The game of Mahjong is a great way to spend time with friends and family, and is a fun and strategic game. If you have thoughts on any of the above Mah Jongg tips, or suggestions for new ones, please email us at info@ilovemahj.com, General advice (valid throughout the game). Welcome to Mahjong Culture. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. 2021/ Line 4: The pairs are East/West, last year they were North/South. By following these tips and strategies, youll be sure to improve your Mahjong skills in no time. When you have a pair you don't need, it can be useful to hold on to it for a while. Remember that as long as you have three tiles to pass, you don't need to lock yourself into a particular hand just yet. Choose the option that requires the fewest number of pairs (other than those you already have), If you have both concealed and non-concealed options, the non-concealed option will likely be the safer choice in this particular scenario, Count the number of tiles you have for each option (include jokers in the count) and go with the one that has the greatest count (having first taken the previous criteria into consideration), Reinforce your hand (if you have a specific one picked already), Narrow down the selected section(s) to a specific hand, Pairs. Your exposures do not need to be in the order they are on the card (you can reorder your tiles when you call Mah Jongg), Keeping a "trash pile" on the right-hand side of the rack is also a common occurrence. Concentrate on the free tiles - Most of the 144 tiles in a Mahjong game are blocked anyway, so don't worry about them. The object of the game is to create melds until you can go out, or go Mah Jongg! A game of Mah Jongg features 16 rounds and at the end of each round, players calculate their scores. You should always have a clear plan of action or at least have a fairly good idea where you want to go with your hand. The Complete Guide to American Mah Jongg Strategy | I Love Mahj Your discards could potentially help other players to get ahead, so it would be wise to avoid passing tiles that could be valuable, such as: Also, it's best to not pass groups of tiles that naturally fit together in a section. In a non-competitive game, a good compromise is to leave a few seconds after the previous discard, before picking and racking at an unhurried pace, The most important aspect is to organize your number tiles by suit in numerical order. If you feel you have too many options, try to narrow them down to two using the following criteria. Sometimes a given exposure will lead to quite a few potential hands. If you're sure, you are better off breaking your hand and discarding a tile that would be of no use to them. This hand earns level 0, and usually will have a small minimal payout. At the same time, you cannot hold off forever and pass up tiles you really need. A Beginner's Guide to Riichi Mahjong We have all had the overwhelming feeling of trying to determine the best American Mahjong hand to play. The game has been around for centuries and is still popular today. How to Play Mancala (Kalaha): Rules & Gameplay, How to Set up and Play Backgammon: Your Complete Guide, How to Play Risk: Board Setup, Rules, Strategy, & More. wikiHow is a wiki, similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. Pay attention to your opponents: Observe the way your opponents play and watch for patterns. Think of them as a continuum rather than three rigid and disparate phases. Use my tips above to make your best hand possible early on in your mahjong career, and once you get more comfortable, then you can start playing around with getting more interesting and higher scoring hands. But what if you're not dead but only a tile away from Mah Jongg and there are only a few tiles left in the wall. When a clue is given (in the form of Charleston pass, discard or exposure), you need to be able to quickly assess where those tiles belong. An all-terminals hand is one where all of the tiles are terminal tiles, which are the 1s and 9s of each suit. By now, most players will have received their 2023 National Mah Jongg League card. Math-based hands Etc Go through each hand and make 2 or 3 winning combinations of that hand (this will help you memorize the hand and easily recall it later) Run through a Charleston on your own. Consecutive Run / Line 7: The 2 kongs are like numbers, last year they were consecutive. So if you have a pair at this stage of the game it's best not to grab a discard to turn it into a pung. Experienced players will have developed their own strategies. Is mahjong a game of Luck or Skill? This makes it easier to complete sets, as all of the tiles can be used in combinations to form any type of set. You can narrow them down by correlating them with your Charleston analysis (see section above) and the player's discards (see section below). Suggested Hands: All possible hand combinations are evaluated and sorted by the highest ma At the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins the game. 3 Ways to Play Mahjong Solitaire - wikiHow 1.4 Step 4: Draw the Arms. Focus on the free tiles available to match and remove, and make a play when the opportunity arises. American MahJong Practice on the App Store One could argue that this player may have the tile you're missing to mahj, and by calling them dead you would be missing out on that tile. ", https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/mah-jong-rules.htm, https://www.ateacherfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Mah-Jongg-Instructions-2018-1.pdf, https://heroic-adventures.com/mahjong-for-dummies/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRCb_LOkEmQ, http://mahjongtime.com/Chinese-Official-Mahjong-Scoring.html, 