Jolo (Jojo's 'log)

You ARE Invited!!

You are cordially invited to Princess Place Riichi Party Number 22: Wednesday April 2nd, at 6pm.

Come join in the new Mahjong Season. First "You Can Never Hold Back Spring!" Spring Season of Princess Place Mahjong Parties.

We can't wait to see you!!!

~love HanaJojo

Seasonal Scoreboard

In which I keep changing the rating system. Visit this page to chart a path to heaven's official blessing and Mahjong Immortality!

Rules & References

A page with usefule references and a precis of the rules of play.

Mahjong Journals:

This page is getting really long,😁 so click here to jump to a table of contents at the bottom to help you navigate.

Mahjong Night #21. A New Hope (March 27/25)

Let us leave all our mahjong mistakes, riichi regrets, and furiten frustrations from last season behind and boldy embrace the fresh new life of spring. Because "you can never hold back spring!"

On this momentous evening. Even as our Mother Earth gently tilted us in her northern half-sphere ever-so-slightly in favour of the sun, we all felt the green tendrils of inspiration, deep within us, reaching eagerly for the light. Soon will be a season of chaos and joy, tears and blood, of sprouting, birthing, vying for room to grow. But whatever terrors Spring brings, we will be wait wisely with ready hands, until either victory can be drawn from within or snatched from our adversaries' own erroroneously discarded treasure. When those moments come we will arrive like the dragons in red white and green upon the prevailing East or Southerly winds roaring ron or tsumo (and occasionally CHOMBO!@!

With such sentiments in their hearts gathered the vanguard of Princess Place Mahjong: Hanajo, CaveDyke, Elliot, Goul, Inspiration, Zenon...

Tonight's party was crashed by a mysteriously wonderful woman who bore books of non-mahjong lore and enticed up and coming competitor Inspiration to play a grim and serious session of strategy games while others filled out the tall red table with four winds accounted for.

At the tall red table Hanajo started in the East, followed by Goul, Elliot, and CaveDyke. Her hopes for continuing her dealership were dashed however by a fast tsumo by Goul and by the arrival of Zenon and conclusion of the strategy game. The game broke up and re-assembled into two Sanma sessions at the tall red table and the little kotatsu.

Cave Dyke when on to dominate the tall table, ruining Zenon's night with a ron for mangan (8000pts) augmented by a quarter-dozen residual riichi bets.

At the quaint little kotatsu Inspiration and Hanajo's heated debate seemed to change neither opponents' position by any great amount but in any event it was Goul who paid the price in points.

PPMP No. 21 Final Scores

Player Raw Score Rounded Placement* Rating Change
Hanajo 33,700 +9 Golden +4
CaveDyke 31,000 +6 Argent +2
Inspiration 30,400 +5 bronze ±0
Elliot 28,000 +3 bronze ±0
Zenon 17,500 -8 bronze ±0
Goul 14,800 -10 purple -2

* First and second places are golden and silver(argent) and receive 4 and 2 rating boosts respectively; anyone after second place but not last wins a bronze and neither gains nor loses rating. Last place—poor unlucky player—loses two points from their seasonal rating.

Inter Season Interlude (March 25/25)

In preparation for this week's season opener, I'm doing some reading on the Riichi Wiki and World Riichi Championship websites. Top things I've learned about are:

Gonin Mahjong (Five Player Mahjong)

There are two ways of playing 5 player. The rotation method we already use could be spiced up a with a 5th seat wager system. The Go-ma rules might also be plenty of fun—if somewhat chaotic—to try out; this option appeals to my Discordian sensibilities.

Riichi Canada

Not sure how this escape my notice till now but Riichi Canada seems active. The link above revealed that they have a Discord server which seems active. I'll investigate further and report back.

While we presently use a WRC Tournament booklet at our table for reference it doesn't completely reflect the rules we use at Princess Place. Discovering this document has helped out because it contains official notice of some of the rules we are kind of used to playing with.

I referenced this document while writing up my tentative "Palace Rules" for our games. Click here to review this addition to this website.

