May 10, 2011 | 12:29 am

THE 2011 CARD

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

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THE 2011 CARD

I always wondered why a new card comes out on April, 1st.—April Fool’s Day.  Could the League be having a joke with it’s members?  It’s the members of the League’s Board of Directors are some of the people who create it every year, deciding which hands to use and every year’s production is unique, some are more challenging than others (although I find hands from previous years frequently pop up again) and this one’s is no exception.

So let’s see what some of the unique features of this year’s card are. 

The most obvious one is the number of hands that require one or more Pairs.  That’s almost every hand in every Section.  There is only one hand in the 2468,  Consecutive Run, 369 and Sections, two Odd hands, two Quint hands,  and two Winds/Dragon hands that require no Pair,  —and that’s it!  Nine out of 44—not counting Singles and Pairs.  And the last two Consecutive hands are even more difficult. Two hands call for five Pairs—the 6th Even hand and the 5th 369 hand. My favorite Like Numbers hand with Flowers is gone. So that’s the bad news. 

The good news is that 2011 requires one Soap.
Lots of 2s, and 1s, 7s , more Kongs of Dragons, still Kongs of Flowers, are some of the features of the card.  An Exposure of a Pung of East or West reveals a Closed hand and a Pung of any Dragon reveals the Like Numbers hand.  Exposure of a Pung of 8s is not from an Even hand.  It’s either the 1st. or 2nd Consecutive hand, or the 4th. Winds/Dragon hand.  Exposure of a Pung of nines is either the 3rd. Winds/Dragon hand or the 2nd. Consecutive Run hand.  Finally, prices have gone up for some hands.
I suspect that with time and playing , it will get “easier”.  Or maybe not. But don’t despair!  There’s always next year!

Til next time…
MAY TH TILES BE WITH YOU!

May 8, 2011 | 5:31 pm

TRIBUTE TO MY READERS

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
TO ALL MOMS
(EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT A MOM)

AND MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU…

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May 1, 2011 | 9:44 pm

STRATEGY CLASS IN L.A.

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

STRATEGY CLASS FOR NOVICE PLAYERS IN L.A.

ARE YOU A SLOW PLAYER?

DO YOU PLAY THE SAME HANDS OVER AND OVER?

DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE FINDING A HAND?

IS IT DIFFICULT TO FIND A HAND TO CHANGE TO?

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DECIDE IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR HAND?

CAN YOU TELL WHAT HAND AN OPPONENT IS PLAYING FROM THE EXPOSURES?

ARE YOU A STRONG DEFENSIVE PLAYER?

WE’LL COVER THESE TOPICS AND LOSTS MORE!!!!
COME SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS AND IMPROVE YOUR PLAY AT THE

AMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY

3 FRIDAYS——-MAY 13TH,  20TH AND 27TH

1-2:30 P.M.

CALL 1-310-440-1246 TO REGISTER

SEE YOU THERE!!!!!!!
AND MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!!!

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April 25, 2011 | 12:56 am

A FATAL DECLARATION

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

A FATAL DECLARATION

The holidays, family visits and cooking special meals are over and the kids are heading back to school.  It’s back to the normal routine for most of us.  And back to playing Mahj for lots of us.
But I did manage to get in a game over the holiday break.  And of course something happened I realized many players, experienced and otherwise, do.
The card is new, out since the 1st of April (I always wonder why they come out on April Fool’s Day) and many of you are just getting comfortable with the new hands. I noticed this year’s card has many more Pairs hands than last year’s, the odd Section has Dragon hands and my favorite Consecutive Run hand is gone but some of the same hands remain.  I think this year’s card is a little more challenging than last’s.
Anyway, let’s get back to the game I was playing.  Since it was the first time playing the new card, we all were a little tentative, but still,  a couple of Mahjs were declared.
In one of the games, my friend Linda exposed a Pung of 3 Dot.  A Pung of 3 Dots doesn’t reveal Linda’s hand. The game continued and she then exposed a Kong of 4 Dots, clearly a Consecutive Run hand.  Nobody noticed anything, but then Linda looked at the card and realized she made a mistake because there is no consecutive hand that requires a Pung of 3Dots and a Kong of 4Dots..
“Oh, I made a mistake!” she blurts out.  “I was playing last year’s hand. I’m dead!”
Well, Linda, you made more than one mistake.  You declared yourself “Dead!” 
I was a little surprised because it was not like Linda, who likes to win—a lot. And is a stickler for the rules.  Although there’s no actual rule about calling yourself Dead, it’s not a wise practice. Clearly she gave the rest of us the advantage of being able to pick and/or call 25% more tiles and 25% more chances to win. It’s the responsibility of the other players to determine your hand from the Exposures and declare the hand Dead—not yours.
So if you find yourself in the same situation, button your lip.  There is an expression used during WWII, “Loose Lips Sink Ships”.  Hopefully, your “lips” won’t sink your hand.

