Quote:
Originally Posted by K9-Lovers
What in the world is it?
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Mah jongg is a rummy type game played with tiles instead of cards. You draw and discard tiles either from the wall or what others have discarded untill your hand of 14 qualifies you to Mah jongg (go out) . There are rules as to when you can claim a discarded tile and different hands require different payments from the loosing players.
There are several versions played around the world the US version being very different than that played in the pacific or the orient (or the military)
A goup of women in New York got tired of playing the regular verison which had runs of three and threes and fours of a kind with a final pair to make a winning hand. So they came up with the idea of only allowing certain hands to count and they would make them up and change them from year to year. So the National Mah Jongg leauge was born. They also added jokers to the set. They print a new card every year of qualifying hands and when you join they send you this years card there is an annual renew fee that gets you a new card every year. The good part is that it changes every year so you don't get bored the bad part is it changes every year so you have to get familar with the new card.
I play American style with the card with my friends at the Jewish community center here and Island style (no jokers - no card) with my family and friends from Hawaii and those that learned playing on military bases around the world.
I mention this because if you see a nice set of Mah jong tiles and want to play with most people you will need to be sure it has jokers before you buy it. There are some beautiful ivory and bone antique sets around that cost alot of money but you can't play the American style with the card as they have no jokers and that is the style played by most people.
Sorry for the run on post.
PS Many Asians gamble on Mah jongg the way others do on big stake poker.