The UnDead Hand

 Fellow Mah Jongg players, 

As  beginners, we must often place ourselves at the mercy of the NMJL, the Card and other players. We are new and everything is foreign. After the deal, we search fervently for a match, any match between the tiles in our hand and the hands on the card. Why are there so many pairs? Where are all the jokers? Is winning even possible in this game?  

Mah Jongg is a complex game, with rules and etiquette and customs coming from each corner of the table. It can be hard to remember when it's your turn, let alone how you should ask for a Joker exchange or where to put the dice after East rolls. The thing is, the table, the tiles, the card and the game play are only the surface of Mah Jongg. The etiquette, the customs, the practices, and even the setup & take down are also important parts that cement this game as a cultural, social experience. And as much fun as it is (sometimes!), there are rules to the game. 

Playing by the rules doesn't mean that the game isn't friendly. Neither does it mean that someone is being rude by calling your hand dead.  Games have rules. Life has rules. If you aren't crazy about the rules, it's OK. You can walk away. I've quit jobs, parties, sports and even family members when I didn't agree with the rules. You're free to make your own choice. But you are not free to make your own rules. 

So let's talk about the Dead Hand. A hand is dead when a player commits a rule violation. The most common dead hand fouls are when a player has too few or too many tiles, or when they declare Mah Jongg but do not have a hand corresponding to the NMJL card. There are others but those two are the big ones. There are some wildly picky ones out there. Here's one of my "oh no!" rules: If you touch a tile on the wall and move that tile in any way, it's yours. If you put it down and touch a discard, your hand is dead. This rule is rooted in cheating: there are nefarious players who will palm a tile and swap it out for a tile on the wall. 

Likewise, if you pick up a discard to make an exposure and then decide against taking it, your hand is dead. This is also rooted in cheating and is not personal. Mah Jongg is a game of observation. It's important to keep your head up and be aware of discards, your own hand and the wall. This is a skill like any other, and it improves with practice. 

If your hand is called Dead, take the disqualification and resolve to play better the next game. This has happened to me many times. The memories are sometimes painful, but they serve a purpose. Learning a lesson the hard way is often the easiest way to keep from repeating that mistake. 

It's helpful to remember that this is a game, that it will all be over soon, and that no one is likely to remember your mistake. It's also helpful to know that many seasoned players are hesitant to call out beginners for errors. But what else is there to do? If I took someone's phone and started making calls, someone would stop me. If a stranger walked into your house and claimed it was a mistake, but then strolled past you into the kitchen, you would kick them out or call the police. No matter how kind or polite they are, it's breaking the law. Mah Jongg is not Breaking & Entering, but it does have a code.

I want to play with people as long as there is breath in my body. The way I ensure I can play anywhere is to play by league rules everywhere. If someone takes offense to me enforcing the rules, then that is not the table for me. If you don't want to enforce the rules, that's your choice. But then, why play it? I don't like Chess, so I don't play. I like Bridge but I don't understand all the rules yet, and so I rely on more experienced players to correct me. Your Mah Jongg game deserves the same opportunity. Give yourself the option to play with anyone at any time in any place, forever.

MahjLove to All