Oh, the pain when we discard a tile that results in another player calling out Mah Jongg! Meredith has been one of my top Mah Jongg students and now is away for the summer – we miss her! She sent me the following email:
“My MJ group on the island. Dana’s closed hand and I gave it to her! I knew in that game yesterday that the winds had not been thrown and I knew Dana loves the winds. I had 3 winds and had to throw one and chose the wrong one. It is true if I give the person MJ I have to pay double, right? That cost me a whole dollar!”
I think Dana looks as surprised as Meredith! Congratulations to Dana on winning with a great closed SINGLES AND PAIRS hand NN EE WW SS 11 11 11!
With a closed hand it is difficult to figure out what hand is being played and what tiles are safe to discard. But there are clues – here’s another quiz for you newbies (and experienced players can chime in, too!):
What clues as to what not to discard – or what tiles might be safe – exist in a game when a player has no exposures? Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
Mah Jongg and Me 
In the case of the winds hands or other hands you have to check for the number of each tile that are out. You also need to remember how many winds and/or tiles were passed during the Charleston. That is of utmost importance.
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1s and 9s early on as often in pairs. Of course jokers if you don’t need them 🙂
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I agree that it is difficult to know what someone needs when the hand is a closed one. However, if you have played with the same people you get to know what hands they like to play. Also I try to remember what tiles are being passed between the players. Sometime that is an indication of what the players are keeping as well as discarding.
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