Mahjong Night Twenty. A Clean Win (March 18/25)

"Elliot", "Zenon", "BlueJay", "Hanajo", "CaveDyke"

Well everyone everyone that wraps up our first ever "totally chill" winter season. I'm so grateful to everyone who came out through inclement weather and other obstacles to make this season fun and fulfilling for all!

Our last night of the season was graced with a repeat visit from the illustrious BlueJay - you might remember them from the 18th "New Blood" night. This time they held their own at a fiercely competitive table trying out bold new strategies and deveoping their own distinct playstyle. Be sure to watch for them in the upcoming spring season. Everyone played extremely well tonight try-hard and defensive play from every corner of the wind. It might have been a close hand all around except for Elliot's devastating openning Hanneman. But even in the face of that kind of firepower, no one gave up any more ground easily throughout the night. After CaveDyke had to abandon seat, Zenon joined the game late in the East round with a fist full of honba sticks and refused to give up even a hundred points. As I said, grimly defensive play all around.

I think the kind of determination we saw tonight heralds a grim and gritty spring season. I hope you're ready, it's going to get messy. :)

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
Elliot 32,000 7,000 7 +12 +13
Ky 25,000 0 0 +3 +4
CaveDyke 23,300 -1,700 -2 -1 +1
Johana 22,700 -2,300 -2 -2 +1
BlueJay 22,000 -3,000 -3 -12 +1

Mahjong Night Nineteen. Triple Exhaustion (March 12/25)

"Goul", "I-robot", "CaveDyke", "Hanajo"

The mysterious Isotope appears once again, wins a bunch of points, and then fades back into the night! Who even is she, what is her agenda?

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
IMAX 35,800 10,800 11 16 +17
Hanajo 26,400 1,400 1 4 +5
Goul 24,700 -300 0 1 +2
CaveDyke 12,100 -12,900 -13 -22 +2

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, +0 other placement, last place -9

** Rate Gain: Final score plus attendance; plus spirit points.

Mahjong Night Eighteen. New Blood (March 5/25)

"Goul", "Dev", "Zenon", "Hanajo", "CaveDyke"... these are a few of the names that regularly strike fear into the hearts of Princess Place Mahjong Newbies. These names are well known to any casual reader of this Mahjong blog. But only the most try-hard, keen-eyed true fans of Jojo's Mahjong adventure might know the names of the three up-and-coming mahjong contenders who darkened the door at Princess Place Riichi Parlor. Read these names now and forget them at your peril: "BlueJay", "Aga-Chan", and "FraygulRock".

Mahjong Night 18: Final Score KOTATSU

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
Hanajo 53,400 28,400 28 +37 +38
Goul 23,500 -1,500 -1 +2 +3
CaveDyke -2,100 -27,100 -27 -36 +2

Mahjong Night 18: Final Score Tall Red Table

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
FrayglRok 28,000 +3,000 3 +8 +9
Dev 26,800 +1,800 2 +5 +6
Zenon 22,700 -2,300 -2 -1 +1
BlueJay 22,500 -2,500 -2 -11 +1

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, +0 other placement, last place -9

** Rate Gain: Final score plus attendance; plus spirit points.

Mahjong Night Seventeen. Big Hearted Double Ron (February 26/25)

Due to dealing into a double ron plus doing dishes, I defiantly decree that Dev definitely deserves double spirit points. Thank you for your generous support of your fellow players! Meanwhile, at the cosy kotatsu, delicious homemade cinnamon rolls also carried the day netting Ishtar a spirit point, who, hardly satisfied with such laurels went on to dominate the low table catapulting herself up the ranks of the seasonal scoreboard . Other notable changes on that scoreboard would be Zenon, coming back in a rigid hand cast to square off against Zain. The two players are now tied with an even 58 points split between them. These rivals will have to settle things in a "Zed to Zed" grudge match someday Someday SOMEDAY soon. What zany antics will such a game entail? Only someone with perfect "future vision" could even give us a hint; but will they talk? Come back to Mahjong night to find out!

