gmail.com and let me know what you're up to.
Talk to you soon--
Bubbe Fischer
Those of you who have followed my columns for a while know that I like to keep statistics when I play in tournaments, because I'm playing a great number of games over a short period of time. I write down quick notes about each hand: how many Flowers and jokers did I start with, what did I think I was playing at the end of the Charleston, what did I end up playing, who won, how many jokers were in the winning hand?
The overall trend has been pretty clear--the winning hand has almost always had jokers. Obviously this would not be true with the Singles and Pairs hands, but with "regular" hands involving pungs, kongs, and quints, jokers played a role a large percentage of the time.
It makes sense: jokers allow you flexibility; you are able to call for more tiles, to complete "melds" more easily; they bring you closer to winning.
Knowing that jokers are so valuable, I always get very happy when I am dealt one or more jokers.
All that being said--last week, I had some really frustrating hands. The first game we played, I was dealt two jokers. I thought, "This is going to be great!"--and proceeded to lose to someone who just had better tiles than mine. The second game, I was dealt three jokers--again, lost to someone because I wasn't able to make much of the tiles that came to me during the Charleston.
I finally kicked it into gear and started winning--yes, I won 3 hands out of 13, a little more than 23% of the games--but it wasn't because I was dealt more jokers. Sometimes I picked a joker; other times, I was able to exchange a tile for a joker. The jokers showed up at opportune moments so that I was able to call for certain discards, but I would not have been able to count on them at the beginning of the game. I just played and hoped, and when lucky tiles came I knew what to do with them.
That's Bubbe's wisdom in a nutshell: "Luck favors the prepared mind." You need to have some good ideas about what your tiles can do, and be ready when tiles come in.
For instance, there was a hand where I was dealt some pretty mediocre tiles: some Winds, a Red dragon, one joker, one Flower, plus various numbers in all three suits. Nothing looked that promising, but people passed me some interesting things and I "saw" that the Winds hand: FFFF NNNN RR SSSS might fit as an option. I ended the Charleston with the pair of Red's, one Flower, two Norths, and two Souths, plus that joker. I knew I could call for one of the Winds, but then I'd be stuck when the other was thrown...
As we played, I picked up a third North. This made it easier for me: if someone threw the last North, I could call for the kong; if they threw a South I could use the joker to call for that kong. At least I knew I wouldn't be hung up and miss my chance to call for those exposures.
Sometimes the Flowers keep coming at you--especially when you don't need them. Other times, you can't get a Flower to save your life. Lucky for me, I picked a second Flower, and then later exchanged for a third joker. My hand was now FFJ NNN RR SSJJ 2
Someone threw the fourth North. I called for the exposure, and my hand was set. I knew I might never see another South, after that, but then I picked up a third Flower to complete the hand. I had ended up winning using three jokers, even though I only started with one (and only one Flower, too!). It taught me to manage my expectations about jokers. You could be dealt quite a few, but not get any other useful tiles; then again, you might cobble together a win despite a mediocre deal. In the example above, it was an inauspicious start, but the jokers and Flowers did come.
How about you? Are you a joker magnet? Do they come when you need them, or only when you've decided to play a Singles and Pairs hand? Drop me a line at bubbefischer@gmail.com and let me know what you're up to.
Talk to you soon--
Bubbe Fischer
Friday, May 4, 2018
Take time to Smell Spring Flowers
Greetings and salutations from your Bubbe, happy that--at long last--Spring seems to have come to New Jersey.
The snow is finally gone. No more grey landscape: there are buds on the magnolia and cherry blossom trees. Daffodils and forsythia are in bloom. Suddenly there is color in the landscape, and our seasonal allergies kick into high gear.
The other mark of Spring is the return of the Snowbirds.
On Wednesday, I received a quick Facebook message from Helene, a relative rookie at the game: "Ok, pick and throw or throw and pick?"
I knew immediately what was up. Some of my friends will say, "I've got a quick mahj question," or "Can I ask you something about playing?" Others will say, "Bubbe, I need you to settle a dispute."
It was possible that some of the ladies in Helene's group were rusty on the rules, or perhaps they just forgot the order of how things happened, e.g.,"Do I push out the walls clockwise or counterclockwise?" "Do I pass the Charleston Left, right, or across?" "Do I pick first or throw first?"
On the other hand, it could be that most essential question, about the style of play.
I answered: "Pick and throw. Takes longer but makes better hands."
She immediately replied. "Thanks that’s the way we were playing but there’s a movement underfoot to make things go faster."
As I suspected, it was a style question, and I knew where it came from.
