Jenn’s Corner #16: Mahjong Variations
Note: There was information that I forgot to add to the final 2 problems in Garthe’s last column. I’ve fixed the problem, so please take a look and write your answers in the comment section.
Now for MY column.
I’ve spent a large amount of my time lately playing and watching a lot of poker. I have already mentioned how much I think learning poker has helped my mahjong game. Everyday I spend watching tournaments, playing live or online and discussing poker, I find more similarities to the two games. One thing that many poker players have learned is that playing a variety of poker games helps you notice things in your main game that you would never notice before. For example, playing Omaha instead of Texas Hold’em. The same holds true in mahjong.
Besides the A-Rule and B-Rule variations in JPML, and the commonly used cash-game rules (similar to JPML’s B-Rules) there are also a variety of 3-player and 2-player games.
The easiest way to play a 3-player game is to use the MFC 3-player rules because the Hand Points are all the same as the 4-player game. Take out the numbers 2-8 of the Grands (cracks), making the deck 108 tiles instead of 136. Declaring Chow is not allowed in the 3-player version. If the Drag (dora) Indicator is 1-Grands, then the Drag (dora) will be 9-Grands. Other than that everything will play the same. For self-drawn wins, the score will be split in half by the other 2 players. Hands won on a discard will be paid by the discarder as usual.
The 3-Colored Runs hand will be impossible and since 1/3 of the simples (2-8 tiles) are gone, Inside Hands won’t happen as much. You’ll find yourself going for bigger hands and lots of Flushes and Half-Flushes. The swings will be much larger than in A-Rule games because people will be going for big hands most of the time. There will be lots of limit hands too.
Slimming down the deck like this is great for looking closer at your game and tendencies. There are fewer tiles, so less to think about. Try it out and you might find holes in your 4-player game. You’ll definitely find yourself playing differently than you did before.
There are other versions of 3-player mahjong. My favorite includes using the White Dragons as jokers. That game is great for training yourself in difficult waits and planning ahead in your hands.
Join in and tell us what your favorite Mahjong variations are. I can’t wait to try some of them out!
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