It depends. Some parlors especially the higher rate ones will have you make some sort of deposit to ensure that you\'re not trying the old, I\'ll-pay-you-later trick. It\'ll generally be just about the amount you\'d have to pay if you lost the game really badly. But of course that doesn\'t account f...

same on the back as on the front? So you mean the White dragon is right side up no matter which way it\'s facing? That IS weird. So you have to flip every single tile over until you find the extra blanks? Wait, can\'t use the blanks? What are you using blanks for? Is that what you\'re calling the Wh...

Oh yeah, one other thing which always confuses me too, the convention when noting the dora in these questions is usually to say exactly what it is, not the dora indicator. So when the question says it\'s 1 of characters, here at least, that will mean that the dora is in fact the 1 of characters, not...

The correct answer is.... don\'t discard anything! they\'re all just too useful. OK, OK, back from fantasy land, this hand does look like it has great potential until we notice that we only have 5 more draws. The reality of the situation is that we probably aren\'t going to win this hand so we shoul...

Wow, way to go! I remember when I got up to 1 dan on Ron2. Everybody in Japan had to hear about it for a week. Well, at least anyone studying English. Of course, Ronron\'s not for money, so your accomplishment seems a little more momentous. Makes me interested in those sites too. Anyone willing to t...

Yeah, the \'fu\' system is pretty unnecessary alright and would be the first candidate for simplification. THough of course, having gotten used to it I\'d miss it. I\'ve seen the variations on 3 Colored Triples (sanshoku doukou), 3 Colored Straight(sanshoku itsuu?), etc, that you mention, but only i...

I don\'t think it would be correct to say that what players have will affect which hands are more or less likely. The fact that in holdem, people tend to play pocket pairs should not only make straights less likely, but should also make Full houses more likely as people are playing with cards that m...

Interesting idea about paying the house for drawn hands (ryuukyoku) instead of paying per game, but in the end, not feasible I think. It would leave open the possibility that the house never gets paid. It might even affect the way people play, encouraging everyone to go for wins even more just to ma...

yeah, I think 9 dots is pretty much a no brainer here. Be interested to hear if anyone has a good argument for any other answer. We\'re a little disappointed if we draw the 4 of characters as we would have been ready with possible 3 colored crap, but then the wrong bamboo could come anyway. Better t...

Love it, of course. Just wish Tokyo were a little closer to the ocean. Well, at least, surfable ocean. Finding an apartment can be difficult as many landlords are reluctant to rent to foreigners. Especially professionally gambling ones. Probably want to have some sort of legitimate job as that seems...

I don\'t have numbers to back up any claims here so of course it is just weak ass speculation but...I would imagine that pro, or at least stronger, players tend to go for CSD more than the weaker ones. Weaker players tend to go for the first thing they can win the hand off of and that usually means ...

Like one writer pointed out, we\'re obviously not in the north seat here or waiting with just the wind hand point is almost a no brainer. Also, other circumstances such as current score and place and number of draws remaining are also likely to have an impact but without knowing those: 1. Probably d...

Yeah I doubt Risky Edge is translated into English at all. Which is a pity. It\'s only two books in total, which is also a pity. It\'s not cool Mahjong, just really good mahjong. By the way, by Ara-san, I mean Ara Masatoshi one of the most famous players in the Japan Professional Mahjong League. Whi...

My first was my beloved 4 Concealed Triples (su-an-ko-) and it was also dora tanki machi. It was still pretty early in my mahjong experience, at a mahjong parlor but one that played only for fun, no money. I didn\'t realize I wouldn\'t get more points for having dora also. What a dork. My first for ...

There are definitely people who make money playing Mahjong but they are pretty rare and they are really REALLY good. They are of course playing at more expensive higher rate mahjong parlors, the kind where you are playing at risk of being arrested during a surprise visit from the police. While I pla...