Mahjong Night 17: Final Score KOTATSU

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
Ishtar 37,500 12,500 12 17 1+18=19
Zain 25,800 800 1 4 +5
Hanajo 22,100 -2,900 -3 -2 +1
Cave Dyke 14,300 -10,700 -11 -20 +1

Mahjong Night 17: Final Score TALL RED TABLE

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rate Gain**
Goul ?? 15,200 15 20 +21
Zenon 12,000 12 15 +16
Elliot 8,000 8 9 +10
Dev -27,200 -27 -36 1+2 = +3

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, +0 other placement, last place -9

** Rate Gain: Final score plus attendance; plus spirit points.

Mahjong Night Sixteen. Thirteen Hands!!! (February 19/25)

Can you even beleive it? Collectively we played thirteen hands of Sanma this night! That must certainly be a record for regular Mahjong nights. Read ahead for accounts of the latest shennanigans ...

Okay maybe this season is too "chill" for me to necessarily get around to always posting a full blog entry. Looking back at the Mahjong Adventure Logbook (aka Jojo's Mahjong Adventure Time) I can make the following observations:

All in all another excellent night of "swimming on the table".

Mahjong Night 16: Final Score

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Goul 39,300 14,300 14 +19 +20
Elliot 34,800 9,800 10 +13 +14
Atapi 25,900 900 1 +2 +3+1=+4
Zenon 23,500 -1,500 -1 +0 +1
CaveDyke 22,700 -2,300 -2 -2 +1
Hanajo 5,500 -19,500 -19 -28 +1

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, +0 other placement, last place -9

Mahjong Night Fifteen. Round Robin (February 12/2025)

On this cold and chilly night our hearts were warmed by the long awaited return of Mahjong local legend Goul and by the pleasure of finally welcoming Miracle to her first ever Mahjong night. When asked if she knew the rules, Miracle said something about being a former pro-player so we all sat down without bothering to teach her. Not long after the round began, Ky joined our little group and even later we were honoured by the return of Zain. For the first time in Mahjong night history I failed to keep track of the individual compositions of winning hands. However tonight was special in that throughout the night six various players rotated in and out over the course of six hands. Goul played it safe and retired as soon as she had earned enough points for a positive score (though with rounding it will only ammount to an even break). Miracle and Zain on the other hand were less fortunate and managed to pay out many points during their short sojourn's at the table. The cleverest of us all that night was Ky who played a couple unprofitable hands, retired for a small restorative siesta and then returned, refreshed and wrought devastation with a high scoring hand in the 5th hand (all at Zain's expense).

Will CaveDyke regain the favour of heaven and Earth? Will Miracle finally assemble a pure straight-flush? Will Goul return to her place of dominance at the seasonal leaderboard? All these questions remain obscured by the mists of mahjong but the future will scatter the clouds and reveal the truth!

Mahjong Night 15: Final Score

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Ky 31,000 6,000 6 +11 +12
Hanajo 27,000 2,000 2 +5 +6
Goul 25,200 200 0 +1 +3
CaveDyke 24,000 -1,000 -1 -1 +1
Miracle 22,700 -2,300 -2 -2 +1
Zain 18,000 -7,000 -7 -16 +1

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, +0 other placement, last place -9

MahjongNight Number Fourteen Thirt-- er.. several orphans~ (February 5/2025)

Silly San-ma night!

Ivanna and CaveDyke joined Hanajo for a fortunate fourteenth night of Mahjong.

Let me just say I was feeling so pleased to have these two vivacious young mahjong debutantes deigning to dally with me last Wednesday night. Little did I know what perfidious plans the pair had prepared. The evening started innocently out with soup and scrumptious pie!! Satisfied, we soon settled down to a soothing game of san-ma, (a three player mahjong variant notorious for tempting players with easy big hands).

Everything was going well... until we were partway through the East Round. I felt something was distinctly "off". I had a very sturdy looking hand with a solid concealed yakuhai triplet, and enough pairs to justify going for toitoi (or possibly even pivotting to chiitoitsu). Then the hand started to drag on and on. I should have realized what wickedness was afoot and yet my mind was simply not prepared for the level of treachery these two mahjong minx's were willing to descend toward... None of my triplets were coming together. Even the frequently discarded terminals refused to appear. Things started getting desperate and nothing looked safe to discard so I had to start discarding yakuhai dragons late in the game, expecting to deal in but no. Everyone stayed quiet. Not a "ron" nor a "pon" to be heard. Finally the wall crumbled into dust before us and we all glared at CaveDyke who confessed that yes, indeed she had been trying to build mahjong's most cursed hand: Kokushi musou (Thirteen Orphans)! Even Ivanna joined me in cheerfully ribbing CaveDyke for her presumption. But then, to be even more outrageous Ivanna then comes clean, reveals her own tiles, and shamelessly confesses that she too had been pursuing the same silly hand! Well and truly scandalized by their behavior, I insisted the insouciant ingenues pose for a picture with their infamy on display.