"Who went to Florida?" I asked. "Tell her those aren't League rules."
Helene's reply: "Lolololol! How did you know?"
I know because I have been to the Ground Zero of 14-tile mahj. I stood in the lobby of the Mandel JCC in Palm Beach Gardens watching the best of the best. They got through each game in five minutes, tops, with payoffs that were double, if not five times, the value on the card.
Frankly, it was like a fevered addiction. No one was talking, no one was laughing. Throw and pick, and lord help you if you slowed down the game.
Not all of the Florida ladies play 14-tile games, and even among those who do, there are friendlier and less stressful variations. But the single explanation I hear most often about why anyone chooses the 14-tile game is "It's much faster."
It certainly is. In mah jongg you must be decisive. With the throw and pick variation, you have a few extra beats to decide your next move. You determine which tile you are going to throw, and then once you pick the next tile you are able to consider it while the three other players throw and pick. Of course, you need to pay attention to their discards--if you want them, you'll have to think and speak quickly in order to stop the next player from throwing.
Bubbe has a lot of questions. The most obvious one is: What, exactly, is the hurry? If your game takes 10 minutes instead of five, you still get in 5 or 6 per hour. Are you having any fun?
Besides that, what does this version of play mean for strategic thinking? Don't people make mistakes all the time, throwing and then forgetting to pick because someone calls for their discard? How do you plan strategically: what if you throw a tile and then pick the exact same one, e.g. you decide to go jokerless so throw your only joker, and then pick another one? How can you switch your hand--don't you have to determine what you're playing, and stick with it, much earlier in this version?
So many questions...
The rumor (validated by someone who works at the NMJL headquarters) is that questions about the 14-tile game, usually phoned in from Florida, can't be answered since they aren't part of the official rules. Like all other table rules, they must be settled among the players, not the League.
Some of you are 14-tile die-hard fans; some of you will never try it in your life; some of you can go either way, however the rest of your group decides. Among this third group, most agree that it's a faster game, but then concede that they don't win as often at it. Certainly someone who reads this article will be willing to answer any and all of the above questions, but again, the one that strikes me the most is, "What's the hurry?" If you want to try to convince me of the merits of a 14-tile game, you can reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
The snow is finally gone. No more grey landscape: there are buds on the magnolia and cherry blossom trees. Daffodils and forsythia are in bloom. Suddenly there is color in the landscape, and our seasonal allergies kick into high gear.
The other mark of Spring is the return of the Snowbirds.
On Wednesday, I received a quick Facebook message from Helene, a relative rookie at the game: "Ok, pick and throw or throw and pick?"
I knew immediately what was up. Some of my friends will say, "I've got a quick mahj question," or "Can I ask you something about playing?" Others will say, "Bubbe, I need you to settle a dispute."
It was possible that some of the ladies in Helene's group were rusty on the rules, or perhaps they just forgot the order of how things happened, e.g.,"Do I push out the walls clockwise or counterclockwise?" "Do I pass the Charleston Left, right, or across?" "Do I pick first or throw first?"
On the other hand, it could be that most essential question, about the style of play.
I answered: "Pick and throw. Takes longer but makes better hands."
She immediately replied. "Thanks that’s the way we were playing but there’s a movement underfoot to make things go faster."
As I suspected, it was a style question, and I knew where it came from.
"Who went to Florida?" I asked. "Tell her those aren't League rules."
Helene's reply: "Lolololol! How did you know?"
I know because I have been to the Ground Zero of 14-tile mahj. I stood in the lobby of the Mandel JCC in Palm Beach Gardens watching the best of the best. They got through each game in five minutes, tops, with payoffs that were double, if not five times, the value on the card.
Frankly, it was like a fevered addiction. No one was talking, no one was laughing. Throw and pick, and lord help you if you slowed down the game.
Not all of the Florida ladies play 14-tile games, and even among those who do, there are friendlier and less stressful variations. But the single explanation I hear most often about why anyone chooses the 14-tile game is "It's much faster."
It certainly is. In mah jongg you must be decisive. With the throw and pick variation, you have a few extra beats to decide your next move. You determine which tile you are going to throw, and then once you pick the next tile you are able to consider it while the three other players throw and pick. Of course, you need to pay attention to their discards--if you want them, you'll have to think and speak quickly in order to stop the next player from throwing.
Bubbe has a lot of questions. The most obvious one is: What, exactly, is the hurry? If your game takes 10 minutes instead of five, you still get in 5 or 6 per hour. Are you having any fun?
