🧨️ Happy Mah Jongg Monday!️
AROUND THE TABLE by Dottie
I went to the senior center again. The same woman has been at my table for weeks.
She hasn’t asked my name. She hasn’t introduced herself. She just plays.
Last Friday, the woman to her left exposed a Pung with a Joker.
I had the natural tile.
I picked from the wall. I discarded the natural tile. I did not swap.
She leaned in. She said: "Dear, you could have taken the Joker."
I said: "I know."
We played two more turns. I won.
She said nothing. You don't coach other players' hands. She knew it. She knew that I knew it. We left it there.
Pour the coffee. Let's go.
— Dottie
Here’s a quick preview of today’s issue. Scroll down to read each section in full.
🏆 Behind the Tiles — Reading a hand faster. Join the Club.
💡 Table Wisdom — When to commit to a Singles hand.
🖐🏻 A Hand to Play — Which 369 Line is closest?
☀️ Winning Picks — A summer skin reset.
🎥 Max’s Minute — Dead hand, or still alive?
🎟️ Featured Events — 70 degrees in December.
🪑 At the Table — The Houston Sharks talk shop.
🥠 Ask Auntie — Peeking at your tiles too early.
📸 Spotlight — Shirts, pearls, and muumuus.
🎂 Birthdays — This week’s AMJA members.
🙋🏻♀️ Free Practice Sessions — See if we called your name.
🏁 Milestones — Progress inside The Winning Hand app.
… and more!
🎬 Watch How Barney Reads a Hand, One Tile at a Time 🎬
Most players turn all their tiles face up at once and start sorting. Barney Gallassio goes one at a time, on purpose, so the patterns build in front of him as he goes, two evens, then three, then a run taking shape. Before he's even finished sorting, he already knows what part of the Card he's playing.
That's the kind of decision-making you get each week inside Behind the Tiles, our weekly series for Mahj Insiders Club members. A winning player plays a game while narrating what they're noticing as it happens. You'll hear why they keep certain tiles, why they let others go, when they pivot, and when they decide to stay the course. There's nowhere else to watch a winning player think through a game out loud like this.
Barney Gallassio is the analyst behind a Card review players study every year, a competitive speller as a kid turned pattern-and-probability mind. This month you get to see him read a game the way he reads the Card, on tiles he didn't pick, with the clock running.
👇 Watch the Interview With Barney Here
If you join in the next two days, you'll be ready when Barney's first episode drops Wednesday.
Playing Hands With Singles or Pairs
Hands with Singles or Pairs succeed when you collect those tiles early. If you do not, you may need a backup plan.
Many players find this year's Card challenging because several hands depend on Singles, Pairs, or both. The good news is that these hands are very playable when your Charleston supports them.
The key is recognizing early whether the necessary tiles are available.
Choose the Right Singles
NEWS hands work best when the rest of your rack supports 2026 or 369. If those supporting tiles are present, continue collecting toward that hand. Always keep a second option available.
Single Dragon hands require planning from the start. This is one reason experienced players avoid passing Dragons too early. Before passing a Dragon, make sure you know which hand you are building toward. If you need a specific Dragon later, finding it may become difficult.
Manage Pairs Carefully
Pairs of Winds often connect naturally to the Winds-Dragons Section but can also be used with 2468 (East and West) or 13579 (North and South).
Many hands throughout the Card include one or two Pairs. Before committing, identify a nearby backup hand.
Three Rules for Success
First, collect critical Singles and Pairs before exposing tiles. Avoid locking yourself into a hand too early. For example, in Consecutive Run, Line 1, certain exposures still allow a pivot. Others eliminate your alternatives completely.
Second, count discards of every Single or Pair you need. If key tiles disappear, reassess immediately.
Third, do not spend the entire game waiting for one tile. It may be in use in someone’s hand.
Key Takeaway
Play Singles and Pairs hands when the needed tiles arrive early. Have a backup hand selected, track critical discards, and pivot before the wall makes the decision for you.
Last Week’s 🖐🏻 Hand to Play Results:
6,110 Insiders played, 41% chose right.
👉 See the correct answer & explanation here.