Enjoy:

Two silly smiling Mahjong Players overhead view of mahjong table revealingtwo open hands trying to assemble 13 orphans

These silly players, so pleased with themselves for achieving an exhausting exhaustive draw by both going for Thirteen Orphans at the same time!

Anyway, the shenanigan's didn't end there. While we were all still in shock from the close call with this notorious yakuman CaveDyke drew a 1 or 2 shanten hand (meaning they were only a couple tiles off from having been touched by the Mahjong gods and recieving the Blessing of Earth). Despite missing out on this extremely rare and divine yakuman they made excellent use of their fortunate draw and won with a tsumo victory with remarkable alacrity.

And so ended the fortune-filled fourteenth night of Mahjong.

Night 14, Final Scores

Player Raw Score Minus 35K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
CaveDyke 38,600 3,600 +4 +9 +11
Ivanna 36,200 1,200 +1 +1 +2
Hanajo 30,200 -4,800 -5 -10 +1

†Uma for sanma is +5, 0, -5.

Mahjong Night Number Twelve EIGHT PLAYERS! (January 22/2025)

Just as last week was the first to feature two full tables for Sanma, night number 12 will go down as the first time since the New Year when we had 2 full tables of four-player Riichi Mahjong underway. This is all thanks to some very special guests: Lz, Ln, and Ae. These three new players, never having partaken of mahjong magic before, sat down with our very own CaveDyke to learn their ways around mysteries of the living wall, the capricious winds, and inscrutable dragons! And I'll mention it again later, but I am very grateful to CaveDyke for rising to the occasion and serving as instructor for the evening.

While indoctrination proceded at the tall red table, four more players: Hanajo, Goul, Dev, and Zain gathered low around the kotatsu for another dramatic match. Goul led off winning a dealer's ron against Hanajo who dealt in. Kicking herself, Hanajo played more defensively in Goul's first dealer repeat and so was perhaps suficiently on guard against the devastating Baiman win by Zain. Sadly Dev was no so lucky and he dealt right in for 17,300 points. Zain earned Mahjong night's highest winning hand score to date. Capitalizing on their campaign of shock and awe, Zain went on to win the second East hand with a casual tsumo. In the third, and ultimately final round, Hanajo tried to make a come back but it was too little too late and she was only able to win a cheap non-dealer's "ron back from Zain's great storehouse of points.

Night 12, Kotatsu final scores:

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Zain 42,300 17,300 17 +22 +23
Goul 27,500 2,500 2 +5 +6
Hanajo 23,000 -2,000 -2 -1 +1
Dev 7,200 -17,800 -18 -27 +1

Meanwhile, back at the High Red Table CaveDyke was leading the new players through a veritable odyssey of education. Not content to rely on a dry lecturers style, they came up with the zaniest antics to create teachable moments for all. To begin, they gamely dealt in to Ln's first dealership, generously sacrifing 1500 points for the younger player's edification. Ln, followed this altruistic example and dealt in to her elder Ae's hand. In the third hand of the round, CaveDyke went even as far as to commit some daring chombo worthy errors simply to demonstrate clearly what not to do. Truly a teacher after my own heart! In Lz's east wind turn, they gave in to the natural inclination to win and gathered a tidy little payout from the newbie dealer.

Night 12, High Red Table Scores:

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
CaveDyke 27,100 2,100 2 +7 1+2+7 = +10
Ln 25,900 900 1 +4 +5
Lz 25,000 0 0 +1 +2
Ae 24,000 -1000 -1 -10 +1

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, 4th place -9 Players tied after rounding share the average of the total umas they should receive. So Since I and C were both -3 at the end of the game they recieve (3+1)/2 = 2 each. Clear?

