More Fun Playing Mahjong, aka the Playing Protocols or the Do’s and Don’ts of Riichi
What follows is intended to remind us all of many of the good things that we do as a matter of course when playing mahjong, and also act as a reminder of the occasional opportunity for improvement in that department!
Why do these things matter at all, always assuming, of course, that they do? Well, for the most part they save time. What’s the rush? Simply that we have more fun by playing more mahjong if we eliminate as best we can, the things that consume time unproductively, and, as the Scots say, “Mony a mickle makes a muckle” - many small things make a big thing!
So, award yourself a big tick/a pat on the back for each time you are on the ‘right end’ of the following encouragements and hints on how to have for yourself, and how to proffer to others, more mahjong-playing ‘bang for your buck’!
The Deal
- Concentrate on the deal. (If you aren’t fully aware that it’s your turn to draw tiles in the initial deal, three people are waiting for you. Need to ask whose turn it is to draw? Eleven times out of ten, it’s you!)
- Wait until the end of the deal to flip the Dora indicator (you are highly unlikely to be able do this and draw your tiles in tempo which can leave three people waiting while you flip the tile, split the dead wall, adjust its position – and just occasionally polish it for good measure!) Flipping the dora indicator is important work, but is best carried out when others are not delayed by the activity.
- Always make your wall 17 tiles long by two tall. This enables the position indicated by the dice roll to be found more easily (sometimes counting from the far end. Which is quicker - ‘1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12’ or ‘2,4,6,8,10,12’ or ‘5 from the ‘other’ end’? Some players choose to mark off on their wall where 6 pairs falls – making all numbers much easier to find. Which is quicker ‘2,4,6,8,10’ or ‘6+4’?)
- Help the scorer. (If you are ahead of the field in building your wall, then as a courtesy to the scorer, who is working and calculating on your behalf, how about starting to build his wall too, rather than be one of the three players waiting while he completes his important scoring task and then starts to build his wall)
The Shuffle
- First turn tiles face down en bloc where possible e.g. the rows of six from your discards/all the closed ingredients of your hand/the remaining unused walls. (This is patently quicker than lobbing tiles randomly into the middle, then turning them over individually)
- Help shuffle the tiles by gently moving on a couple of handfuls at a time to the person on your right, taking sensible attention to avoid re-turning too many tiles. (Having everyone move in the same direction avoids clashes of hands and gets the shuffling done efficiently. When three people participate in this way, even the most enthusiastic of tile shufflers will be readily satisfied that the mixing has been adequately completed. What is the fourth player up to at this time? Scoring - or joining in too!)
The Discard
- Consider your likely next discard well before your next draw, and maybe even the one that will likely follow it too. (You can always change your mind if the draw is even less suitable to your hand, or makes an attractive addition to the discard you had planned! That’s where the second choice discard comes in!) In any case, try to make the discard before inserting a tile that you decide to retain in its ‘correct’ position in your hand. (Very few players collect a ‘tick’ all the time for this one – just try to be one of the less frequent offenders)
The Draw
- Be aware when it’s your turn. If you need to ask……..
- See under The Discard for best practice of the sequence of actions
- Try to anticipate what you will do if you should draw a particular tile that might change your intentions for the hand. (This is another reason to think in terms of not just one discard, but a second one too.)
- Equally try to think ahead of what you will do if a potentially attractive tile to your hand is discarded. (This speeds up your decision making, and also helps you by not revealing to other players your potential interest in the tile should you choose to reject the stealing option.)
The Steal
- Recommended procedure when picking up a discard is:
- Announce ‘chi’, ‘pon’, or ‘kan’ and show the relevant tiles from hand
- Discard
- Collect the tile to be stolen
This is one of the least disciplined manoeuvres in routine play. It’s only another version of being ready to discard, but this sequence saves the time taken while the stolen tile is placed in hand. The announcing part is important, quite apart from being part of ‘The Rules’. Failure to do so is the most common cause of a player being unaware of their turn when play is disrupted by a steal.
The Pause
All this might seem to suggest that you are not allowed any time for reflection and assessment during the play of a hand. Not so. Admittedly, mahjong is a fast game but everyone needs a pause from time to time to consider (a change of) strategy and/or to find a safe discard at a particularly dangerous point, and it is perfectly reasonable to do that from time to time. The operative phrase, of course, is ‘from time to time’. Think of all the above hints as not only helping the game to go with a swing, but also as building up some time ‘savings’ for the occasion when you need to pause and think.
If you have a perfect score on all these points, then beatification awaits you in the near future.
Any minor blemishes in your personal score should be seen as representing opportunity to be ‘even more fun to play with’!