Tell us some strange MJ hands you have played
Dee
thread that will generate some traffic.
I'd like to hear about some strange or interesting hands you've
played, regardless of rules.
I will start the ball rolling: I was playing with friends/family this
past weekend (HKOS), and in one hand, two players ended up with pairs
of all three "dragons". Each was hoping for "Big Three Scholar" or at
least "Little Three Scholar". Eventually each figured out that
someone else must have the other pairs of the dragons -- but neither
one expected that all three pairs were held by just one other player.
Of course, neither player wanted to give up and break up any of the
pairs. Eventually someone else won with a small hand. They were so
disappointed because the hands had such high potentials.
Tom Sloper
>I was playing with friends/family this
>past weekend (HKOS), and in one hand, two players ended up with pairs
>of all three "dragons". Each was hoping for "Big Three Scholar" or at
>least "Little Three Scholar". Eventually each figured out that
>someone else must have the other pairs of the dragons -- but neither
>one expected that all three pairs were held by just one other player.
That is so funny! Thanks, Dee. I have forgotten the details of the ironic
thing that happened in my weekly American game last week, but then again I
suppose most group regulars wouldn't care about anything that happened in
the American game anyway... Still, I'll keep my eyes open.
Cheers,
Tom
Jesse
playing japanese style mj and i had a bad hand, nothing new. So
feeling like i had nothing to lose, and being an big fan of HKOS, i
said lets go for 13 unique wonders god hand, i was about 6 tiles into
it anyway. sugoi, almost every subsequent draw led to 1, 9, honor. how
exciting, there was my hand b19, c19, m19, wh,gr,n,e,e,s,w all i
needed was good ol joh the red dragon. of course i called 'riichi' for
the extra excitement and to casue the opponents to discard their
honors. It worked, there was the red dragon, ah good ol omega Ron
coming my way. but alas, what happened, east through the red dragon, i
was north, and south took it for a win of no terminals (1 han). oh
what good times.
Tom Sloper
Jesse, do you want to hear something even more annoying?
My local (Los Angeles' Little Tokyo) players allow multiple players to Ron
on a discard.
If you were playing here, you WOULD have won (you and South both).
I was surprised to read that your Japanese friends do not allow multiple
winners on a discard (I had thought that was the norm - guess it's a table
rule? Where were you playing Japanese style? Your email address also uses a
Japanese term, so I thought you were playing in Japan...?).
Question for you. I understood your terminology "b19, c19" but I don't
understand "m19." The Japanese call the suits "manzu, sozu, pinzu" so I
would have expected to see m in that context. But you used b and c, so I
don't know what "m" stands for...? Oh, wait. Bams, Circles, Manzu? Are you
mixing Japanese terms with English? (I thought you were saying "bams, craks,
and, uh... m")
Second terminology question. You used the term "joh" which is only used in
IMJ. Just curious why you saw fit to use that term? (Nobody here except Cofa
uses that term.)
Lastly. I'm fairly certain my Japanese friends would not bother declaring
Riichi if they were waiting for Kokushimusou - you can't get "yakuman and 1
fan." And I'm not so sure that a riichi declaration would force loose
dragons out into the open...
Cheers,
Tom
Nick Wedd
<tom...@sloperama.com> writes
>Question for you. I understood your terminology "b19, c19" but I don't
>understand "m19." The Japanese call the suits "manzu, sozu, pinzu" so I
>would have expected to see m in that context. But you used b and c, so I
>don't know what "m" stands for...? Oh, wait. Bams, Circles, Manzu? Are you
>mixing Japanese terms with English? (I thought you were saying "bams, craks,
>and, uh... m")
Let me guess. M stands for money.
Nick
--
Nick Wedd ni...@maproom.co.uk
Cofa Tsui
news:zTMMa.1780$NW6....@rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net...
> Jesse (fuyu893) wrote:
>
> >this wasn't a strange hand as much as it was annoying. So there i was,
> >playing japanese style mj and i had a bad hand, nothing new. So
> >feeling like i had nothing to lose, and being an big fan of HKOS, i
> >said lets go for 13 unique wonders god hand, i was about 6 tiles into
> >it anyway. sugoi, almost every subsequent draw led to 1, 9, honor. how
> >exciting, there was my hand b19, c19, m19, wh,gr,n,e,e,s,w all i
> >needed was good ol joh the red dragon. of course i called 'riichi' for
> >the extra excitement and to casue the opponents to discard their
> >honors. It worked, there was the red dragon, ah good ol omega Ron
> >coming my way. but alas, what happened, east through the red dragon, i
> >was north, and south took it for a win of no terminals (1 han). oh
> >what good times.
>
> Jesse, do you want to hear something even more annoying?
>
> My local (Los Angeles' Little Tokyo) players allow multiple players to Ron
> on a discard.
>
> If you were playing here, you WOULD have won (you and South both).
I might have missed something here. Shouldn't the "13 unique wonders god
hand" have the priority over other type of winning hand?
Thanks,
Cofa
Tom Sloper
win Kokushimusou because another player's claim trumped his.) I responded:
>> My local (Los Angeles' Little Tokyo) players allow multiple players to
Ron
>> on a discard.
>>
>> If you were playing here, you WOULD have won (you and South both).
Cofa writes:
>I might have missed something here. Shouldn't the "13 unique wonders god
>hand" have the priority over other type of winning hand?