** Rating: Attendence/participation plus spirit points. These points get added to each players seasonal rating.

Very Chill Mahjong Night Number Eleven (January 15/2025)

Today marked a couple new firsts for Mahjong Night. For the first time we had exactly six people all show up at the same time all ready to play Mahjong. This was something I had been waiting for: an opportunity to delve into the popular three-player variant of Riichi Mahjong called Sanma. With only a couple simple changes, the game is considered by many to be at least as fun as regular four player Riichi.

We broke out Atapi's lovely Japanese style set of tiles (complete with red fives) in order to have two tables running simultaneously. At the tall red table : Hanajo, Sophie, and Elliot. At the low kotatsu style board: Isis, Goul, and Dev square- er triangled off. Some highlights of that match included a high scoring "all simples" plus dora riichi by Goul, profitable usage of aka dora (red fives) by Isis, and most notably Mahjong Night's first ever suufon renda - the consecutive discarding of the same wind tile by every player on the first turn. According to our understanding of the game at the time, this triggers and abortive draw and the walls must be taken down, reshuffled and rebuilt. It was only after the match was completed that a careful examination of the rules of Sanma revealed that suufonrenda is not actually supposed to happen in sanma. (The precise translation of suufonrenda implies that all four tiles of a particular wind have to be discarded to trigger the draw. Since only three players make discards in a single rotation in sanma it can't technically meet the requirements.) Never-the-less it was a satisfyingly novel event for our fledgling little club.

Sorry, I nearly forgot to mention Goul also scored our first ever Haneman (6 or 7 han, worth 12000 pts for a non-dealer).

Meanwhile, back at the red table, Elliot and I were having a delightful time introducing the game to Sophie the exceedingly quick study. The gameplay first for me was the thrill of winning the first Baiman (8-10 han, 16000 for non-delaer). I came close however to overshadowing my victory with an embarrasing mistake. After the game ended, I was thinking fondly of my winning hand which was a closed riichi toitoi (all triplets) which naturally contained "three concealed triplets" these two yaku combined are worth 4 han, combined with the riichi and yakuhai dragons and dora for 9 han, hence the Baiman. But was I satisfied with this? No I looked over our yaku cheat cheet and my eyes fell upon "Four concealed triplets" a YAKUMAN! Did I miss celebrating our first ever yakuman?? (The legendary maximum scoring riichi hands). How embarrassing it would be to ask the players at my table to revise my score up into the stratosphere after we'd all signed off on the score. And how anticlimatic to only declare the hand after everyone had gone home. But later, the next night, I was musing about this with Crow77 the transfemme Youttube/Twitch Mahjong streaming celebrity and she told me that "Four concealed triplets" doesn't count if the wait was on the final triplet (because calling ron tehnically 'opens' the last triplet). Only a tsumo or a tanki (pair) wait will qualify as 4 concealed triplets. So... my score was merely a Baiman and Yakuman glory still awaits our humble club. Who will be the first to ascend to riichi nirvana and win the first yakuman? The answer, as always, remains hidden in by the foggy mist of the future. Only time and destiny will reveal our fate.

Match Score for First "Totally Chill" Winter Season's Eleventh Night

This is the first sanma game and scores will have to be kept separate. Sanma is a naturally higher scoring game. Players start a match with a base 35,000. And due to the reduction in suited tiles, higher scoring hands are more common.

Red Table

Player Raw Score Minus 35K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Hanajo 50,200 +15,200 +15 +20 1+20 = +21
Elliot 23,200 -11,800 -12 -17 +1
Sophie 31,600 -3,400 -3 -3 +1

Kotatsu

Player Raw Score Minus 35K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Goul 47,900 +17,900 +18 +23 23 + 1 = +24
Isis 24,900 -5,100 -5 -5 0 +1
Dev 17,200 -12,800 -13 -18 0 + 1 + 1 = +2

(Spirit Point to Dev for causing our first ever suufon renda)

†Uma for sanma is +5, 0, -5.

