I played that one time and then went to one other lesson with a different group. I have been asked to play by the latter a couple of times but have always had a conflict.
The best part to me is that no one else is depending on me to have success. Unless you are with a bunch of hard noses, people are pretty relaxed, happy to help, etc.
It’s kind of fun, but it honestly seems overly time-consuming to me. I understand there is probably mental value to it and the social aspect is also nice. But 3-4 hours (which seems to be common, though I really don’t know??) is a lot of time.
Then you get into the who is hosting and taking turns hosting and needing all the, “gear,” and having to prepare snacks, clean your house, whatever. Maybe I am lazy, but at this point in my life, I think I want to spend my time doing other things. I also do not really have space to reciprocate hosting anyway. If I were to entertain a group of women in my home, I’d prefer it to be for lunch or happy hour. Something that isn’t as involved and doesn’t last as long.
2 Likes
My mom friend group was just discussing this (at drag bingo). Our library has a morning club and provide boards, but they don’t teach how to play. None of us play.
lol I had 3 bunco groups after my youngest kids were born, it was a nice cheap way to get out. Eventually we’d chat for a couple of hours and then either play, not play, or substitute LRC. We’d rotate houses, host provided food and drink (my kids loved when I hosted due to the snacks).
1 Like
I play with a group at the Y, so the Y cleans and sets up the table. The woman who is the “Host” and teacher leaves 2 sets of tiles in a locker at the Y in case she can’t come. A couple (with the 90 year old guy) brings another set in case we have a big turn out. I have a set in my car but it is from China so very small tiles and they don’t want to play with it (we’re old, we want BIG tiles)
It is twice a week for 2 hours. Many people only come once a week, and I’ve pretty much switched to that because of the time suck (I also play bridge twice a month). I’m not sure I could sit longer than two hours.
The leader does teach newbies and helps all of us with ‘special hands’ We’re very casual with getting to pick up ‘mistakes’ and taking back incorrect Mahjongg calls. If we deal incorrectly or someone picks a tiles in the wrong order, we just correct it the best we can. Judy (marry to 90 year old) brings candy (that they win at Bingo - they are always doing something)
They also have American Mahjongg at the rec center (city owned) in this area. I haven’t played there but understand they are less understanding of beginners (same with bridge, so I won’t play that there either). Another group plays at Panera Bread across the street from the Y and I’ve wandered in and it is quite a large group (maybe 5 tables?) and I don’t think it costs anything. Some of the senior living centers have it too and invite all to join.
What is nice about these groups is that you can come and go on your schedule. At someone’s house you have to show or they can’t play! And Judy won’t bring candy.
2 Likes
Okay, nothing you said in your second paragraph makes ANY sense to me! Arghhhh…yes, thank goodness no one has to depend on my skills to win or lose anything! We will see if I can even follow what’s going on.
Well, thank heavens I do not have to be good. We will see how it goes. As far as continuation of play, we will probably keep it at our subdivision clubhouse - there are a group of 20 starting in this first lesson and then a waitlist for another 20 the following week or two - so, quite a popular game I’m guessing. Yes,everyone must bring an appetizer!
1 Like
The three suits are dots (circles), bamboo (also called sticks), and Crack (also called numbers). Dots are easy, like dominos, so 2 dots is a 2. Bam or bamboo look like bones and again have the same number on the tile (but the number 1 is a bird, and the number 8 looks like an M). The numbers suit has the chinese number symbols on them (but thankfully the regular numbers too!).
Special tiles are the dragons, winds and seasons. Learn the others and then these are easy.
American has jokers and blank tiles. I don’t know how those work.
I had to switch from Asian mahjong to American several years ago with a move and lack of finding a group to play in that style.
American mahjong with the use of jokers and different dealings and hands was a learning curve and I am the one at the table always saying “well in Asia we could play a hand like this or in Asia you don’t have jokers or a card that changes yearly, etc” - luckily my new group puts up with me. 
The most helpful thing for learning for me was subscribing to Real Mah Jongg online and playing on your ipad. You use the official card (that has to be ordered and purchased yearly as the hands change - even though I see many people just make copies of the card for new players) and practice playing the computer and using the hand suggestion option. No pressure and builds familiarity with the card, tiles and is offered at different speeds. There is also a weekly e-newsletter called the Mah Jongg Insider that comes out every Monday and it can offer up a few helpful tips and scenarios to review on your own.
We have a group that plays weekly at our church, in the evening. They have been playing for a couple of years now. I wasn’t able to participate when they first got up and running and were offering lessons to newbies, and now I feel intimidated. But the leader is trying to convince me and another friend to give it a try. She just emailed us today with dates she can meet to teach us. I am also wary of the time commitment. The core group of women are very dedicated and show up every week unless they are out of town. Not sure I have that much interest, especially since outside of summer months I already have choir practice every Thursday night. I doubt, however, that they are playing for 3 or even 2 hours, as I know some of them turn into pumpkins after 8:30 pm! I think they start at 7 pm. Still on the fence but I’m leaning towards at least giving it a go to see what it’s all about and if I take to it at all. I’m not great at game strategy so we’ll see!
1 Like
We had a new player today who normally plays American. She did pretty well but she did quit early as she said it was a lot of thinking and she was tired after 1 hour 15 min. We usually play 2 hours.
We had a woman who was new to me today (she’s been there once or twice when I was gone). She is Chinese and plays with her family - for money! She had just come back from Texas and said she played every night and won $300 - from family. She plays very fast.
I play American Mahjong every week. There are no blank tiles in the sets we use.
It does take some learning to learn to choose a hand from the card. And also eventually….how to switch hands if you aren’t getting the tiles you need.
But it’s like any other game like this (bridge, hearts, euchre, etc). It just takes some practice, and yes…some mistakes!
2 Likes
Aren’t the blank tiles the jokers/wild cards?
In some older Chinese sets, the white dragons are blanks, but in more modern sets (which is just about all of them now) they have a blue rectangle on them to distinguish them from the blank side of a set that doesn’t have a different color on the other side. One set we play with at the Y is just white on the back. Some sets have extra blank tiles in case one tile is lost or broken (our all white set was dropped on the floor recently and one tile was chipped so now we all know when ‘7 bam’ is coming up.
Sort of like memorizing the grain on the back of scrabble tiles.
My Chinese friends generally don’t like American Mahjong because it is more mechanical and limiting because of the set “winning” hands. It sounds like a bit of a scam to buy the annual cards.
In my time in Asia, I played and “watched” several versions of Chinese mahjong. It seems being able to create any hands that score the required number of points requires faster thinking, especially if you are confronted with a choice in building either a low scoring hand easier to hu or a high scoring hand that is more difficult. Also you really need to pay attention to what the other players are discarding – they could be building any hand, not just the prescribed ones.
1 Like
American mahjong does not use blanks, at least if playing by the official National Mah Jongg League rules. Some players like to use “table rules”, variations of the official rules. There are many different table rules, such as using blanks, hot (or cold) walls, no walls, etc. Tournaments are played using official rules.