So...I'm new to Mahjong

[BoyaSonny]

Specifically, Riichi mahjong.

You've probably guessed it now, from anime like Akagi, I was pretty much bedazzled by the game of mahjong and wanted to learn how to play.

It's been almost a week since I started learning, and I think I understand a bit of the game now. I even memorized the symbols for the character tiles and their corresponding numbers.

Few questions for you pros here:

What to practice? How should I practice and hone my skills for mahjong?

Nothing important but, how old were you when you started learning how to play mahjong? I'm 14, just a freshman in High school.

[Barticle]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's always great to hear about another new person joining the mahjong family! Good job on learning the symbols on the character tiles - if you ever take Japanese (or Chinese) class you'll have a head-start since you can already read the numbers 1 to 9.

In the long-term the best way to practise is to play against other people, either in real life or online, but when you're just starting out you should play against a computer while you familiarise yourself with all the rules, learn basic strategy and build confidence. This single-player online game lets you play Japanese mahjong in English for free and would be a great place to start.

http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html

I got into mahjong around spring last year aged 35. One of the many great things about mahjong is that it can bring together people of all ages and from around the world (I live in England). It's cool that you're starting out at 14 - when you're my age you'll have two decades of experience under your belt!

In real life no-one picks up the rules quite as easily as Akagi did, so be sure to post here if you have any questions about the game. We love to talk about mahjong and if we can support and encourage new players at the same time that's a bonus.

Bart

PS Jenn and Garthe are actual pros living in Japan, but the rest of us are just enthusiastic amateurs.

[BoyaSonny]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's always great to hear about another new person joining the mahjong family! Good job on learning the symbols on the character tiles - if you ever take Japanese (or Chinese) class you'll have a head-start since you can already read the numbers 1 to 9.

In the long-term the best way to practise is to play against other people, either in real life or online, but when you're just starting out you should play against a computer while you familiarise yourself with all the rules, learn basic strategy and build confidence. This single-player online game lets you play Japanese mahjong in English for free and would be a great place to start.

http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html

I got into mahjong around spring last year aged 35. One of the many great things about mahjong is that it can bring together people of all ages and from around the world (I live in England). It's cool that you're starting out at 14 - when you're my age you'll have two decades of experience under your belt!

In real life no-one picks up the rules quite as easily as Akagi did, so be sure to post here if you have any questions about the game. We love to talk about mahjong and if we can support and encourage new players at the same time that's a bonus.

Bart

PS Jenn and Garthe are actual pros living in Japan, but the rest of us are just enthusiastic amateurs.

Hmm, I see I see. In the first few days I started learning, I didn't realize the yaku requirements and was always pissed when I get those "no multiplier" pop ups after I work so hard to get into tenpai xD but after a few days I quickly understood why.

Though I really like mahjong, I haven't even touched a real tile before. Do you know anywhere online, I can get a set of Mahjong tiles? Specifically, 36-38mm thick because I recently blew off 60 bucks on a set that is as thin as 25mm . It took a day after I ordered it before I figured it out so I couldn't change my order but that's my fault. So I plan to buy a new set later on when I get money.

That is all.

[Tom Sloper]

More about why that program wouldn't let you win: http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/yaku/yaku.htm
Places to buy tiles: http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/whereg.htm and http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/wheret.htm

[b4k4ni04]

two websites in english that blatantly have tiles for sale:
http://japanese-mahjong.com/mjgoods.html
and
http://www.mahjongmart.com/shop/

[Referee]

Welcome to this awesome game that is Riichi Mahjong. A small suggestion to begin with, if you replace the in your sig with it will look nicer

[Barticle]

Authentic Japanese tiles are smaller than those from other countries but the overall shape is thicker. For example the tiles in my Sango set have fronts that are around 26mm tall by 19mm wide, and they're 16mm from front to back. This means that you can use a smaller table and the tiles will stand up more easily. Another benefit of getting a Japanese set is that it normally includes the special red 5 tiles which you can choose to include in your games.

Tiles from other countries are bigger, often much bigger! One time I found a set at the back of a shop in London's Chinatown and they were gigantic... and then I noticed another set under those that were even bigger! If you want larger ones then don't buy Japanese.

This pic shows some of the different sizes that are produced:

http://lib.shopping.srv.yimg.jp/lib/cho ... 589061.jpg

[Tom Sloper]

More about types of tiles and how they differ from Japanese: http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/types.htm

[BoyaSonny]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I'm kind of worried about the set I ordered a few days ago cause of the fact that it's about 25mm thick while the average tile is about 36-38mm thick if I'm not mistaken.