Besides that, what does this version of play mean for strategic thinking? Don't people make mistakes all the time, throwing and then forgetting to pick because someone calls for their discard? How do you plan strategically: what if you throw a tile and then pick the exact same one, e.g. you decide to go jokerless so throw your only joker, and then pick another one? How can you switch your hand--don't you have to determine what you're playing, and stick with it, much earlier in this version?
So many questions...
The rumor (validated by someone who works at the NMJL headquarters) is that questions about the 14-tile game, usually phoned in from Florida, can't be answered since they aren't part of the official rules. Like all other table rules, they must be settled among the players, not the League.
Some of you are 14-tile die-hard fans; some of you will never try it in your life; some of you can go either way, however the rest of your group decides. Among this third group, most agree that it's a faster game, but then concede that they don't win as often at it. Certainly someone who reads this article will be willing to answer any and all of the above questions, but again, the one that strikes me the most is, "What's the hurry?" If you want to try to convince me of the merits of a 14-tile game, you can reach me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Debutante
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe with a little confession--
I only just got a chance to play with the new card!!
Do as I say, not as I do, right? I never got to play up until this week, what with speaking engagements and puppy training and family obligations. But there I was, finally, with some of the ladies in my usual mahj group--nine of us, the perfect amount for rotating between tables--and boy, was I nervous. "New card? What if I can't win? How embarrassing would that be?"
Well, the first couple of hands were as hard as ever to win, since I couldn't get jokers or the right tiles. But eventually I fell into a groove and my first win was one of my old go-to hands: Quints with a number tile, a Wind, and a Dragon kong. I started with only one joker, but I had three of my number tile (4 crak), three Wests, and two Red dragons, so I was confident I would make it. Sure enough, I picked the fourth West and another joker pretty quickly. I called for a Red, and traded for a third joker. I was able to pick my own winning 4 crak tile, and got a sweet 90 cents from each of my opponents.
My second win was also on an "old" hand. The Winds were circulating so I kept them, and with the help of a few jokers ended up winning the NNNN EEEE WWWW SS hand quickly.
The strangest thing that happened to me was a hand where I was dealt four Flowers. It's actually not a great card for four Flowers--not a ton of options. I thought about trying to make the "12" hand but didn't have the right combination of tiles. I ended up calling for discarded Flowers and turned my original four into six (two pungs), and played the returning Like Numbers hand (FFF 1111 FFF 1111), for the win.
I also won on some newer hands, including the first 369 hand: FFF 33 666 99 DDDD. I confess 369 is not generally my favorite section of the card--for some reason, I don't really look for it, but I won't fight it if my tiles fall that way. I had the pairs of 3 and 9 bams, a Flower, a pair of 6 bams and the matching Green dragon, so it was the right hand to play and, with the help of another joker or two, came in very well. I will note that that single pung of Flowers is a great distraction: it threw people off!
I also tried the knit hand: 5555 777 9999 DDD. It worked out because no one was quite sure, with the 7's and Dragons, whether I was doing Consecutive Runs or 13579. Again, jokers played a key role in the win.
The new hand that kept thwarting me, all day, was the closed 2018 hand: 22 000 NEWS 111 88. If I had all four of the "NEWS," I couldn't get the second 8. If I had all the numbers and jokers, I couldn't get the Soap in time to call for the last North. It was frustrating, but I wanted to try for a tricky hand because, as I say in my book Searching for Bubbe Fischer, life is too short to play boring hands.
So that was my day. I threw a winning tile because I wasn't paying attention; I paid my share of quarters when someone else threw a winning tile. It worked out pretty well, on the whole: I went home with more than I brought, so I can't complain. Plus the snack mix was delicious!
How about you? Enjoying the new card? Your Bubbe is always happy to hear from you at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
I only just got a chance to play with the new card!!
Do as I say, not as I do, right? I never got to play up until this week, what with speaking engagements and puppy training and family obligations. But there I was, finally, with some of the ladies in my usual mahj group--nine of us, the perfect amount for rotating between tables--and boy, was I nervous. "New card? What if I can't win? How embarrassing would that be?"
Well, the first couple of hands were as hard as ever to win, since I couldn't get jokers or the right tiles. But eventually I fell into a groove and my first win was one of my old go-to hands: Quints with a number tile, a Wind, and a Dragon kong. I started with only one joker, but I had three of my number tile (4 crak), three Wests, and two Red dragons, so I was confident I would make it. Sure enough, I picked the fourth West and another joker pretty quickly. I called for a Red, and traded for a third joker. I was able to pick my own winning 4 crak tile, and got a sweet 90 cents from each of my opponents.
