Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, ready to give you more backup advice. Buckle in, this is a long one!!
In an article last week, I discussed where you might find your backup hand. It could be in the same section that you're already playing, for instance from one 2468 hand to another, especially if they're both one-suited hands. Sometimes your backup hand is a little harder to find. It could be in a completely different section of the card. The essential point is that both hands are related by their components. Maybe they both need a kong of 9 craks-- there are 21 different hands on the 2022 card that do, and actually 33 total combinations! Maybe they both need a pung of dragons, or two pungs of Flowers. Know the card well enough to recognize similarities between three hands: the original plan in your head, the mess of tiles on your rack, and the alternative, viable one on the card (also known as your backup!).
Today we're going to focus on WHEN we switch to our backup hand. It's very much related to WHY you would switch your hand.
In a nutshell, the two main reasons to switch are either
because you want to
or
because you have to.
I'll present some examples of each situation, so that you will be able to recognize when you're in a similar predicament and say (to yourself, please), "Huh, I guess it's time to switch my hand."
Ideally, we're all in the "when you want to" situation. This is exactly what Bubbe means by "luck favors the prepared mind." You have 13 disorganized tiles that you try to improve through the Charleston. Then you hope, as you pick and throw, that those tiles turn into one of the specific hands listed on the card. You don't have control over which tiles you pick.
The one thing you can control is what you do each time you pick a new tile. You can PREPARE by knowing the card and thinking about what options are available to you. You can know in advance what kind of tiles would help you make your hand.
EXAMPLE:
3 9 4 5 66 7 EEE WW J
Looks like a great start for W6…but which three numbers? You will need a pair in the middle of a three-number consecutive run. If someone throws a 7 dot, you could call it for a pung and have 5-66-777. If you pick up the second 5 dot, you can go with 4-55-666. Or if you already have the pair of 4s and you pick up a 3 dot, you can shift your number line down to 3-44-555. You just need to stay alert and be prepared so that you recognize "lucky" tiles that help you attain a winning hand.
As I said, you need to pay attention to recognize when you want to switch, and it's generally because something good comes your way that opens up new possibilities.
EXAMPLE:
F 4 22 4 6 88 D 1 5 J W
You're not sure whether you're going to go for E1 or E5.1; both need a pair of 2 craks, which fortunately, you have, but you're not sure what else to do: you only have one Red dragon and one Flower. One hand needs a pair of 4s and the other needs a pair of 6s. You pick up a third 8 crak and a joker and then exchange for an additional joker, so now you have
F 22 4 6 888 D JJJ W
You realize, "why am I beating my head against the wall waiting to make another pair? I have lots of jokers, I can switch to the second quint hand!" (Bubbe has faith that you'll manage to come up with another joker--maybe exchanging that Flower for one?!)
EXAMPLE:
FF 777 6 9 888 J D E
You're going for CR 3.3. You already have the pair of Flowers and a pung of two of the three consecutive number Kongs--7 bams and 8 dots. You're trying to decide whether you're going to do the 6 or 9 craks... and then you pull an additional flower.
FFF 6 777 888 9 J E
You've now got three Flowers, a joker, and you're ready to call for the kongs of 7 bam and 8 dot. The best thing to do is switch to CR2. You will be able to call for both pungs of Flowers, rather than hoping that either the 6 or 9 crak works out.
EXAMPLE:
This is my favorite, it REALLY happened the other day to Debbie:
22 3 9 22 5 22 7 DD S
"(At the end of the Charleston) I had two of each of the 2s, also two soaps. No Flowers. I was thinking about going for the hand with the twos and the soaps (Y2). I got the Flowers and two more 2s (bam and dot) right away.
FF 222 22 222 DD S
With only eight tiles at the end of the Charleston, Debbie was actually in excellent shape for Y2. Once she picked up the additional 2 bam and 2 dot (above), she could literally call for every single one of the melds to make that hand.
But…Debbie waited a little longer and picked the third soap, and because she had those Flowers, she decided to go for Y5, the Big Hand…
“and someone threw me the 2 crak. We were not in the last wall. I did get one joker, I didn’t get rid of it until I was set."
I'm very impressed that she took the leap!
Now for scenarios when you HAVE to change your hand:
These generally involve singles or pairs--not the SP section, per se, but hands that include melds of singles or pairs. When two of the "2" tiles go out in your suit for 2022, or if someone exposes four soaps, there's no way you're going to make the meld. When you're going for a hand that needs a pair or a single, there is no substituting, jokers won't cut it.
Quite a few such hands are concealed, so when you do your switch, nobody's going to know because you had no exposures. But there are certainly times when you will go scrambling to change after having made an exposure, or possibly two.
It really helps to be familiar with all of the pung/kong combinations. With any singular LEGAL pung or kong exposure (e.g. NOT pung of Winds) you should be able to find a backup of a pung/kong hand. You may be seven or eight tiles away from it, but no one needs to know that. They assume you have a viable hand and, for all they know, you are one tile away.
Let's be optimistic, though, and think of opportunities where you had to switch, found a viable alternative and might even possibly pull out the win. Those generally happen earlier in the game, when you have more opportunities to correct your hand. When they happen towards the end of the game, it's generally too late to make a huge transformation.
EXAMPLE:
By the middle of the second wall, your hand is shaping up beautifully:
2 444 4 666 888 D W
It's a beautiful beginning for E7, but someone then exposes a pung of 4 craks. There's no way that you will be able to get the pair of 4 craks. You HAVE to switch your hand. Fortunately, E3.3 doesn't have any pairs!
EXAMPLE:
4 8 1 22 33 44 555 W
You are trying for CR1a. You call for a 3 dot and a 5 dot so the 333 and 5555 are exposed.
Suddenly three different 1 dots are thrown, all in a row, and now CR1 is closed off to you, since you can't make the pair! Fortunately, you can switch over to CR5--pungs of 2's and 3's, kongs of 4's and 5's, all in the same suit!
Borderline HAVE TO/WANT TO EXAMPLE:
FF 33 66 999 7 5 D W
You're thinking of going for 369#4 because you've got the two pairs, the hardest part! But someone exposes four green dragons (using a joker). Meanwhile, you pick an extra Flower.
FFF 33 66 999 7 D W
It's going to be hard to get two jokers to make the pung. Switch over to 369 #2. By exchanging your dragon for the Joker, you now have the flexibility to complete the kong of 3's, and you can call for the pung of 6's and kong of 9's.
In general, I don't mean to keep you away from playing hands that have singles and pairs. If the tiles are telling you that that's the right hand for you, there's no reason not to try. The trick is to pay attention and plan for "off ramps" in case that hand isn't going to work, and to recognize those warning signs. There's nothing worse than, two walls in, realizing that you can't make the hand and having no idea how to switch. Try to consider alternatives during the Charleston, anticipating what potential limitations you may find, so that you have your backup plan ready.
I hope these "backup articles" have been helpful. We've talked about where to find them, when to switch, and next time I'll give a few more examples of how to switch.
If you have good stories of what you've been through at the table, I'm always happy to hear them. You can contact me at BubbeFischer@gmail.com.
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe
