Mah Jongg

MAH JONGG CLUB

***WE ARE BACK & ACTIVE ***

CLUB ACTIVITIES HAVE RESUMED

Note: New Schedule see below

If you are interested in joining the Club, the dues are only $15.00 per year 2023. Lessons provided to Members Only [Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays mornings 9:30 - 11:00 am]

Questions or need further information, contact Lori Mikkelson, President. Email: tpr.mahjongg.club@aol.com

MEMBERS ONLY

DUE TO LIMITED SEATING [12 TABLES & 48 SEATS MAXIMUM]

SIGN-UP TO RESERVE A TABLE

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays

Location: Card Room

Time: 12:00 noon - 3:30 pm

We play American, Chinese and Filipino versions

Members - If you are interested in learning another version, contact the President

YOU MUST BE a member in good standing with the CLUB and TPRCA to play on the above days.

DID YOU KNOW? FUN FACTS ABOUT MAHJONGG you probably did not know!

WHAT IS MAH-JONGG AND WHERE DID IT ORIGINATE?

mah-jongg, game of Chinese origin, played with tiles, or pais, that are similar in physical description to those used in dominoes but engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honours. A fad in England, the United States, and Australia in the mid-1920s, the game was revived in the United States after 1935 but never regained its initial popularity. In the United States the official governing body is the National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937.

The game is probably of 19th-century origin. Before World War I each Chinese province had its own style of play and dialect name for it. The name, signifying “sparrow” (maque), has been variously transliterated as ma tsiang, ma chiang, ma cheuk, and ma ch’iau. The sparrow or a mythical “bird of 100 intelligences” appears on one of the tiles.

The name mah-jongg was coined and copyrighted by Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, who is credited with introducing mah-jongg to the West after World War I. In order to promote the game in the West, he wrote a modified set of rules, gave English titles to the tiles, and added index letters and numerals familiar to Western card players. The game as described hereafter is prevalent in the United States; other forms of the game may be found in other Western countries.

SPECIAL HANDS in the game!

Special hands are alternative target sets of tiles that a player can go Mah Jong with. The original Chinese game allowed only a few special hands but some Western derivatives controversially include many more. Below is a list of special hands, including their name, description and award.

.. Buried Treasure - Concealed Pungs in one suit with Winds/Dragons and a pair = Limit
.. Heads and Tails - Pungs/Kongs of Ones and Nines = Limit
.. The Wriggling Snake - A pair of Ones and a run from Two to Nine in the same suit, with each of the winds = Limit
.. Three Great Scholars - Pungs/Kongs of all three Dragons, another Pung/Kong and a pair = Limit
.. Four Blessings Hovering Over The Door - Pungs/Kongs of each of the four Winds with any pair = Limit
.. The Thirteen Unique Wonders - One of each Dragon, one of each Wind, one of each One and one of each Nine. Any one of these tiles must be paired = Limit
.. Heaven's Blessing - Mah Jong immediately made by East with the original fourteen tiles dealt to that player = Limit
.. Earth's Blessing - Mah Jong immediately made by West, North or South using the first discard made by East = Limit
.. Gathering the Plum Blossom from the Roof - The Plum Blossom is the Five of Circles. This is made by a player who draws a loose tile (the roof) as a replacement for a Kong, a Flower or a Season and that tile is the Plum Blossom which allows the player to go Mah Jong = Limit
.. Plucking the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea - The Moon is the One of Circles. This is made by a player who upon drawing the last tile from the wall finds that it is the Moon which allows the player to go Mah Jong = Limit