My second win was also on an "old" hand. The Winds were circulating so I kept them, and with the help of a few jokers ended up winning the NNNN EEEE WWWW SS hand quickly.
The strangest thing that happened to me was a hand where I was dealt four Flowers. It's actually not a great card for four Flowers--not a ton of options. I thought about trying to make the "12" hand but didn't have the right combination of tiles. I ended up calling for discarded Flowers and turned my original four into six (two pungs), and played the returning Like Numbers hand (FFF 1111 FFF 1111), for the win.
I also won on some newer hands, including the first 369 hand: FFF 33 666 99 DDDD. I confess 369 is not generally my favorite section of the card--for some reason, I don't really look for it, but I won't fight it if my tiles fall that way. I had the pairs of 3 and 9 bams, a Flower, a pair of 6 bams and the matching Green dragon, so it was the right hand to play and, with the help of another joker or two, came in very well. I will note that that single pung of Flowers is a great distraction: it threw people off!
I also tried the knit hand: 5555 777 9999 DDD. It worked out because no one was quite sure, with the 7's and Dragons, whether I was doing Consecutive Runs or 13579. Again, jokers played a key role in the win.
The new hand that kept thwarting me, all day, was the closed 2018 hand: 22 000 NEWS 111 88. If I had all four of the "NEWS," I couldn't get the second 8. If I had all the numbers and jokers, I couldn't get the Soap in time to call for the last North. It was frustrating, but I wanted to try for a tricky hand because, as I say in my book Searching for Bubbe Fischer, life is too short to play boring hands.
So that was my day. I threw a winning tile because I wasn't paying attention; I paid my share of quarters when someone else threw a winning tile. It worked out pretty well, on the whole: I went home with more than I brought, so I can't complain. Plus the snack mix was delicious!
How about you? Enjoying the new card? Your Bubbe is always happy to hear from you at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
A Life or Death Decision
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, eagerly checking my "Inbox" to see what you have to say.
I love getting letters--they spark the best columns. Sometimes you ask for clarification, which means I need to define my terms, or illustrate my point, more clearly. If one of you writes to me with a question, it's probably something that dozens of you were wondering about!
Specifically, Rae asked what I meant in a recent column when I talked about "illegal" exposures. I sent her a private email:
First of all, a reminder that you cannot declare your own hand dead, even if you have no chance of winning. If you only have twelve tiles, or have fourteen, fifteen or sixteen (what the heck are you doing?), you must keep playing as if nothing's wrong. If you have no exposures, no one will know that the hand you are attempting is unattainable. The only way an opponent will know your hand is dead is if they notice that you have too many tiles or if your exposures indicate that your hand is not attainable.
The most obvious reason why your hand is unattainable would be that it is clear from your exposures that you need a specific pair, and three of the tiles are already exposed and/or out on the table (or you need a single tile and all four are out). Same idea if you need a pair of Flowers and seven are out. Also, as I've mentioned, if you make an illegal exposure (this year it's pungs of Winds or nines), then your hand is invalid so mahj itself would be unattainable.
Any single LEGAL exposure will not make it completely obvious which hand you are playing, on this year's card. (True, five Winds show which Quint hand you are working on, but no one will know which Dragon or number tile you need). Even if the tiles you wanted are no longer available, you can either switch your hand or play on, blithely pretending that there's nothing wrong. Once you make that second exposure, it still may not be clear what you are playing (see this article for some examples).
There ARE some double exposures that are more obvious and tie you down. For example, if you have 333 5555 it can only be the first Consecutive Runs hand, in craks. If there are three one-craks or two-craks on the table, you're not going to make that hand! If you are going for 66666 66666 5667, exposing the Quints in bams and craks, and someone else exposes three six-dots, you're not going to be able to make mah jongg. Don't make a fuss, don't say anything, keep playing. It's not up to you to give yourself away.
But what do you do, on defense, when you see that someone's hand is unattainable? As I mentioned above, if your friend Selena exposes a pung of Winds or nines, she's playing a concealed hand and can't win. In another scenario she might have two exposures that tie her hand down to a goal that is no longer attainable, and you recognize that fact. You could immediately call her hand dead--because it is--but there are a few strategic reasons why you might choose not to do so!
The first, which Bubbe doesn't subscribe to at all, is etiquette--you might not want to hurt Selena's feelings! This, as I say in my book, is irrelevant. Selena knows that she can't win. Hopefully she recognizes that it's nothing personal, and that she is welcome to play the next hand as soon as it starts--in three or four minutes.You're giving her a chance to grab a nice piece of pineapple or check her email, she shouldn't be so sensitive.