1. We're talking about Japanese mah-jongg, not Hong Kong rules. Rules
pertaining to one variant of mah-jongg do not necessarily apply to another
variant of mah-jongg.
2. An "overtrump" rule (permitting a player to have the tile even when
trumped, if the player has certain special hands) isn't needed or applicable
when the prevailing rule is that multiple players can win on a discard.
Tom
Cofa Tsui
> (Jesse had described a situation in Japanese mah-jongg in which he didn't
> win Kokushimusou because another player's claim trumped his.) I responded:
>
> >> My local (Los Angeles' Little Tokyo) players allow multiple players to
> Ron
> >> on a discard.
> >>
> >> If you were playing here, you WOULD have won (you and South both).
>
> Cofa writes:
>
> >I might have missed something here. Shouldn't the "13 unique wonders god
> >hand" have the priority over other type of winning hand?
>
> 1. We're talking about Japanese mah-jongg, not Hong Kong rules. Rules
> pertaining to one variant of mah-jongg do not necessarily apply to another
> variant of mah-jongg.
That's exactly what I tried to find out about the Japanese mahjong. Thanks!
Cofa
Jesse
maybe in this version, my lack of japanese speaking makes it difficult
for me to join mj circles so normally i play the nation wide network
version called 'mahjong fight club' which is in all the video arcades.
The only difference i found in this game and real life is that you
spend money but never make any.
but on an interesting note, when i first learned HKOS i was taught
that multiple wins are only allowed if all three go out, if two needed
the tile it was the closest seat to the discarder who got it. Then
when watching another HKOS game two people needed the same tile and
both got the win. How has anyone here played?
> Oh, wait. Bams, Circles, Manzu? Are you
> mixing Japanese terms with English? (I thought you were saying "bams, craks,
> and, uh... m")
you got me there, with all the styles out there my terminology gets
mixed up a bit.
> Second terminology question. You used the term "joh" which is only used in
> IMJ. Just curious why you saw fit to use that term? (Nobody here except Cofa
> uses that term.)
one of my first posts was about IMJ and the cultural attack from its
naming scheme, but to prevent any hard feelings i wanted to give cofa
props on some of the decent names.
> Lastly. I'm fairly certain my Japanese friends would not bother declaring
> Riichi if they were waiting for Kokushimusou - you can't get "yakuman and 1
> fan." And I'm not so sure that a riichi declaration would force loose
> dragons out into the open...
whenever i have played and someone calls riichi all the hidden honors
come out to the table esspecially later in the game and several of the
honors are already out. I wasnt going for the extra points, it was
more of a feint and lure. Like you said nobody calls reach for 13
unique wonders so people are even more suseptiable to throw the red
dragon.
Ive tried it several times when going for a dragon hand (normally
three little dragons) and managed to get the same result. Normally
when someone calls riichi and im not too certain whats in the hand
from discards alone i throw the safest honor tile (once i got hit with
13 unique wonders that way but that was only in a video version
against all computers).
Tom Sloper
>
>whenever i have played and someone calls riichi all the hidden honors
>come out to the table esspecially later in the game and several of the
>honors are already out. I wasnt going for the extra points, it was
>more of a feint and lure. Like you said nobody calls reach for 13
>unique wonders so people are even more suseptiable to throw the red
>dragon.
Interesting - so it was a fake-out maneuver. Very clever, Grasshopper!
>Ive tried it several times when going for a dragon hand (normally
>three little dragons) and managed to get the same result. Normally
>when someone calls riichi and im not too certain whats in the hand
>from discards alone i throw the safest honor tile (once i got hit with
>13 unique wonders that way but that was only in a video version
>against all computers).
In my local group, after someone declares riichi, folks keep dragons in the
hand (unless the other 3 are out), getting even more protective of them,
rather than shedding them as you describe. Perhaps it works with the players
of that networked arcade game you mention, but not the pros at my local
club.
Dewa mata,
Tom
Jesse
> hand (unless the other 3 are out), getting even more protective of them,
> rather than shedding them as you describe.
I have to admit that it was a bluff. But of course the technique is
applied on a case by case basis. Taking into concideration what was on
the table, getting the best assesment of wether pong or chi players
were ready, and trying to determine if the players were going for
dragons to complete their hands. I decided it was a decent course of
action, and the tile was thrown. If there were no dragons on the table
or other players didnt seem ready then maybe i would have refrained
from calling riichi.
Oh such situations and strategies is why i play the game so much. (yes
obviously my skills of determining must be perfected beings south did
need a dragon for the win, but whatever, losing only forges the way to
victory.)
mata ne
Jesse
Martin Rep
>
>I'd like to hear about some strange or interesting hands you've
>played, regardless of rules.
>
The most amazing thing that happened to me: I consider the Hidden
Treasure as a much more difficult hand to make than the 13 Unique
Wonders. (Alan Kwan is perhaps here to say if I am right, but I have
seen quite a lot of 13 Unique Wonders and just one Hidden Treasure -
the one that I am talking about here.)
In our HKOS game a Hidden Treasure consists of four concealed pongs
(no kongs) and going out with the missing tile for the Head, which you
must draw from the wall. So one night when I was waiting for that last
tile I thought I had come as close as I ever would come. (This hand
ended in a draw.)
But *the very next evening* the incredible happened. Again I could
build a waiting Hidden Treasure and I just *knew* I would draw that
14th tile from the wall. And this is exactly what happened, and it
never happened again to me...
Now I have to work on the Nine Gates. There's another hand I have
never seen - so far.
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