36 Chinese Character tiles, 4 sets numbered 1-9, 12 Dragon tiles, 4 red, 4 green , and 4 white, 16 Wind tiles, 4 of each wind direction (North, South, East, and West), Chow: a run of the same type of three tiles, such as three Chinese character tiles numbered 2, 3, and 4, Pong: a set of three tiles, such as three number 2 Bamboo tiles, Kong: a set of four tiles, such as four number 5 Circle tiles. The key to being able to determine other people's hands is a thorough knowledge of the card. Dont rush into it. You will likely have another opportunity to build a good hand. But like with anything worthwhile, it will take a lot of practice and some patience. The Traditional Tile Game of China and Asia. Slowly you will create your own bag of tricks and strategies to choose from. If you have a pair, keep it. References. 1.7 Step 7: Add the Facial Guidelines. Besides discarding tiles that do not help your hand, you also need to be careful what you are passing to others. And, if so, are they mostly high (5, 7, 9) or low (1, 3, 5)? There are also more clues as to what hands our opponents are playing and we should act accordingly. 1.5 Step 5: Add the Shoes. Last Updated: March 7, 2023 A set is three tiles of the same suit, such as three circles, or three characters. The first (and arguably most important) piece of advice we'd like to give you is to prepare for the game. It is important to pay attention to the tiles that have been discarded and to be aware of what tiles are still in the wall. This is a hand where all of the tiles are in the same suit, such as all characters or all bamboos. Once a player has constructed a Mahjong, they can declare victory and the game is over. Set up your blocks. You can search by location and style of mahjong. For you to achieve Mahjong, you will likely need to adjust your plan as the game progresses. While a sure win Mahjong strategy doesnt exist, there are some strategies that can give you an advantage in the game. That's why we recommend you refrain from exposing too soon. How can I choose a hand in Mahjong? - Tabletop Game Planet Pung or Kong of Winds matching dominant Wind for the round earns 2 points. Mahjong - Yakuza 0 Walkthrough & Guide - GameFAQs - GameSpot It's likely your opponent won't be able to claim these discards because their combinations may not be far enough along and/or they don't have enough jokers at this stage. Switch it up. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review - IGN If a player has any tiles that are closed, meaning that they have not been exposed, then they cannot declare victory. It's best to place your exposures to the left of the rack, and follow with the next exposure to the right of that and so on. This is why we emphasized the need to practice and study the card. This section gives a structured approach to choosing a hand or a set of potential hands. This can also be an advantage. Porter's 40% forced incompletion rate in 2022 led all Power Five cornerbacks. 2023 NFL Draft: Grades for all Day 2 picks | NFL Draft | PFF Mahj on, everyone! As the last wall gets shorter, the stakes for bad discards are progressively higher. Practice, practice, practice: The more you play, the better youll become. You remind yourself what hand you currently have in play. Mahjong is a strategy game that originated in China. The added bonus is that your weekly Mah Jongg group will have absolutely no idea how youre winning so often!! One of the most common questions asked by new players is, What is the easiest hand to make in Mahjong? The answer to this question depends on the specific rules of the game being played, as well as the skill level of the players. Clint McCormick January 18, 2023 Board Games. So we added a special bonus section with advice on dealing with jokers. Again, this will keep everyone guessing, just so long as you arent guessing too. That being said, do not be so quick as to play recklessly and make mistakes. 2023 Updates - American Mah Jongg for Everyone Often there are several options and you'll need to pick one and run with it. What Mahjong set of rules can be recommended to beginners? So it's important to familiarize yourself with the current year's card. You should check out our How to Play Mahjong Guide! Acknowledgement: All the information collected was from players of the game. It is a game of both luck and skill, and it can be a lot of fun to play. Quint Section - Lines 1 and 3. Your email address will not be published. The Pittsburgh Steelers follow the script: The Steelers take Joey Porter Jr. to open up Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft. o Try to go out waiting for multiple tiles (not just one). Mahjong 101: Picking a Hand | Mahjong Culture We've divided our advice by phases of the Mah Jongg game (early, mid-game and towards the end) since strategy will vary depending on how far along in the game you are. MAH JONGG for Beginners 5 - American - Picking a Hand - YouTube This 1-4-7 principle also applies to any five-in-a-row pattern (assuming the hand is otherwise complete - you have two complete sets and a complete pair, waiting to go out with a five-in-a-row pattern as shown by ** in the table below). {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/b7\/Play-Mah-Jongg-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Play-Mah-Jongg-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/b\/b7\/Play-Mah-Jongg-Step-1.jpg\/aid7841-v4-728px-Play-Mah-Jongg-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"