A better reason comes up if your own hand is far from winnable. To battle to a wall game, you might want to slow the other players down. Having four players means that each one only sees 25% of the tiles; if you call Selena's hand dead, it means the other two players are seeing more tiles and improving their chance of winning. It could be good defense to keep her in the game. If one of the other two players notices that Selena's hand is dead, they can call it--but why should you help them?
The other main reason why you might not call another player's hand dead has to do with unredeemed Jokers. There's a lot of controversy over this--I'll save it for another column.
I hope this clarified a little more about strategy. I promise we'll go back to the unredeemed Joker issue another day. For now, keep playing the new card and let me know if you have any questions: you can email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
I love getting letters--they spark the best columns. Sometimes you ask for clarification, which means I need to define my terms, or illustrate my point, more clearly. If one of you writes to me with a question, it's probably something that dozens of you were wondering about!
Specifically, Rae asked what I meant in a recent column when I talked about "illegal" exposures. I sent her a private email:
I like to point out the exposures that are invalid/illegal/unacceptable for this year's card. If you look over the whole card, there is no EXPOSED hand that uses a pung/three Winds or three Nines. In comparison, every other single exposure (three of any other number, dragon, or flower; four of ANY tile; and even five of any number or Wind) is legal.Now we come to a new, interesting, and highly controversial point. You can (or may, if you're a real stickler for grammar) call your opponent's hand dead. But should you?
I do this to remind you to be careful not to make that mistake. I also remind you for defensive planning. As you see on the card, there are hands with three Winds or three Nines, but those are CONCEALED hands. If an opponent makes such an exposure, it is illegal and means that you can call that player's hand dead.
First of all, a reminder that you cannot declare your own hand dead, even if you have no chance of winning. If you only have twelve tiles, or have fourteen, fifteen or sixteen (what the heck are you doing?), you must keep playing as if nothing's wrong. If you have no exposures, no one will know that the hand you are attempting is unattainable. The only way an opponent will know your hand is dead is if they notice that you have too many tiles or if your exposures indicate that your hand is not attainable.
The most obvious reason why your hand is unattainable would be that it is clear from your exposures that you need a specific pair, and three of the tiles are already exposed and/or out on the table (or you need a single tile and all four are out). Same idea if you need a pair of Flowers and seven are out. Also, as I've mentioned, if you make an illegal exposure (this year it's pungs of Winds or nines), then your hand is invalid so mahj itself would be unattainable.
Any single LEGAL exposure will not make it completely obvious which hand you are playing, on this year's card. (True, five Winds show which Quint hand you are working on, but no one will know which Dragon or number tile you need). Even if the tiles you wanted are no longer available, you can either switch your hand or play on, blithely pretending that there's nothing wrong. Once you make that second exposure, it still may not be clear what you are playing (see this article for some examples).
There ARE some double exposures that are more obvious and tie you down. For example, if you have 333 5555 it can only be the first Consecutive Runs hand, in craks. If there are three one-craks or two-craks on the table, you're not going to make that hand! If you are going for 66666 66666 5667, exposing the Quints in bams and craks, and someone else exposes three six-dots, you're not going to be able to make mah jongg. Don't make a fuss, don't say anything, keep playing. It's not up to you to give yourself away.
But what do you do, on defense, when you see that someone's hand is unattainable? As I mentioned above, if your friend Selena exposes a pung of Winds or nines, she's playing a concealed hand and can't win. In another scenario she might have two exposures that tie her hand down to a goal that is no longer attainable, and you recognize that fact. You could immediately call her hand dead--because it is--but there are a few strategic reasons why you might choose not to do so!
The first, which Bubbe doesn't subscribe to at all, is etiquette--you might not want to hurt Selena's feelings! This, as I say in my book, is irrelevant. Selena knows that she can't win. Hopefully she recognizes that it's nothing personal, and that she is welcome to play the next hand as soon as it starts--in three or four minutes.You're giving her a chance to grab a nice piece of pineapple or check her email, she shouldn't be so sensitive.
A better reason comes up if your own hand is far from winnable. To battle to a wall game, you might want to slow the other players down. Having four players means that each one only sees 25% of the tiles; if you call Selena's hand dead, it means the other two players are seeing more tiles and improving their chance of winning. It could be good defense to keep her in the game. If one of the other two players notices that Selena's hand is dead, they can call it--but why should you help them?
