Mastering Backup Hands: HOW. Case study #1: Five jokers, 80 cents

 

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, who made the odd narrative choice  of  beginning with the punchline. It got your attention though, didn't it?   I've been wanting to give you some examples of how to switch hands and  this morning I had the perfect scenario.   I was dealt a Flower and three jokers, which is a pretty sweet way to begin  the Charleston.   F 2 3  5 8  6 8  N E D JJJ   I looked at the 2 and the 8s and I remembered that the Mother of the Bride  (E6) and Bridesmaid (LN1) hands are really nice complements to one  another as backups:   FFF 2222 FFF 8888 FFF 2222 FFF 8888 OR FFF 8888 FFF 8888   I just needed to see which would fall into place quickest.   I also had the green dragon which could have taken me to LN3, a backup  hand for LN1:   FF 8888 8888 DDDD   The world was my oyster at the beginning of that Charleston, because of  the pretty jokers.   I noticed the Winds, knowing in the back of my mind that the Q1 junk quint  hand (kong of any Wind, quints of any number and any dragon) was an  option...but mainly I wanted see where I could go with all of those nice  kong hands.   The Charleston wasn't particularly fruitful. I got another green dragon and  another 8 dot, so LN3 was very much a possibility. I also kept one East on  the off chance that the Quint hand made more sense.   When someone threw a 2 bam, I decided it was not worth exposing two  jokers over a kong that would have tied me down to E6. I chose to pursue  8s in dots and craks, and go for either LN1 (need lots more Flowers!) or LN 3 (need one more Flower plus green dragons). I held on to the East  as a third option.   Unfortunately, the Flowers were not just slow in coming out, they were  non-existent! It would be tough to make either of the Like-Numbered hands,  especially LN3, which required that natural pair! I picked a second East and then ANOTHER joker, my fourth!   F JJJJ 3 8 88 DD EE    Three things immediately crossed my mind, referencing things I've said  publicly before. The first was "Listen when the tiles talk to you." Giving me  another joker and a Wind was a pretty firm push toward Q1! "We've all seen somebody stuck with a bunch of jokers later in the game, not knowing   what to do with their hand." Q1 is a great way to use those jokers! Finally, in my last article, I had said, "sometimes you realize you should stop beating your brains out, worrying about trying to get your pair."   Here was a chance to follow my own advice! I jolted myself back into reality  and thought, “Fine, I'll switch to Q1 with the 8 dots, the greens, and the  Easts--forget the Flowers!”   Someone threw an 8 dot and I called for it, exposing the Quint using two  jokers. I discarded the Flower, since I wasn't going to need it, but it wasn't  obvious from that exposure which exact hand I was playing.    Of course this was the moment when Fate decided to laugh at me. My next  turn, I picked up a Flower that I no longer could use, and discarded it.  Several turns later, I picked up another Flower and discarded it.   When someone threw a green dragon, I called for it, exposing my other  two jokers.   888JJ DDDJJ  exposed (EE 3 still on rack)   By now it was obvious which hand I was playing. I assumed no one was  going to throw any Wind tiles. I picked up a FIFTH joker, and discarded  the 3 bam.   I was hoping to pick up that last East, but instead I picked up a green,  exchanged it for my joker and made mahj. It was still a self-pick, so it paid  double...hence the title.   I told myself afterwards that I would not have gotten those later Flowers,  nor that extra joker, had I not called for the 8 dot. That's true. Waiting for  that Flower was frustrating and I am glad that I switched to a non-pair hand.  Of course it is possible that there were other Flowers that I might have  picked up, had I held silent. I'll never know, but I'm certainly pleased with  how this hand turned out!     I hope that was a useful illustration for you of what goes into deciding  when to switch to a backup hand and how it's done. You collect pieces of different melds that might work, and wait for key factors such as the challenge of getting a pair, getting more jokers or additional pieces  of a meld. As I said, one of the key steps was ruling out pursuing those  2 bams, since they tied me down to E6 and I only had a single Flower so  far. It was the least flexible exposure, and would have locked me into a  tough situation (needing to collect five more Flowers).   I'll try to describe a few more cases for you. In the meantime, if YOU have  played a particularly interesting hand that you want to share, I'd love to  hear about it! You can email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com   Take care   Bubbe

 

Mastering Backup Hands: WHEN

 

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