American Mah Jongg Made Simple: Every Turn of a Full Game, Shown — A Visual Beginner's Guide to the Tiles, the Card, and the Charleston

Product Description

Most beginner guides explain how the game works. This one shows you a whole game being played.Chapter 6 walks through one complete hand of American Mah Jongg, from the deal to the final settlement, with a diagram for every single turn. Not a summary, not a few sample moves — every pick, every discard, every call, drawn. And at three moments in that hand, all four players' racks are laid open, so you can see what everyone was holding and why they did what they did. It is the closest thing in print to sitting beside an experienced player for an afternoon.The rest of the book is built the same way: one idea at a time, with a picture for nearly every one, and the most patience spent exactly where beginners get stuck. That means the card, which looks like it is written in code, and the Charleston, which has a fearsome reputation and a much gentler reality. Those two chapters are the slowest in the book on purpose.What makes this book differentA full game, drawn turn by turn. 136 diagrams in all, and every one has been checked line by line against the text it illustrates.Everything is inside the book. Nothing to download, no companion file, no printouts, no email sign-up. What to do each April when the new card arrives is a chapter, not a link.It works with any year's card. The National Mah Jongg League issues a fresh card every April and the hands change every time. What never changes is the structure — the categories, the notation, what the colors and letters mean. Learn that once and a card printed years from now still opens up for you.Scoring and settling up, worked all the way through. Who pays whom, why the discarder pays double, how a self-picked win differs, the jokerless bonus, and one complete settlement followed from the win to the last coin.Diagrams you can read in black and white. Suits are told apart by shape and number, never by color alone, so nothing is lost if you cannot easily tell two colors apart.Inside, you will learn how toTell the tiles apart at a glance, including Bams, Craks, Dots, Winds, Dragons, Flowers, Soap, and JokersRead a National Mah Jongg League card of any year, line by line, symbol by symbolSet up the table, build the wall, deal, and take your first turn without being promptedWork through the Charleston with a decision chart, three worked examples, and five drillsCall a discard, make an exposure, and use Jokers where they are allowed and nowhere elseChoose a hand early, recognize when it has died, and switch before you are stuck with itRecover from the ordinary mistakes, and know exactly when a hand is dead and what happens nextSettle up at the end of a hand, correctly and quicklyPlay with three or two, practice alone between games, and get ready for your first real sessionWho this book is forIt assumes you have never played. It does not assume you are quick, or young, or that you enjoy working things out from a rulebook. It is written for the person who has been invited to a game this month and said yes — and for anyone giving that person a present.The last chapter ends in reference pages meant to sit open beside your rack: the whole tile set at a glance, the rules you will want to check mid-game, and every term in the book from A to Z.You do not need to finish it before your first session. Read the first five chapters, watch the game in Chapter 6, and go play.Scroll up and get your copy today. Read more