The other main reason why you might not call another player's hand dead has to do with unredeemed Jokers. There's a lot of controversy over this--I'll save it for another column.
I hope this clarified a little more about strategy. I promise we'll go back to the unredeemed Joker issue another day. For now, keep playing the new card and let me know if you have any questions: you can email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
Monday, April 2, 2018
Setting up your Tiles
Greetings and salutations from Bubbe in New Jersey, where the weather seems to think that it's still March...expecting six inches of snow this morning.
I got a great question from one of my readers, today, about tiles. In my last article, I had mentioned that the classic "junk hand" (consecutive kongs in different suits, or FF 1111 2222 3333) is one that isn't obvious when you first look at your tiles, especially if you set them up by suit. Apropos of that comment, she wondered if there's a specific way I set up my tiles this year, based on the new card.
There are many ways to set up one's tiles. When I teach beginners, I encourage them to begin with each suit in its own group, in numerical order. One could either put Flowers to the far left or right, and Dragons, Jokers and Winds on the opposite side.
Personal note: as I'm turning over my tiles, I make a very quick note of the Flowers, Jokers and Dragons that I see....especially Soaps. If you're new to my column and book, you may not know what a sucker I am for Soaps. In any event--as I see more Flowers and/or Jokers, I breathe a little easier, knowing that I have so many more hand options available.
Setting the tiles by suit with Dragons, Jokers and Flowers to the side is just MY preferred way to do it. You may want to keep your Dragons with their respective suit. You may want the Flowers in the middle. Who am I to say? I just think that, for me, seeing it all laid out by color, in numeric order, makes sense.
I then go about looking for pairs and/or patterns. Is one suit dominant? Do I see more even numbered tiles, regardless of suit? Are there mainly 3's, 6's and 9's? Are most of the numbers on the high end of the number line (6-9), low end (1-4), or middle (4-6)? Is there a preponderance of one specific number (e.g. 4's in all three suits)? I don't physically rearrange the tiles, I just make a mental note of them.
I recommend practicing this on your own, so that this becomes second nature to you. Your friends will not appreciate it if you hold up the Charleston for too long. I like to say that, for the beginning of the passing, anyway, I play the old Sesame Street game: "One of these things is not like the others." If I have lots of odd tiles in the 5 through 9 range, I'm probably not going to need a 4 dot, an 8 bam, and a single Wind. As passing progresses, I may have a little more trouble discerning what stays and what goes, but hopefully the real outliers are obvious to me.
Also, as your hand begins to shape up, it's very important to keep all your tiles grouped together continuously, per the great Tom Sloper,
I would say that there's no reason to begin the game with my tiles arranged any differently with this card. I will be setting up my tiles as usual, grouping by suit. Of course, I'll start looking for different things, once the tiles are in a coherent order. As ever, I will make a note of how many Flowers I have, as well as Dragons and Jokers. I'll look for pairs, wherever they may fall.
Because I've done so much practice in looking for patterns, I don't need to set my tiles up in any special new way with this card. I will, however, be more mindful of the new patterns to look for. If I have a Soap, I'll see if I have 1's, 2's and 8's in any suit(s) to see if they match the card. I'll keep an eye out for the "12" combinations--do I have a 1 and 2 in the same suit, and possible kongs that complement each other for a 12 combination, e.g. 5's and 7's in the same suit as the 12, or 4's and 8's in the other two suits. I'll look at the odds; the evens; the 369's. I will try to find ways to incorporate Dragons of opposite suits, for the knit hands. I will look closely at where tiles fall on the number line, for various Consecutive Run combinations. If nothing else looks promising, do I have enough Winds (2 or more) that I should choose to keep them, and collect more, through the passing?
Will I alter the "beginning" setup scheme as I become more familiar with the card? I don't think it's necessary. Even as each game progresses and I hone in on a specific hand, I will keep all my tiles together, per Tom Sloper's comment. I will switch things up within the block of 13, just to keep my sanity...put my definite discards to one side, or keep the tiles on my rack together in a way that best resembles my goal hand. I'll note that I've never been one to set certain tiles perpendicular--that kind of move seems like a reaction to a discard, and could be a "tell" to opponents that I am interested in a specific tile.
One quick, funny aside: at one of my appearances, I was required to play with a woman (let's call her Vera) who was drunk and, frankly, the rudest player I have ever met. Vera had been mocking Shelly, one of the other players at the table, saying that she always knew what Shelly was playing because she always set up her tiles the same way. Just to be contrary, I decided to set my tiles up in a really strange way--Winds interspersed with other tiles, numbers out of order, suits mixed together--I even kept pairs separated. When Vera was bettor, she walked around the table and looked at my rack. "Are you dyslexic?" she sneered, as if that was something shameful. P.S. Because she couldn't decipher my tiles, she didn't bet on me--and I won! Yes, Bubbe is not above a little petty revenge, now and then.
