December 5, 2010 | 4:44 pm

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Posted by Elaine Sandberg

Follow JewishJournal.com on

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

As part of my classes, I teach important strategies for both beginners and novice players.  But which strategies to use depends on the situation you are faced with. It’s not always an easy decision because there are many seen and unseen factors that need to be taken into account. 

In this post, I’ll focus on a common strategy—what and when   you discard-—and to be specific, a critical discard.

As you play, your discard depends a great deal on the information you have been able to discern from an easy source available—information you pick up from the Exposures. How many Exposures have been made, are the Exposures a Pung or a Kong, one or two Suits, what numbers, Dragons, etc. all can help you determine which hand is being played and whether your discard is safe or hot. You can also observe what the opponent discarded, what tiles have or have not been discarded and another factor is what stage the game is in, early or late.

So here’s a common dilemma that calls for a critical discard.
The game is coming to an end—there are only three or four more picks available from the Wall.  You have a pretty good idea of the hand an opponent is playing and you are waiting for Mahj yourself. It’s your turn and you pick the tile are almost sure the opponent needs for Mahj.  What would you do???

Post your answers….

Til next time…
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!