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

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April 20, 2011 | 11:01 am

STRATEGY CLASS FOR NOVICE PLAYERS IN L. A.

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                                                        ATTENTION NOVICE PLAYERS IN L. A.!!!!!!!!!!!   

HAVING TROUBLE WITH

•  FINDING A HAND,  QUICKLY AND EASILY??

•  DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT TO KEEP, WHAT TO PASS, WHAT NOT TO KEEP, ??

•  EXPOSING AND EXPOSURES,?????

•  WHEN AND IF TO CHANGE YOUR HAND,?????

•  DEFENSIVE PLAYING,???????

•  HOT TILES?????

                                                    COME TO THE   STRATEGY CLASS

                                                      AT AMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY

                                          3 Fridays ——-  MAY 13,  20 ,  27 ——FROM 1-2:30 PM
 
                                                    TO SIGN UP—-CALL 310-440-1246

A LITTLE PREVIEW

Here’s a preview of one of the situations we will be discussing :

An opponent has made two Exposures and you think you know what she needs to Mahj.  You are also waiting for one tile to declare Mahj.  There are three picks left in the Wall and you pick the opponent’s Mahj tile. 

What do you do???

We’ll be resolving this and many other issues.  And much more…
Join the class and your game will improve by leaps and bounds!
       
And you’ll have FUN!
See you there….

ELAINE SANDBERG

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April 18, 2011 | 12:02 am

IN A RUT???????

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                            IN A RUT??????
I received a call from a former student the other day and we caught up on the news—mostly good, I’m happy to say. 
She soon got around to the purpose of her call—she wanted some advice about a problem she was having.  It turned out it was a problem I’d been aware that some newer players have, as well as some more experienced ones.  I’ll call it the “Being Stuck” syndrome. 
“I seem to play the same hands over and over,” she said. “I don’t play lots of different ones. It makes me nervous”.
Mah Jongg is supposed to be fun, not anxiety-producing.  But it seems that for some, it is. But it doesn’t have to be.
Playing unfamiliar hands, like doing anything unfamiliar , results in a feeling of discomfort —it’s only natural.  But the more you do the unfamiliar thing , the less anxious you become. And avoiding it,  just prolongs the anxiety.
So it is with Mah Jongg hands that are outside your comfort zone. I know for me, the first time I try one of them can be really uncomfortable, the second time, a little less, by the third time, it’s OK . The more you try new hands, the easier it gets. And winning with a new hand is even more fun.
Another one of the benefits of having a wider repertoire of hands at your command is the more hands you are familiar with, the easier it is to find a hand to play when you first look at your tiles.. Another is it’s easier to find a hand to switch to, when necessary.  And when there are Exposures,  it will be easier to spot the hand opponents may be playing. And more rewarding, because you become a better, stronger , more versatile player. 
So hopefully I have convinced those afflicted with Being Stuck Syndrome that the benefits to overcome it more than justifies the effort.  Be persistent and You Shall Overcome!
Til next time,,,
,MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

.

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April 10, 2011 | 4:29 pm

THE NEW CARD

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                                      THE NEW CARD!

At last the new card has arrived…..And I am curious to know What’s your reaction?…

Better?  Worse?  Easier?  Harder? 
Let me know……

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

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April 4, 2011 | 12:13 am

TEN COMMANDMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

THE “TEN COMMANDMENTS” WERE PRESENTED—COMPLIMENTS OF SPECIALTY CRUISES INTERNATIONAL.

  Their business is arranging and conducting mah jongg tournaments and mah jongg cruises.

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE…...MAHJONGGMADNESS.ORG

MANY THANKS…...
AND MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU…...

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April 2, 2011 | 9:50 pm

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

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March 27, 2011 | 7:55 pm

MY BAD!!!!

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                              MY BAD!!!

