A Guide for the Novice Player
Elaine Sandberg
Tuttle Publishing Company
I normally write craft book reviews for some major publishing companies, but when the cat is away, the mice play. I participate in social Mah Jongg games at least two times per week. The winnings from one game are contributed to a student fund at Washington University in St. Louis.
I had purchased the book "A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jong by Elaine Sandberg a few years ago and found it most helpful. Her new book on strategies is a "thinking" person's tome.
Chapter 1 covers finding the right hand and discusses power tiles such as combinations of "pairs, pungs, kongs of any tiles, etc., including flowers and jokers." Many interesting examples are given utilizing a 2010 card. There were some minor misprints on pages 58 where there were too many craks on the rack. In addition, page 66 showed eleven hands and not seven as stated ,but I did not consider this a problem in any way.
Chapter 2 discusses the Charleston and additional decisions about what to keep and what to discard. Once again there is a summary and practice section.
Chapter 3 presents "Let the Game Begin." Now one is ready to get down to the business of "playing." Time to seriously consider discards, safe tiles, hot tiles, discards and exposures, changing the hand, if necessary, and finally what hand to choose.
No need to pull out your heavy mah jong case if you want to practice a few hands. The cardboard laminated tiles (cards) were colorful and light weight. I would highly recommend both Elaine Sandberg's newest book and her boxed mah jong game with the very useful instructions. Have game, can easily travel with no extra baggage.
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