February 27, 2011 | 7:52 pm

TO RACK OR NOT TO RACK

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

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TO RACK OR NOT TO RACK—THAT IS THE QUESTION

Once again, the controversy over whether to rack your tile or not is the topic of today’s post. It is a point of disagreement in many groups.

For those who are not familiar with the strategy of racking—-it is to immediately place the tile just picked from the Wall into the rack, next to the other tiles.

It is a defensive strategy because as soon as a tile is racked, no player may call for the just discarded tile. If the tile is not racked, a player may call, until the tile is racked or, as the rule (It’s #5 on the back of your card.) states, “discarded”. So the longer you hold the tile, or turn it upside down, or look at, or think about it before you rack it, the greater opportunity there is for another player to call. (And tapping it on top of your rack is not “racking”.)

So with that in mind, the other day my friend Susan complained to me that her group was, unfortunately, at odds because some people racked and others didn’t and when a player called a tile, there followed a controversy about whether racking should be the reason a player’s call was negated. 

Susan is a “racker” and, as it turned out, she was the center of the disagreement. She explained someone, we’ll call Joan, had called. Susan objected saying “I already racked”, followed by Joan complaining it wasn’t fair and she didn’t rack when she picked, so Susan shouldn’t have racked. (Logic I don’t quite follow!)  So to keep the peace in the group, Susan relented and Joan made her Exposure.

“What can I do?” she asked. “They’re my friends.” 

Well, this is not the first time I’ve been asked that. But if no one in your group racks, or if everyone racks, it’s obviously not a problem. But if some do and some don’t, it is.

So my suggestion to Susan was to make a “table rule” that everyone agrees to—a player who doesn’t want to rack, doesn’t, and a player who wants to rack, does, and if the call is negated by a racker, so be it—and no complaints!

I have a feeling that under those circumstances, everyone will soon be racking!

Til next time…
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU! 

February 20, 2011 | 4:45 pm

ERRONEOUS EXPOSURES

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                              ERRONEOUS EXPOSURE

I’ve been receiving several questions about Exposures that have been challenged and found to be incorrect—particularly if the Exposure contains Jokers.  What happens to the Jokers?  Are they available to be exchanged or not?  The answer is sometimes Yes and sometimes No. “Timing is everything”—an old cliché but still relevant—especially in Mahj—-an essential element—if you want to capture someone’s exposed Jokers!

The answer is “Yes” if the Exposure containing a Joker is made before a subsequent Exposure is challenged and found to be erroneous.

An example: Let’s say a player has made an Exposure of a Pung of 2s with a Joker.  Then she makes an Exposure of a Pung of 3s with a Joker.  Her second Exposure is incorrect because there is no Exposed hand on the card that requires a Pung of 2s and a Pung of 3s. Her Exposure has to be challenged and she must return the incorrect Exposure to the rack and the Joker and hand is “dead”.  However the Pung of 2s with a Joker is “exchangeable”.

When an incorrect Mah Jongg is declared, the answer is again “Yes” and “No”—depending upon whether the Exposures are made before the challenge to a declaration of “Mahj” or after. “Yes” if the Exposures are made before the incorrect Mahj is declared. The Jokers are “exchangeable”.

“No”—if the Jokers are exposed after the declaration of an incorrect Mahj hand. They are not exchangeable. Only the incorrect Exposures and their Jokers must be returned to the rack and the hand declared “Dead”.

If no Exposures have been made and an incorrect Mahj hand containing Jokers is challenged, the answer again is “No”. The whole hand must be returned to the rack and the hand is declared “Dead”.

An order to “Play Dead” might result in a treat for Fido, but will, no doubt, result in a penalty for the mistaken Mahj player. 

Til the next time….
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

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February 13, 2011 | 4:07 pm

THE SAFE DISCARD

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

THE SAFE DISCARD

In my last post I discussed the “hot” tile, defined as a tile that had not been discarded during the game or a tile that you determine an opponent needs for an Exposure or Mah Jongg—-a dangerous tile to discard.

So now we’ll discuss the opposite of the dangerous discard—the safe discard, defined as a tile an opponent does not call or a tile an opponent cannot call.