One of the most important decisions in Mah Jongg is choosing your primary hand. The sooner you identify your most likely path, the easier it becomes to make effective passes, call confidently, and focus on the tiles you need. At the same time, it's smart to keep a backup hand in mind if the game takes an unexpected turn.
This rack is clearly pointing toward the 369 Section, but there is more than one possible hand to consider.
So which Line would you choose?
Study the tiles carefully and compare them to the hands in the 369 Section. Which hand is closest to completion? Which gives you the strongest chance of reaching Mah Jongg first?
Make your choice, then vote and see how your answer compares with other players.
Which hand in the 369 Section offers the greatest chance for a win?
Bright-Skin Reset
August sun asks a lot of your skin, so this week is a full reset from the counter up. It all fits in one cart.
🀄 Mah Jongg Cosmetic Bag Your lipstick, your Card, your little essentials all in one zippered pouch that makes your group grin every time it lands on the table. Travels beautifully, gifts even better. Tuck your essentials in →
🔍 Lighted Makeup Mirror Real light and a little magnification, so putting your face on in the morning stops being a squint-and-guess. The kind of everyday help you wonder how you lived without. See every detail →
🍊 Vitamin C Serum A few drops that brighten and even your tone over the weeks, the workhorse step that makes everything after it look better. Summer skin's best friend. Wake up your skin →
✨ Microcurrent Facial Device Gentle lifting and toning you can feel after one five-minute pass, the closest thing to a facial without leaving your bathroom. This is the splurge that carries the whole routine. Lift and tone →
👁️ Cooling Eye Gels Chilled little patches that take the puff and shadow down in ten minutes flat, perfect before a lunch out or a long game. Instant, effortless refresh. Depuff in minutes →
A few things to help your skin through the last stretch of summer. Happy shopping.
(As an Amazon Associate, The Mah Jongg Insider earns from qualifying purchases.)
Max takes two questions from Insiders and answers both in a quick 60-second video.
🕔 This week’s questions:
1️⃣ Can my hand be called Dead if a Pair I need for Mah Jongg has already had all of its tiles discarded?
2️⃣ If two players try to call a tile, one for Mah Jongg, and one for an exposure (and a Joker exchange to get Mah Jongg), which player should get the tile?
🎥 [Click to watch]
Have a question for Max?
🎤 [Click to leave a voicemail]
Mid-December in Phoenix is 70 degrees and sunny. Your home in December is probably not. Destination Mah Jongg's Phoenix Tournament runs December 11 to 13, and it's 12 rounds of American Mah Jongg with a pool, a group lunch, and absolutely nowhere else you need to be. Grab your friends and split a room. You'll meet new opponents all weekend and gain a few new friends by Sunday. Bring your Card, bring your group, and text a photo of the pool to whoever stayed home.
Click here to reserve your spot.
The Houston Sharks (Linda Block, Fredell Belasco, and Susan Magaziner) have been playing for decades, and podcast co-hosts Cathy Hale and Jennifer Hohman sat down with them at a recent tournament to tape an episode of The Mahj Salon.
In Houston, the newer players and the veterans are all one community, and these three are a big reason why.
⬅️ Last Week’s Question
Auntie, one person from our group always stops after the first Charleston. She argues she never gets anything better after the first three passes. Some of us want to keep going but she always stops it. How can we encourage her to continue? She always stops.
- Christine
🥠 Auntie’s Advice 🥠
🗨 My friend, I'm sure she knows that statistically, it’s very unlikely that she “never” gets anything useful after the first Charleston. So the real issue probably isn’t the tiles. It may be impatience, discomfort with uncertainty, or simply liking the feeling of control once she sees a possible hand.
You can certainly offer gentle evidence: “Most players improve their hands with additional passes.” But after that, the conversation shifts from strategy to preference.
At that point, it is fair to say, “Our group enjoys playing a full Charleston, and it affects the flow when it stops every game.” If she still insists on stopping it every time, then you have your answer. She is prioritizing her own comfort over the rhythm of the group.
