Sometimes we think that Mah Jongg is just in our neighborhood…we forget that our beloved game is all around the world and especially in all the corners of our country. Take for example Omaha, Nebraska!

Dianne Severa writes that Mah Jongg is thriving in Omaha…in fact, Dianne herself has two Mah Jongg groups. She writes, “one is on Monday evening and the other is on Thursday afternoon. We play at Camelot Community Center. The Monday evening group plays from 6:30 PM to 9 PM. The Thursday afternoon group plays 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. We come from all over the Omaha area and we have all levels of players, beginners to expert. We don’t play on major holidays when Camelot is closed, otherwise we play if there are three players signed up to play. No one is expected to play every time and since Mah Jongg can be played with three players at the table, we do not have substitutes. We play with however many sign up for that evening’s or that afternoon’s play. Many of us play in both groups. The groups have been back to playing since April. I still have some players that are still Covid-shy and not yet playing and even though the rosters are large we have not reached the numbers that were playing before Covid. I have been taking new players for the Monday evening group all along. I have not been taking players for the Thursday afternoon group for a couple of years now because of the number of players on the roster and the size of the room we play in. Since we are down players, at least temporarily I am taking new players in both groups.

We do play the National Mah Jongg League rules. Before anyone can join the groups, they must have either played before or take lessons. Since teaching the game is my hobby there’s no charge for the lessons but every player needs the current National Mah Jongg League card of Official Hands and Rules. It can be bought it from me for my cost of $10. For someone who has never played before I usually do three two-hour lessons and then they join the group(s) and continue to learn the game from there. We are a friendly group, and we look forward to playing together for many years to come.

Dianne has put together a couple of great groups. What about you? Tell me about your group(s) and be sure to send photos – I would love to blog about you and your MJ friends!

Here are some photos of Dianne’s Mah Jongg groups: