Does anyone here play MahJong?
If so, can you describe the game and share some experiences?
Thanks
It was one of my earliest computer games/apps, other than Solitaire and Sudoku.
It is basically a tile matching game.
My favorite version is on MSN Games site - search for Mahjongg Tiles. It’s free.
The computer games are nothing like the real game.
YouTube has videos about the “real” game.
@oregon101 I have played mahjong a couple times. I’ve heard it’s pretty similar to rummy (although I have never played rummy so I can’t say for sure), and it has quite a bit of strategy.
It is not the tile matching game many people think it is.
There are many different versions of MahJong. There is a mahjong solitaire version which is just tile matching, but the traditional game is somewhat like the card game Rummy. Within my small city, there are groups that play at least 3 different versions. The version that I play (I just learned in the past year) is most like British Mahjong…but not quite. I enjoy the game–it requires both luck and strategy. (And the tiles are pretty!) I still have a lot to learn! There’s a website called mastersgames.com that has a good explanation, but keep in mind that there are many local variations.
I’ve played for years. This is an excellent explanation of the game that everyone I know plays. Also, there are usually some house rules (like having futures) depending on what your game(s) like.
https://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/home/rules
Maj jongg on a computer is nothing like playing real mah jongg.
Chinese mahjong is very different from NY ‘Jewish’ mahjong (as my friend calls it). Both are very fast moving. The Chinese version has more betting on the ‘extra’ tiles (that are sometimes removed, especially for beginners). There are a lot of ‘house rules’ that are used in different clubs.
It is really a lot of fun if you like card games (bridge, gin, rummy). We learned at Chinese camp and our teachers were very patient with us. I’ve played online with other players and they are NOT so patient (and I think computer speed has something to do with it too)
Fun fact: determining whether a mahjong solitaire position can be solved where all tiles are known to the player is NP-complete (see [url=<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_solitaire#Mathematical_analysis%5DWikipedia%5B/url”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_solitaire#Mathematical_analysis]Wikipedia[/url] article). There is a proof involving a reduction from 3-SAT.
Best comprehensive site for all things mah jongg related (all different versions) is www.sloperama.com (if you can stand Tom’s snarky attitude you’ll be fine!).
Thanks, I am going to look the things up mentioned here.
My local community college offers an American Mah Jongg class act a convenient time and place.
6 two hours classes for $84.
The information mentions Bam, Craks, Dots, Jokers, Flowers , Dragons and Winds.
I’ve been playing American Mah Jongg for the last two years with a group of friends. A couple of us were taught by a woman who plays a lot through a club (she charged us $20/lesson for a couple of lessons) and then we taught others. There are three of us who play regularly and we usually try to get a fourth, but if we can’t find one we play with just the three of us. It’s a really fun game–I bought a set and taught my family, although we don’t play very often. It requires a card of standard hands that’s put out annually by the National Mah Jongg League. My group of friends doesn’t play with money, but at the club where a couple of us go periodically they do use money. As @shyparentalunit mentioned it requires both luck and strategy as well as experience in figuring out what hand to play.
@oregon101, six 2 hour classes for $84 sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Wow, I had no idea Mah Jongg was anything but a matching game for old ladies or little kids. I didn’t understand the appeal. Now I’m intrigued.
Friends taught me to play. If you like rummy games you may enjoy it. The tiles with the wind, dragons etc are the suits akin to hearts, spades etc. Then like in rummy you get melds.
I love rummy and found it pretty simple to pick up but I personally would rather just play cards.
It is a good social game–lots of clubs have regular mah jongg groups.
Stupid me…I’ve been teaching people for years - FOR FREE! - at the local community center. Lol. We have a weekly game and beginners are welcome.
“My local community college offers an American Mah Jongg class act a convenient time and place.
6 two hours classes for $84.
The information mentions Bam, Craks, Dots, Jokers, Flowers , Dragons and Winds.”
That is the game most everyone here plays.
Bams, Craks, dots, are the suits and go from 1-9. Dragons are colors (red, green and white (which is called soap because the character looks like a bar of soap.) Soap is always used for zero in year hands (a hand which has 2016 in it and changes to new year every year.) New cards come out every March and everyone who plays American mah jongg plays with the same card. Flowers are not numbered and not a specific color. Hands that have F’s in them need Flowers.
If you don’t have friends to teach you the classes will be worth it - plus you’ll meet people who you can get a game with after the lessons are over.
You will eventually need to buy a set and they aren’t cheap You should look for a used one on eBay. Whatever you do don’t but a set which uses cards. You need a set with tiles.
We play with money in my games. It’s a small amount. Hands are worth $0.25 or $0.50 depending on difficulty and you pay the winner double if you throw the mah jongg tile and get paid double in you make a jokerless hand or if you pick winning tile from the wall, not from a discard. Everyone keeps their winnings in a small bag ( like a make-up case for example,) and uses that money all year.
It sounds like a difficult game to learn but it’s really not at all. Much easier than learning to play Bridge. I learned in my teens when my mom would sometimes need a forth. My mom sometimes needed a forth for Bridge too and try as I might I couldn’t learn to play.
Grew up always watching the older women in my family play mah jongg with their friends, a regular thing. Back in the ‘olden’ days, when my family all lived in NYC area, they all played together for years. Always amused me that in the Jewish community it is women, while in the Chinese community it is men, who play.
Had a recent girls weekend with my two cousins and my mom and we asked mom to teach us the game. She was delighted, and we had a great time playing slow and easy in between spa treatments, eating out and shopping. My cousins and I gained enormous respect for those who play, since it is really takes practice and skill to get good and requires a good deal of memorization. I’ll never look at those little old ladies the same way again…
^ yes, you need to be able to remember which tiles have already been thrown and which haven’t. Plus, knowing the hands from seeing the melds already exposed is important so you know not to throw the tile which will give someone mah jongg and you can also tell which hand someone is not playing because of the tiles they throw.
The very serious players (like the ladies in my moms game) memorize the card completely. They also play extremely fast - they’ll play 25 games in the time my game plays 10. They also play with a fifth ( the bettor) who bets on a certain player to make maj after looking at everyone’s tiles before play begins. Everyone rotates so all eventually become the bettor.