🧨️ Happy Mah Jongg Monday!️
AROUND THE TABLE by Dottie
Hi! It’s Patty. Dottie is observing today, so you’ve got me.
I’ve been with Quilts of Valor for eleven years now, and we’ve sent out more than four hundred quilts in that time, every one of them handmade and given to a veteran who was nominated by somebody who loves them. I still can’t miter a corner to save my life, and the other ladies have been kind enough to stop mentioning it.
Tom was Army, if you’re wondering why this is important to me.
There’s a woman who started coming in the spring, and last week somebody held up their stitching and apologized for it, said it was crooked, and this woman didn’t even look up from what she was doing. She said, “Nobody’s grading it. Least of all a man who slept in a ditch.”
The whole table lost it.
Turns out, she’s also a Mah Jongg player.
So I invited her to the Friday game at the senior center, and I told her it’s a good game and good people, which happens to be true.
What I didn’t tell her is that there’s a man at that game I think she should meet, and that since I’m the one who gets there early enough to be holding the sign-in sheet, I can see to it the two of them end up at the same table.
I’ll tell you how it goes.
— Patty
Here’s a quick preview of today’s issue. Scroll down to read each section in full.
⬇️ Practice Anytime — Join the Association.
💡 Table Wisdom — The pair worth breaking on purpose.
🖐🏻 A Hand to Play — Spot the scrambled winning hand?
🍂 Winning Picks — Cozy upgrades for cooler evenings.
🪧 From Our Sponsor — Mah Jongg pasta for game night.
🎥 Max’s Minute — What to do with blank tiles.
🥠 Ask Auntie — A player who won’t stop chewing gum.
📸 Spotlight — A birthday party made of Mah Jongg.
🎂 Birthdays — This week’s AMJA members.
🙋🏻♀️ A Free Strategy Session — See if we called your name.
🏁 Milestones — Progress inside The Winning Hand app.
… and more!
Your Question Answered: What Is Joker Bait?
You know that Pair on your rack you’re never going to use? The one you hang onto because breaking up a Pair feels wrong?
Throw one of the tiles.
If somebody claims it and needs a Joker to finish the Pung, that Joker is now sitting in their exposure, and you’re holding the match. Next turn, you take it.
Timing is the whole thing. If you do this too early it’ll go right by, because nobody knows what they’re building yet. The end of the first wall is the sweet spot. It’s late enough that they’ve seen where a Joker would help, but early enough that they can’t call it for the win.
Watch for the hesitation, too. When somebody else throws that tile and a player pauses before letting it go, they wanted it. If you throw yours next, there’s a good chance they’ll take it with a Joker.
So try this. Pick one Pair you’re never going to use and throw half of it at the end of the first wall. Most of the time nothing comes of it, BUT the first time it works you’re going to feel like you got away with something.
Last Week’s 🖐🏻 Hand to Play Results:
5,814 Insiders played this one. We also asked a few instructors from our directory what they’d pass. See who you matched →
👉 The correct answer & explanation are here.
Sometimes it’s fun to test how well you know the Card. The tiles below are a complete winning hand, shuffled out of order.
Which hand is it? Try to answer without looking at your Card.
Pick your answer and vote to see how you did. 👇
Which hand is this?
We're back, Mahjongg Insiders, and this time we brought something new to the table.
Meet Mahjongg Pasta Salad, our newest launch, made just for game night. It's a 15-
minute salad built on our whimsical Mahjongg inspired shapes: Joker Hats, the North
Wind, a Dragon, a Bam Bird, and Flowers, with a Sweet & Sassy Vinaigrette mix
already in the bag. Toss in a few fresh veggies and it's ready before the first hand is
dealt.
It's built the way everything at Pastabilities® is built: bronze-cut for texture that holds a vinaigrette beautifully, and slow-dried in Nashville using the old-world Italian techniques we've relied on since 1994.
If you've got a Mahjongg-obsessed friend or family member on your gift list, the
Mahjongg Gift Box makes that decision easy. It comes with pasta, sauce, a
Pastabilities fork, and recipe cards already put together for the player who takes this
game as seriously as we take our pasta.
✨ Exclusive Insider Offer: As a thank-you to Mahjongg Insider readers, enjoy:
20% off your entire order
with code INSIDERS20 at checkout.
Hurry, this offer is good for 10 days only, through September 30th!
So friends, shuffle the tiles, set the table, and let Mahjongg Pasta goodies do the rest.
The World is full of Pastabilities®, especially for someone like you.
(This section is sponsored by Pastabilities®)
First Cool Evenings
The light goes earlier now and the house feels different at seven o’clock. These are the things that make an evening in worth staying home for.
🧦 Mah Jongg Socks Warm, soft, and covered in tiles, so your feet are happy and your group knows exactly whose they are. One size, which makes gifting them easy. Slip them on →
🧴 Luxury Body Lotion The heat comes on and your skin turns tight and papery within a week, so this one goes on rich and sinks in slowly instead of flashing off. The ylang-ylang is the kind of quiet that makes an early evening feel deliberate. Soften everything →
🔥 Heated Throw Blanket Real warmth in about a minute, with settings low enough to leave on while you read and an auto shutoff so you can fall asleep under it. This is the blanket the whole house will fight over. Warm up here →
💨 Cool-Mist Humidifier The heat comes on and the air dries out, which your skin and your sinuses notice first. This one runs quietly all night and refills from the top. Add some moisture →
🫂 Weighted Lap Pad Gentle even weight across your lap that settles you the way a heavy quilt does, without the bulk. Made for the chair you already read in. Settle in →
Pull something warm over your knees. The season is turning.
(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 Under Consecutive Run Line 3, do the Pairs need to be the same suit?
2️⃣ What do you do with blank tiles in your set?