Playing tournament mah jongg is much different than what I’ll call “social” mah jongg.  Mostly, the rules are very restrictive.  Each tournament makes its own rules, and time limits on games make it very fast—15 minutes are allowed for each game and each table plays four games—that’s 1 hour per round.  Each participant is given a direction—North, South, East and West and a number.  So you wear a tag that reads, for example, 45 W.  This means you are identified as player #45 and you sit at the table in the West position for the purpose of scoring.  The person with the highest score, wins.
There are many more differences, but this post is not really about the tournament.  It’s about something that happened.  Here is the story.
The game had started and player sitting West called an 8 Bam, but without taking the called tile, placed one 8 Bam and a Joker on her rack. She looked at her partial Exposure and said, “Oops, I don’t want it” meaning the 8Bam on the table.  Another player immediately called her hand dead. 
“But “ I said, “she didn’t take the tile from the table.  Her hand is dead only if she puts the called tile up on her rack.”  There followed a heated discussion about the status of the hand.  Finally, my argument prevailed and the player returned her partial Exposure to her hand and the game continued. 
But I was disturbed by the certainty the other player displayed about the call.  So, the next day I called the League’s office and after I explained the situation, was told, “Yes the hand is dead.  Once a player displays any part of an Exposure,  she cannot put her tiles back, no matter what.  Once she said “I don’t want it”, her hand was dead.
So having learned something, I wished I could have apologized for my mistake to the payer who was correct.  Maybe she reads my blog…..
Til the next time…
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

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March 20, 2011 | 6:48 pm

SPACED OUT

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

In my book, A Beginner’s Guide to American Mah Jongg, I start the strategy chapter by admonishing students not to separate the tiles by leaving spaces between combinations. I explain that doing so reveals to the other players which combinations you are waiting to complete and how close you are to Mahj.  For example, if you separate one tile from the rest of your hand the probability that you’re waiting for a tile to complete a Pair is 99.99%.  Not a good idea.

So….last week I was invited to play at a fund-raiser—it was not a tournament—just the same 4 or 5 players at each table..and there were lots of tables.  At one of the tables, four of the women were former students of mine and we greeted each other with enthusiasm.  A fifth player was a friend, (we’ll call her Rose) and playing, so I watched the hand.

The game was close to the end. Rose had made two Exposures—a Kong of 8Bam and a Kong of 9 Bam.  She had effectively announced to everyone that she was playing the 4th Consecutive Run hand. But, much to my chagrin, she had three tiles on one end of the rack and two tiles on the other, making it obvious that she was waiting for a Flower. Players, in all probability would not have discarded a Flower, but because she had separated her tiles so completely, she left no doubt about what she needed and how close she was to Mahj. Even if she needed a Green and it was discarded she couldn’t call it because she still needed a Flower to Mahj.  She gave her opponents safe discards of Green Dragons. And, of course no one discarded a Flower but everyone discarded Greens. Predictably, she didn’t win.

But I had a great time at the fund-raiser and fun seeing old friends! 

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

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March 14, 2011 | 12:00 am

“MAYBE”  TILES

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

                                      “MAYBE”  TILES

No, “Maybe” tiles are not a new Suit or a new kind of tile.  They are tiles that you just keep that do not really help or strengthen the hand you’re playing. You might get them in the Charleston or decide to keep them as you’re playing the game. But for the novice player, they can be the source of chaos and confusion.

Here are examples of maybe tiles.

You are playing an even hand that requires 2 and 4Crak.  In the Charleston, you get a 2Bam. 

You are playing a 369 one-Suited hand.  You pick a tile of the same Suit, but not a 3, 6 or 9.

You are playing a 1,3, 5 odd hand in Crak. You get a 9 Crak.

None of these tiles are “keepers”.  In the first example, the 2Bam, although it’s an even numbered tile, it’s the wrong Suit.

In the second example, tho the Suit is correct, it’s a wrong number.

In the third example, your hand requires low numbers—9 is a high number.

The tendency to keep Flowers, extra or otherwise or tiles that make a Pair unrelated to your hand is usually counter-productive.

So “Maybe I’ll save this if I change my mind” or “Maybe I’ll keep it for later” is, in most instances, not a good idea.  When you have a specific hand to play, don’t get sidetracked by maybe tiles.  Keep your “eyes on the prize”!

Til the next time…..

MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

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