Anyway--long response summed up--no need to set up your tiles any differently with a new card. It's all about knowing what to look for, which goes back to the point of learning the card and thinking creatively about your tiles. I know that with some focused study, anyone can improve their game!
Love your questions, happy to answer more. Just send them to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon--this blogging seems to be a daily occurrence, now!
Bubbe Fischer
I got a great question from one of my readers, today, about tiles. In my last article, I had mentioned that the classic "junk hand" (consecutive kongs in different suits, or FF 1111 2222 3333) is one that isn't obvious when you first look at your tiles, especially if you set them up by suit. Apropos of that comment, she wondered if there's a specific way I set up my tiles this year, based on the new card.
There are many ways to set up one's tiles. When I teach beginners, I encourage them to begin with each suit in its own group, in numerical order. One could either put Flowers to the far left or right, and Dragons, Jokers and Winds on the opposite side.
Personal note: as I'm turning over my tiles, I make a very quick note of the Flowers, Jokers and Dragons that I see....especially Soaps. If you're new to my column and book, you may not know what a sucker I am for Soaps. In any event--as I see more Flowers and/or Jokers, I breathe a little easier, knowing that I have so many more hand options available.
Setting the tiles by suit with Dragons, Jokers and Flowers to the side is just MY preferred way to do it. You may want to keep your Dragons with their respective suit. You may want the Flowers in the middle. Who am I to say? I just think that, for me, seeing it all laid out by color, in numeric order, makes sense.
I then go about looking for pairs and/or patterns. Is one suit dominant? Do I see more even numbered tiles, regardless of suit? Are there mainly 3's, 6's and 9's? Are most of the numbers on the high end of the number line (6-9), low end (1-4), or middle (4-6)? Is there a preponderance of one specific number (e.g. 4's in all three suits)? I don't physically rearrange the tiles, I just make a mental note of them.
I recommend practicing this on your own, so that this becomes second nature to you. Your friends will not appreciate it if you hold up the Charleston for too long. I like to say that, for the beginning of the passing, anyway, I play the old Sesame Street game: "One of these things is not like the others." If I have lots of odd tiles in the 5 through 9 range, I'm probably not going to need a 4 dot, an 8 bam, and a single Wind. As passing progresses, I may have a little more trouble discerning what stays and what goes, but hopefully the real outliers are obvious to me.
Also, as your hand begins to shape up, it's very important to keep all your tiles grouped together continuously, per the great Tom Sloper,
ANYWAY: back to the original question. Ellen wanted to know:
"Lots of players like to put gaps in their tiles, grouping their completed concealed pungs and kongs separate from one another. Why it's a bad habit -- It gives the other players clues about how much progress you are making. You are only hurting yourself."
"How would you set up your tiles based on your observations of this new card? And do you alter the set up as you’re more familiar with a card?"
I would say that there's no reason to begin the game with my tiles arranged any differently with this card. I will be setting up my tiles as usual, grouping by suit. Of course, I'll start looking for different things, once the tiles are in a coherent order. As ever, I will make a note of how many Flowers I have, as well as Dragons and Jokers. I'll look for pairs, wherever they may fall.
Because I've done so much practice in looking for patterns, I don't need to set my tiles up in any special new way with this card. I will, however, be more mindful of the new patterns to look for. If I have a Soap, I'll see if I have 1's, 2's and 8's in any suit(s) to see if they match the card. I'll keep an eye out for the "12" combinations--do I have a 1 and 2 in the same suit, and possible kongs that complement each other for a 12 combination, e.g. 5's and 7's in the same suit as the 12, or 4's and 8's in the other two suits. I'll look at the odds; the evens; the 369's. I will try to find ways to incorporate Dragons of opposite suits, for the knit hands. I will look closely at where tiles fall on the number line, for various Consecutive Run combinations. If nothing else looks promising, do I have enough Winds (2 or more) that I should choose to keep them, and collect more, through the passing?
Will I alter the "beginning" setup scheme as I become more familiar with the card? I don't think it's necessary. Even as each game progresses and I hone in on a specific hand, I will keep all my tiles together, per Tom Sloper's comment. I will switch things up within the block of 13, just to keep my sanity...put my definite discards to one side, or keep the tiles on my rack together in a way that best resembles my goal hand. I'll note that I've never been one to set certain tiles perpendicular--that kind of move seems like a reaction to a discard, and could be a "tell" to opponents that I am interested in a specific tile.