Very Chill Mahjong Night Number Ten (January 8/2025) On this night Goul,

(Jan 8/25)

Hanajo, and CaveDyke um... Iphigenia gathered in the cold evening to settle the question on some people's minds: Is Hanajo even any good at this game? Feeling the pressure I tried my best on got very lucky with two menzentsumo riichi back to back wins in the first half of the game. Then I was able to hold on to the lead even after Goul got organized and won by tsumo in the final hand depriving me of any dealer repeats. But thanks to hand 1's mangan I held on to first place. So Hanajo finally wins a match for the first time since starting to host Mahjong night.

Match Score for First "Totally Chill" Winter Season's tenth night.

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Hanajo 36,300 11,300 +11 +16 1+16 = +17
Iphigenia 22,100 -2,900 -3 -1 1+1 = +2
CaveDyke 21,600 -3,400 -3 -1 1+1 = +2
Goul 20,000 -5,000 -5 -10 1+1 = +2

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, 4th place -9 Players tied after rounding share the average of the total umas they should receive. So Since I and C were both -3 at the end of the game they recieve (3+1)/2 = 2 each. Clear?

** Rating: Attendence/participation plus spirit points. These points get added to each players seasonal rating.

Totally Chill First Winter Season: New Year's Day Opener (Jan 1/2025)

Thank you everyone for coming out to an auspicious openning to our first "Chill Winter" Season of Mahjong. The afternoon festivities commenced with the arrival of Goul, SparkleFluff, Dev, Wolffriend, Agachan, CaveDyke, Elliot, Atapi, *P, and *K. This was enough players to divide up into two tables featuring the Champagne Glitter set on the Red Table, and the mini Riichi Black set on the kotatsu.†

The cool thing about the Riichi Black set is that it is specifically designed for Japanese Riichi play, it has blanks for white dragons by default and it has 4 red fives. (I am curious if anyone ever plays with all four (I think pin is doubled).) It also lacks any roman letters or arabic numbers so players are challenged to memorize the ranks of man tiles by learning the Chinese characters for numbers 1 through 9. Our newest player, SparkleFluff, making her Mahjong day debut opted for this table, scorning any invitation to maker her life easier by joining the Red Table. She further disdained the offer to play an open hand and insisted in jumping into the icy cold water of "chill winter" mahjong without any accomodation for her freshness to the game. This should have been a warning to the rest of us. Joining her at that table were Wolffriend, Hanajo/Agachan (as a team), and Goul - last season's champion.

At the tall Red Table, four other veterans of the "forgiving" fall season got ready to start building up their seasonal ratings from the fresh start. CaveDyke, Elliot, Atapi, and Dev built the wall with every intention of unlocking its secrets.

At the kotatsu SparkleFluff asked lot's of cute, innocent seeming questions and lulled her opponents into a false sense of security before laying an evil trap which the intrepid Wolffriend fell directly into. SparkleFluff declared ron!! with a Bakaze yaku and 7su dora for a 40fu/2han hand which would have cost Wolffriend a cool 2700 in riichi sticks. Luckily for the lupine interloper, SparkleFluff was called away just then on urgent business. The kotatsu tompussen was terminated early and all payouts canceled. But SparkleFluff has made her point. She will not be taken for granted in the future. We are now well warned. In lieu of a final score I will award her a +2 (semi-uma) in addition to a spirit point for sacrificing her game play to help some other players out (that urgent business) and the attendence point for a total +4 to her seasonal rating.

Meanwhile back at the Red Table things were heating up... perhaps it was the Macau-style blackened egg-tarts in the oven, or perhaps it was the relentless breath of Chun the Red Dragon. In the first East Round, CaveDyke lost their East-wind seat by dealing in to Elliot's 2000pt ron. CaveDyke, called out upon the same mission that took SparkleFluff away, retired from the tall table tompussen. Goul, fleeing the carnage at the kotatsu stepped in to fill the spot. In the second round, Elliot's promising dealership was gut short by a tsumo win by Dev who lured three red dragon tiles into his hand to start the year out with strong fortune. Atapi obtained the East wind seat then, but fell foul of Goul's devastating honitsu plus multi-dora Managan! (First mangan of the season)! You might think this would make her more careful, and yet... The tompussen would end in the next round, under Dev's benign dealership, with Atapi dealing in yet again to Goul - this time earning another red-dragon's breath fueled Mangan number two!!