In the beginning of the game, 99.9% of the time, your discards are safe.  Rarely does anyone call for an early discard because most hands are not solidly decided or the combinations are “uncallable”, needing other tiles to qualify for a “call”.  So you can be fairly sure any discard is “safe”.  And notice, even as the game is progressing, it’s not unusual that when a “new” tile is discarded and uncalled, the others discard the same tile in rapid succession, being assured the “new” tile is safe.

But as the game progresses, how can you tell if a tile is safe?  The answer is you must keep accurate track of the discards.

For example, remembering no 8 Craks have been discarded, you can be almost sure a discard of an 8Crak is not safe.  If there are 2 8Craks out, a third 8 Crak is more safe. If 3 8Craks are out, a 4th is almost surely safe.

But, here’s a caveat!  Just because a tile is safe at the beginning of the game, doesn’t assure it will be safe later on in the game. A player may have waited for a specific tile to be repeatedly discarded before calling or have accumulated the necessary tiles to qualify to call and so what may have been a safe tile is no longer safe. It’s just one of the vagaries of Mah Jongg.

The Exposure(s) of an opponent leads you discover that the hand requires a Pair, which can only be called for Mahj.  Early on, discarding that tile is usually safe, because the opponent cannot call it. And once one of the Pair’s tiles is out, the possibility of others being discarded is great, because the first discard wasn’t called.

But at the end of the game, as discussed in the “Hot Tile” blog, the only safe discard is the Joker.  So pay close attention to the discards——and play it safe!

Til the next time….
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

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February 6, 2011 | 3:53 pm

THE HOT TILE

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

THE HOT TILE

No, it’s not a tile that has been boiled, baked or fried or in any way heated by virtue of flame.  It’s a tile that has not been discarded during the game, or a tile you determine (or think) another player needs for an Exposure or Mahj.  A “hot” tile is dangerous to discard.

The only way to decide whether a tile is hot or not is to keep track of the discards and to be aware of the hand your opponents’ Exposures have revealed.

When the game begins, there are no “hot” tiles. But as the game progresses, determining what is hot and what is not becomes more critical. For example, your study of the discards reveals no 2Bams have been discarded.  Since the game is about half over, a discard of a 2Bam is probably not hot. But as the game progresses and still no 2Bam has been discarded, you can be fairly sure a 2Bam is “hot”. If you can see that two 8Craks have been discarded, a third is probably not hot. So keeping a count of the discarded tiles is essential to your defense. 

As a matter of fact, once there are two or three picks left in the Wall, almost any tile, hot or not, is potentially the Mahj tile for a player. That’s why I insist on discarding Jokers and breaking up your hand. 

I can empathize with the general reluctance to discard powerful Jokers at the end of the game, but Jokers cannot magically “make” your hand at the end of the game any more than they did during the game. But they keep your opponents from winning and protect you from the angst and penalty of providing the Mahj tile to an opponent.

If you are “waiting” for Mahj yourself, you have a dilemma.  Do you discard a potential Mahj tile for someone else or do you break up your hand?  Usually, break up your hand. Even if you can count a couple of the same tile you pick, you cannot know for sure how many Jokers a player has for the combination your tile may complete. You can’t be sure the picked tile isn’t the Mahj tile for someone else.

And when you are sure you picked the Mahj tile for an opponent’s hand, you must discard Jokers and break up your hand to keep your opponent from winning. And since the other players will be (and should be) discarding Jokers, the only possibility for you to win is to pick your own Mahj tile—which is almost zero.

Let’s talk about discarding Flowers.  I caution my students to never discard a Flower at the end of the game. Why? On the 2010 card there are 11 hands that require a Pair of Flowers, not including the 5 Singles and Pairs hands.  Waiting for a Flower to complete a Pair at the end of the game is not unusual. There are 11 hands that require a Kong.  Even if you can count five or six Flowers discarded, you cannot see how many Jokers an opponent’s hands contains that can complete the Kong.  That’s why discarding excess or unneeded Flowers early in the game is a good idea, but not late in the game.  Flowers are hot.

So my advice, at the end of the game, even if you’re not sure the tile you pick is the Mah Jongg tile for an opponent, protect yourself. Break up your hand and discard Jokers.

Til next time….
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

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