But, I haven't seen the set in person yet so I don't know but I'm guessing it'll be half as thin as a normal tile.

If that's true, and it's not good for handling then I think I'mma have to buy a new set during Chinese new year when I get money :p.


Would you guys reccomend this one?

http://www.mahjongmart.com/shop/index.p ... cts_id=188

This one actually looks pretty thick from the picture. About 35 dollars with 2 weeks shipping to the US, it'll be about 54 dollars but the website is kind of iffy.

Can anyone give me a specific site that sells mahjong sets? I don't think I'll go with mahjongmart. It would also be preferred if the payment isn't in paypal.

[Tom Sloper]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Can anyone give me a specific site that sells mahjong sets?

Places to buy tiles: http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/whereg.htm and http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/wheret.htm

[Shirluban]

When you say "thick", I suppose you mean "hight".
Tiles size are very different from one country to another, your 36-38mm hight reference is probably for Chinese sets.
Japanese tiles are more around 26mm hight x 19mm large x 16mm thick, and it's enough for handling them properly.

Would you guys reccomend this one?
http://www.mahjongmart.com/shop/index.p ... cts_id=188

I'd better recommend you the Take tile set.

the website is kind of iffy.

MahjongMart is handed by Jenn Barr, pro player in the JPML, and owner of ReachMahjong.com.
I hadn't troubles when ordering from there (except from the local postal service, but that's an other story).

[BoyaSonny]

When you say "thick", I suppose you mean "hight".
Tiles size are very different from one country to another, your 36-38mm hight reference is probably for Chinese sets.
Japanese tiles are more around 26mm hight x 19mm large x 16mm thick, and it's enough for handling them properly.

Would you guys reccomend this one?
http://www.mahjongmart.com/shop/index.p ... cts_id=188

I'd better recommend you the Take tile set.

the website is kind of iffy.

MahjongMart is handed by Jenn Barr, pro player in the JPML, and owner of ReachMahjong.com.
I hadn't troubles when ordering from there (except from the local postal service, but that's an other story).

Ah ok, thanks for the info. When I said thick, I meant by width. I'm mostly worried that handling will be bad if the tiles are too thin.

This is the set I ordered a few days ago and will probably come tomorrow:


http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Riichi-M ... 96&sr=8-13

I think I'll just use this set till I can get the money for the Take set.

[Shirluban]

It seems to be a good one.
Assuming it match it's description and pictures, I'm not sure the Take set is really better (except for the 1 bam, which looks cheap on the close pic).

[BoyaSonny]

So my progress so far:

-easily recognize the tiles(this goes along with remembering the character tiles and the number that goes with its symbol)
-I understand tile efficiency and what to discard for it(this does not mean I'm good at reading waits and I lose some of the time cause of it)
-I've memorized the simple yakus to go for(all pairs, all triplets, tanyao,etc) but struggle so far with any bigger yakus


The things I'm bad at:

-reading waits(defense)
-remembering the bigger yaku hands

[Barticle]

Sounds like you're progressing well.

When learning yaku it makes sense to focus on the ones which occur more frequently. Some of the low value ones are actually extremely rare, especially san kantsu (three kongs) which is only worth two han (doubles) but I've never completed it. It's more rare than several of the yakuman hands.

The top-ten most common yaku in order (most frequent first) are: riichi, yakuhai (pung of dragon, seat wind or round wind), tanyao (all simples), pinfu, menzen tsumo (self-draw win with concealed hand), honitsu (half flush), iipeikou (pure double chow), toi-toi (all triplets), sanshoku doujun (mixed triple chow) and chii-toitsu (seven pairs). I've omitted ippatsu ("one-shot" instant win after riichi) since that's a matter of luck. If you want a full list of yaku (and yakuman) in frequency order then check the appropriate sections of my PDF guide (link in sig).

In Japanese mahjong you'll spend a lot of time going for a pinfu hand since chow sets (123, 456, etc) are the easiest to make, and you'll hope to combine this with riichi, ippatsu (luck), tanyao, self-draw win (luck), dora bonus tiles and - less commonly - with other compatible yaku.

Some links to English articles on discard-reading were collated in the first reply to this thread:

http://www.reachmahjong.com/en/forum/vi ... =5&t=50379

Much of that is quite advanced for your first couple of weeks though. When you decide to "fold" (switch to purely defensive play) you can go a long way with basic defence by simply taking advantage of the furiten rule, i.e. if someone calls riichi you should try to discard only tiles that either a) the riichi player has discarded already or b) one of the other two players has just discarded.

Where are you currently playing by the way - on a video-game or website?