One quick, funny aside: at one of my appearances, I was required to play with a woman (let's call her Vera) who was drunk and, frankly, the rudest player I have ever met. Vera had been mocking Shelly, one of the other players at the table, saying that she always knew what Shelly was playing because she always set up her tiles the same way. Just to be contrary, I decided to set my tiles up in a really strange way--Winds interspersed with other tiles, numbers out of order, suits mixed together--I even kept pairs separated. When Vera was bettor, she walked around the table and looked at my rack. "Are you dyslexic?" she sneered, as if that was something shameful. P.S. Because she couldn't decipher my tiles, she didn't bet on me--and I won! Yes, Bubbe is not above a little petty revenge, now and then.
Anyway--long response summed up--no need to set up your tiles any differently with a new card. It's all about knowing what to look for, which goes back to the point of learning the card and thinking creatively about your tiles. I know that with some focused study, anyone can improve their game!
Love your questions, happy to answer more. Just send them to me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Talk to you soon--this blogging seems to be a daily occurrence, now!
Bubbe Fischer
Sunday, April 1, 2018
What's a Knit Hand?
Greetings, salutations and the happiest of holidays to all
of Bubbe’s friends! It’s Passover, Easter, the debut of the New Card, April Fool’s
Day…busy day all around.
My two recent columns about the newest card created a little
buzz, especially about a term that I used to describe some of the hands on the
card. I’m going to explain it more clearly, and also define a few other terms
that I use when talking about mah jongg hands. I want us all to be on the same
page!
First of all, knit
hand:
Believe it or not, Bubbe actually doesn’t know a thing about
knitting. My cousin tried to teach me, one weekend—I was going to teach her
mahj, in exchange—but I was hopeless at it. There were needles and knots and
loops and all sorts of complications.
In mah jongg, I use the term to describe a hand involving two
different suits, intertwined. The examples in this year’s card include:
1111 222 3333 DDD
1111 333 5555 DDD
5555 777 9999 DDD
3333 666 9999 DDD
Think of it as a braiding, or weaving, between two suits. It’s not a single-suited
hand; it’s not a three-suited hand. The key factor in making this a knit hand
is that it alternates, very cleanly and efficiently, between the two suits: in
this case, kong in suit A, pung in suit B, kong in suit A, pung in suit B. I
want you to envision it that way, in order to better remember it. The suit in
the “middle” pung must match the suit of the dragon pung; the suit of the kongs
on either side of the pung must match. This year, it’s 4-3-4-3;
some years it’s 3-4-3-4; some years it doesn’t appear at all.
Ascending staircase:
Another pattern that shoes up prominently on this year’s card.
In the first Consecutive Runs hand, it’s
11 22 333 444 5555
55 66 777 888
9999
Again, think of it visually: you begin by taking low steps
(two apiece), then larger steps (three apiece) until you are at the highest
point, a four-of-a-kind. This pattern of ascending staircase appears again on the card:
11 33 555 777 9999
22 44 666 888 DDDD
I always look to the first Consecutive Runs hand first, when
I get a new card. It’s generally either an ascending staircase or a “bell curve” pattern, where the pairs are
on either end and the high point is in the middle, as in
11 222 3333 444 55
Junk hand:
I generally define the quintessential junk hand as
FF 1111 2222 3333
involving kongs of each of the three suits, in consecutive
order. It obviously isn’t truly junk--it’s a legitimate hand on this card--but
upon first glance you might not notice it among your tiles, especially if you
are setting your tiles up by suit. Because it’s tri-suited, you really have to
use a little imagination to put it together. It doesn’t jump out at you
immediately. The other hand on this year's that meets this description is
FF 3333 6666 9999
There are some tri-suit hands that are trickier, relying on pairs, not
just kongs, so I don’t really consider them junk, e.g.:
11 22 33 4444 5555
11 33 55 7777 9999
33 66 99 3333 3333
(kongs of 3, 6 or 9)
I’ll try harder to define my terms in future columns. In
general, if you want to know more about the way I analyze the card and think of
the various hands, you might want to check out my book, Searching for Bubbe Fischer. The best way to improve your play is to know the card, and
I want to show you ways to learn each new card quickly. My rationale is, the better you know the card, the
more easily you can focus on the tiles that come your way and make good
decisions!!
If you have any questions, you can contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com
Happy holidays and talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
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