🎥 [Click to watch]
Have a question for Max?
🎤 [Click to leave a voicemail]
The Winning Hand App is included with Association membership. Watch the walkthrough.
⬅️ Last Week’s Question
I play in a weekly Mah Jongg group with four other ladies. One lady has absolutely no idea how to play defensively and throws winning tiles or tiles for obvious exposures all the time. She does not scan discarded tiles or exposures before discarding and pays attention only to her own hand. When someone has two or three exposures up, everyone but her is looking at their Card trying to figure out which hand they’re playing so we don’t throw a needed tile. She is staring at her rack. How do you get someone to play defensively?
- Rebecca G.
🥠 Auntie’s Advice 🥠
My friend, playing below your level is dull, and there is no use pretending otherwise.
You have seen it clearly. She pays attention only to her own hand and she stares at her rack. Let’s say that what you’re accusing her of is true and she has no idea how to play defensively. The weakest player at a table usually knows she is the weakest player at the table.
If that is nearer the truth, she has been struggling in front of four friends for weeks and nobody has offered to teach her. Ask her, away from the table, whether she would like to learn what the rest of you do before you discard. She may say no. She may have been waiting for someone to notice.
The other fix has nothing to do with her. Get a bigger group into the rotation so the opponents change and the game varies week to week, without anyone being asked to leave or to improve.
📢 Readers’ Responses 📢
🗨 You don’t. It’s not your job to teach someone unless they’ve asked for help. A lot of players are there for the friendship and fun. I once played with someone who spent the whole time telling us what we should have done or could do. I make a point to not play with her anymore.
- Sheri H.
🗨 Start playing for money or keep score with points. Nothing like having to pay double every game can help alter one's focus.
- Diane C.
🗨 I don’t think “playing defensively” is a required part of the game, so she’s totally within her rights to NOT play up to your expectations. For some players, especially during a fast game or when they’re juggling between two hands, defensive play is just more than they can handle. Since you’ll likely be the recipient of her method of play, why are you complaining? She’s the only one suffering, because you other players won’t be reciprocating.
- Mary S.
Whose response do you like best?
➡️ This Week’s Question
We have a player who either chews gum loudly or moves hard candy around in her mouth. We do not know her well enough to mention it discreetly beforehand and don’t want to embarrass her. Any suggestions?
- Carol C.
🤗 Want to share your advice?
🤔 Have a Mah Jongg manners or table moment dilemma?
📩 Send it to Auntie: [email protected]
This group of Southern ladies meets for Mah Jongg at least once a week, and we play for about three hours each time. Our friend Dot (front row, far left) opens up her house every week. That's a real gift! Most of us have been playing since the 2022 Card. Mah Jongg is so much more than a game. It teaches us skill, patience, self-awareness, and acceptance (of a bad hand)! It also teaches us the real meaning of friendship, kindness, and gratitude. We can't imagine life without the game of Mah Jongg, and we look forward to receiving The Mah Jongg Insider every week!
- Donna G.
A beautiful weekend down the Jersey Shore with our weekly group!
- Michelle Fresco
For my milestone birthday, my children planned a Mah Jongg birthday party. My daughter-in-law, with the help of AI, designed "MJ Birthday Hands" that were challenging but fun to play. My 8yr old grandson got his 1st Mah Jongg too!
- Kim Jones
📸 Share your Mah Jongg moments!
Send us a photo and a quick note about a big win, a themed night, or a fun group shot, for a chance to be featured.
📩 Email: [email protected]
The American Mah Jongg Association would like to wish these members a very Happy Birthday!
September 21
Denise S. (ME), Donna V. (KY), Janice S. (MO), Margaret W. (GA), Shiela S. (TX)
September 22
Beth P. (TX), Linda S. (AZ)
September 23
Audrey M. (TX), Donna Y. (AZ), Donna G. (NC), Janet F. (NH), Julie P. (NC), Kim W. (WA), Laurie E. (FL), Shannon D. (GA)
September 24
Ann S. (FL), Carol R. (NJ), Frances H. (FL), Jennifer T. (NC), Libby O. (TX)
September 25
Elli Z. (FL), Ingrid C. (KS), Janet A. (CO), Jonna B. (SC), Shirley F. (CA)
September 26
Debra S. (CA), Joanne L. (PA), Julie S. (CA), Lisa S. (NJ), Michelle B. (NV), Netty M. (NC), Regina B. (FL)
September 27
Anita P. (NJ), Leslie C. (MI), Susan W. (NY)
If your name is Jill, enjoy a FREE Strategy Session 🙋🏻♀️ on us!*
*Just reply to this email by this Friday at midnight, your email name must match!
These milestones come from players using The Winning Hand, the practice app included with membership in the American Mah Jongg Association. [Join Here]
15,000+ members use it in different ways: To warm up. To stay sharp. Or simply to spend more time with the game you already love.
🔥🔥🔥 300 games played
Deb M
Marna Wensil
🔥🔥 200 games played
Connor Harrison
Mary Senechal
🔥 100 games played
Kathy Blackburn
Carol Bree
Alyse Chin
Bina Comes
Carol Woodruff
👏 The more you play, the better your game gets.
🎥 New to The Winning Hand app?
Short videos walk through each game mode:
🤖 Bot Play
➕ Hand Builder | ☑️ Finish the Hand | 🔃 Scrambled Hand | 💃🏻 Charleston
Share the Insider with your Mah Jongg friends 👇
3 → Winning Mah Jongg Strategies PDF
5 → AMJA Sticker
10 → 30-Day Practice Plan PDF
15 → Free Strategy Session w/ Max or Phyllis
25 → Large 2026 NMJL Card
50 → Virtual Bootcamp Access
100 → Mahj Insiders Club Membership
1000 → Self-Shuffling Table
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