Garthe’s May League Session (D2)
I’m annoyed.
Nothing in Mahjong is working for me right now. Actually, it’s not that absolutely nothing is working for me, it’s just that what everybody makes fun of me for not understanding, i.e. luck and flow, are ESPECIALLY not working for me right now.
I had another disappointing showing at league this month. And it came after an especially awesome performance at study group just a few days earlier. What I failed to remember is that all that BS they seem to believe in, really doesn’t apply to me. So when I stop trying to think that way at all, finally again I seem to have a chance at winning. No matter how I win a hand, trying to ride that wave not only leads to nothing bigger, but really just results in me giving back those hard earned points.
It was exactly what happened at study group, in frustration I stopped reaching at all and I started winning. It was the same at Masters, when I played nonstop small ball I won. And it was also the same at Masters later in that, when I started reaching again I lost. And finally, it is what happened on Sunday when I stopped playing big. I can’t even point to any particular hand as being significant. I just never felt like anything was coming my way, and finally at the end of the session I was able to eke out a little tiny win to save -21 points for the day. Yippee.
So screw mahjong luck boxes, I’m taking half a page out of Teddy Roosevelt’s playbook: my strategy has to be to walk softly and carry a little tiny stick. Maybe it’ll be just big enough to poke your lucky little eyes out.