† Low table, intended for using from a floor seating position.

Match Score for First "Totally Chill" Winter Season's first Tompussen:

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
Goul 40,200 15,200 15 +20 20+1 = 21
Dev 26,800 1,800 2 +5 5+1 = 6
Elliot 26,300 1,300 1 +2 2+1 = 3
CaveDyke 22,500 -2,500 -3 -8 (-4.5) 1+2 = 2
Atapi 8,600 -16,400 -16 -21 (-4.5) 1+1 = 2

* uma: 1st place +5, 2nd place +3, 3rd place +1, 4th place -9 In case of a tie, players divide the sum of the uma which they would have won. (For five or six player matches, 4th and lower places are considered tied for last)

** Rating: Attendence/participation plus spirit points. These points get added to each players seasonal rating.

Second Red Table Match of the Day

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
CaveDyke 30,800 5,800 +6 +11 +11
Goul 26,500 1,500 +2 +5 +4
Atapi 23,500 -1,500 -2 -1 +0
Hanajo 19,200 -5,800 -6 -15 0+1+1=2

First Kotatsu Game points

Player Raw Score Minus 25K Rounded Final w/ Uma* Rating adj.**
SparkleFluff 27,700 2,700 3 8 8+1+1 = 10
Wolffriend 25,000 0 0 3 2 + 1 = 3
Goul 25,000 0 0 1 +1
Agachan 25,000 -2,700 -3 -12 1 + 1 = 2

Extra Mahjong, December 25/2024 Pokey Hall Inagural

On this chilly December 25th, Hanajo accompanyed by Wolffriend and Aga-chan introduced Riichi Mahjong to family members on the North Mountain. Eli, Harlow, Henry, and Abraham joined in.

For the first East round hand, Aga-chan and Hanajo taught the new players how to build the wall before any other instruction. Sometimes one might try introducing the tile shapes and names first, but of the two options, I tend to prefer building the wall first. After building we assumed East wind without any ceremony and dealt out everyone's tiles. Aga-chan suggested an open hand. Again I agree that's the best way to begin teaching the game when there is any more than one new player at the table. Probably even with just one. In this case there were three. Harlow in South, Henry West, and Eli in the cold North Wind seat. With open hands everyone focussed first on simply sorting the tiles. Learning the mysteries of winds and suits. Harlow introduced everyone to "pon" and "chi" calls. Aga-chan felt obliged to encourage this precosity and dilligently dealt into him until he was able to call "Ron" with a tanyao plus dora costing the dealer 2600points.

In the second East round, Hanajo and Aga-chan retired and entrusted their depleted stack of points to Abraham. Harlow made his debut as dealer but was unable to hold on to the position. Abe dealt into Eli's East wind bakaze yakuhai for a cool thousand points dropping the teachers score even further.

The third round would ultimately be the last. Harlow had business to attend to so Wolffriend stepped in and took control of his North seat. Henry surely was looking forward to his first dealership and had everyone on the edge of their seats as he crept steadily forward towards an eccentric nagashi mangan (to win by reaching an exhaustive draw having only ever discarded honours and terminal tiles). But it wasn't meant to be. Wolffriend flexed her Mahjong seniority with a tsumo honitsu costing the unlucky dealer 1000 points and ultimately securing a decisive win for the Harlow/Wolf team.

Final scores

Wolf/Harlow:    29,600  -> +4.6
Eli Diamond:    26,000  -> +1.0
Henry Rogers:   24,000  -> -1.0
Double A Team:  20,400  -> -4.6

All agreed it was an introduction to an exciting game. Will we play a fourth hand? Will there be a re-match? Will Henry ever win with his wild hand building strategy? Only the four winds and wise dragons know the answers to these mysteries. Let us wait and see.

Mahjong Night #8, December 18/2024 Unexpected Final Match

Four mahjong players seated around red table

I'm sorry to spring this on you but after the fact I have decided to declare last night the final night of our Forgiving First Fall Season of Mahjong. This freezes all rating accumulation for the First Autumn Season. But it opens up glorious opportunities for grand new contests and adventures!

