For a long time Ella and her husband Jake, who live across the corridor from my apartment, have been talking about playing Mahjong with me. On Friday we finally got together .Ella and Jake play Chinese Mahjong. While I love to play Mahjong and am reasonably good with different hands I quickly discovered Chinese Mahjong and my version are totally different, and I was not a Mahjong hotshot at all.The Chinese don't create and play varying hands, they only play 2 hands or versions there of.
We both allow the user to create and have pungs and kongs. The only similarity.
However the two vastly different contrasts revolved around the concept of luck. When playing my version the tiles must make a wall and the corners of the tiles must meet, no gaps, otherwise the dealer's luck runs out. The designated dealer throws the dice and must gather them up again. It is considered unlucky if someone else touches the dice you threw. The dealer deals out the tiles.
In the Chinese version the players don't worry about the dynamics of the wall, it can be like the Great Wall, meandering around. They don't worry about touching the dice outside of your own turn. HOWEVER the big difference is they deal their own titles, its so unlucky to have someone finger your titles. In my version various hands are worth varying amounts which is how you score. In the Chinese version you only score by winning and only through the last tile played. And the Chinese also have side bets... I bet I will win. I bet I will play the last tile. Jake seen here placing 3 bets. Ella however, modest with her betting, amassed a huge fortune.
In summary I enjoyed playing and enjoyed learning a variation on the game. I also learnt I was rubbish at the Chinese version. I lost. BIG Time. Totally outplayed.
On Saturday afternoon I played my version of Mahjong with my normal Mahjong group. Totally outplayed, I lost again, big time. Obviously all my luck and any skill I had, had leaked away. My ying and yang just never got together.
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