Here are a couple more questions and answers from the April 2014 Mah Jongg Madness
newsletter written by Gladys Grad, the Grand Master of American-Style Mah Jongg:
Q. If I put up an exposure that has a Joker in it, and someone exchanges a tile for that
Joker….and at the end of the game I get Mah Jongg with no Jokers showing, do I get the
bonus for a “Jokeless Hand?” The other players said “no.” What is right?
A. You had a good Jokerless Mah Jongg and deserve the bonus. It didn’t matter what you
exposed before, as long as there were no Jokers exposed when you declared Mahj.
Q. Every game I play in has different answer regardng the hand on the 2014 card:
222 000 1111 4444
Do I have to use Dots with the Soaps (White Dragon)?
A. No, the SOAPS can be paired with any suit; then the 1’s and 4’s need to be any ONE of the
OTHER suits. The NMJL makes this clear with the instructions on the top of the CARD:
NOTE: WHITE DRAGON IS USED AS ZERO “0”. IT MAY BE USED WITH ANY SUIT (CRAKS,
BAMS OR DOTS).
Here are examples of ways to play the 222 000 1111 4444 hand on the NMJL‘s 2014 card
from Tom Sloper‘s amazing Sloperama website (incredibly up-to-date and right on the money,
as always!) If you don’t know Tom’s website – or haven’t read his book, The Red Dragon & The
West Wind, which is the definitive book on Mah Jongg game playing, you need to catch up
with the rest of us!
Mah Jongg and Me 