📢 Readers’ Responses 📢
🗨 I would offer to that person that she can just pass the tiles. She is not obligated to change any tiles in her hand. I would suggest to her to try it and see what happens. Reminding everyone that they can do that, too. Stopping the Charleston just because nothing gets any better for her seems to be very controlling and not a great way to build connections with other members of the group. We all want to learn how to build a hand in the Charleston. Stopping it keeps others from learning what decisions are good ones and what are not so helpful decisions. Helping others to learn and play well is all part of the game.
- Judith P.
🗨 According to Bubbe Fischer, the chances of winning are decreased significantly if the Charleston is stopped at one round. I have always liked to see what comes around if I have 4 tiles to pass that don’t help me. It not only might help my hand but also gives me a better sense of what my opponents are keeping 😉
- Judy K.
🗨 This can be tricky. If playing with newbies I would take her aside and explain the reasoning behind the second Charleston. Obviously she is not recognizing potential hands. If a seasoned player, who is obviously not going to change, I would take her aside and explain the group really finds this irritating and she is risking others refusing to play with her. Not every seasoned player is a good player.
- Joyce J.
Whose response do you like best?
➡️ This Week’s Question
I have an etiquette question. I was playing yesterday at the church with a small group of ladies, maybe 20 of us, who get together every Friday. I was taught that we could pick up our tiles during the Charleston as soon as we have passed our own.
Two players, one especially, were very slow to pick, and there was a lot of talk and chatter, so I would go ahead and pick up my tiles and work on my own hand. During our second game she told me, "You can't do that. We're not doing it that way." I said, "Oh, I was told that as soon as you pass your tiles, you can look at them and study, and that helps move things along." Of course I went along with her request!
But is there an etiquette rule? Is there an NMJL rule? I'm confused.
🤗 Want to share your advice?
🤔 Have a Mah Jongg manners or table moment dilemma?
📩 Send it to Auntie: [email protected]
We are a group of four friends in Atlanta who play Mah Jongg every Monday. Our friend, Lynn, had these shirts made for us, which we wear proudly! We love the game and the friendship we share. As you wrote in your column last week, around a table, life shows up in all its forms: good news, hard news, laughter and everything in between. So true!!
- Nancy Hupp
We are a group of five from Wilmington, North Carolina, named "The 5-L🎾ve Mah Jongg Friends." We met while playing tennis and decided to learn Mah Jongg together. We meet once a month to play the game, rotating at each other's homes. We have plenty of laughs, often causing us to forget whose turn it is sometimes! We started a tradition of always wearing pearls when we play to make the time feel special: perhaps a grandmother's necklace, a ring from an old boyfriend, or a funky pair of ’60s earrings. We love to hear when someone calls, "MAH JONGG!!"
- Denise S.
We meet once a month and take turns hosting. This was our Mah Jongg, Muumuus, and Mimosas night.
- Natalie Cook
Cache Valley, Utah
📸 Share your Mah Jongg moments!
Send us a photo and a quick note (big wins, themed nights, or fun group shots) for a chance to be featured.
📩 Email: [email protected]
The American Mah Jongg Association would like to wish these members a very Happy Birthday!
August 3
Tia B. (HI), Nancy C. (FL), Kathleen F. (PA), Susan W. (FL)
August 4
Margie P. (AZ), Alice G. (IL)
August 5
Brenda G. (IN), Bob S. (NV), Denise J. (IL), Lisa G. (FL), Jackie P. (FL), Charise M. (NC), Rita S. (FL)
August 6
Stephanie T. (NY), Traci M. (NC), Susan G. (NY), Tomi L. (CA), Karen K. (TX), Barbara J. (NE)
August 7
Elaine A. (NC), Audrey R. (CA), Karen C. (CO), Kathy W. (MO), Trish D. (TN)
August 8
Lisa C. (FL), Lori M. (CA), Peg L. (FL), Nancy W. (VA), Christine O. (NJ), Natasha P. (CA), Melanie D. (TN), Patty F. (IL), Tammy G. (FL), Donald C. (LA)
August 9
Joanne L. (MD), Meg P. (AL), Vivian B. (FL), Patricia K. (MD), Patty K. (MA)
If your name is Gail, enjoy a FREE Practice Session 🙋🏻♀️ on us!*
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