So let us review the dramatic conclusion of a sweet and gentle introduction to Mahjong:

First to acknowledge our atendees. Final night welcomed another new player and yet Zain immediately proved themselves no newbie to Mahjong. Heavy hitters like CaveDyke returned, Hanajo hosted, and the big event we've all been waiting for finally arrived: the grudge match between Elliot and Goul! Read on to find out how this Clash of the Titans played out!

Hanajo introduced the Traditional menthod of seating assignment today. Some critics may wonder if the arcane procedure was not merely a sneaky way for her obtain a first round dealership position. Who can say? However whatever the truth may be, she completely failed to capitalize on the advantageous position and lost her dealership by ending up noten (not ready hand) after an exhaustive draw. Only Goul managed to get into tempai by waiting for a chiitoitsu (seven pair) hand. In my view, chiitoitsu has a curious effect on a round, by kind of messing up the discards in a way. Is that a real thing? I don't know. But in the future we may all become such savy players that we'll be able to detect such skullduggery and put and end to it more quickly. The players in the first round were Goul, Elliot, Hanajo, and Zain. CaveDyke to "support position" and earned everyone's gratitude serving tea and soup.

For the second east round CaveDyke settled into the chilly North Wind Seat and Hanajo wandered off to read rulebooks and think about what she did wrong. True to reputation, CaveDyke (the Mangan Monster) started their reign of terror with a bakaze sangenpai honitsu plus dora Mangan win! You might think such an openning would have compeletely demoralized the opposition, but keep reading to learn how it only strengthened the resolve of our soon-to-be-revealed seasonal champion.

Before the third east round, Zain relinquished their player position and Hanajo returned to the game in the North Wind Seat, clearly hoping that coll breeze would bring them the same luck it blew CaveDyke's way. But no. Goul had other plans and won a quick sangenpai ron taking 1000 pts from Elliot along with their dealership. With that, Elliot decided to retire to serve tea and cookies while contemplating their devastating losses.

With such a fast game so far we weren't ready for what was to come in the fourth east round: first CaveDyke and then Hanajo both made chombo level errors by calling winning hands that weren't any such thing. In the spirit of the Forgiving Fall Season the chombo penalty was reduced to a mere 500 points from each disgraced player to those who might otherwise been able to complete the round. Since Goul was in tempai she was allowed to retain her dealership for the first renchan of the game.

Goul won her first dealer repeat with a handy 2 dora tiles and honba bonus, taking 6300 points from Cavedyke and extending her dealership into a SECOND renchan (possibly another first for Mahjong night). Finally Hanajo was able to halt Goul's ghastly game plan with a modest 1 han victory, augmented by 600 points thanks to the renchan honba bonus. This cost CaveDyke the last remnantsof their Mangan jackpot. With the end of the fourth east round, the game could have ended but all agreed to extend it an allow CaveDyke a chance to redeem themselves during a dealership. But Goul's appetite was simply too strongand the game ended with Zain dealing in to the newly crowned Mahjong Monster and ultimate Champion of the First Fall Season: Goul!!***

Final Score

Player     Score 
----------|------
Goul      |+13.7
Hanajo    | -0.4
CaveDyke  | -0.9
Zain      | -2.0
Elliot    |-10.0

Mahjong Night #7, December 10/2024 Birthday Bash

So the seventh night of the First Fall Season was special to me because it was the first time I've ever played Mahjong on my birthday. I think I will have to consider making it a tradition. What better gift could I ask for than the delight of meeting new Mahjong players. And tonight we welomed not one but TWO new players! Dev and Bluejay!! Both who displayed truly excellent deportment on the the occasion of their Riichi debuts.

With their presence the roster of Riichi contenders consisted of the following: Goul, CaveDyke, Hanajo, Dev, Ky, Bluejay, and P* (persistant shadow player---"Mahjong's not really my thing."). At six o'clock we began our Tompussen (a half-length game, featuring only the East wind round.) Determined to learn by jumping off the 3 meter board directly into the deep end, Dev declined the offer of playing an open hand. Distracted, perhaps (not really) by my pedagogical obligations, I dealt in to Goul's completely straight forward green dragon Yakuhai hand and had to hand over 1800 points relinqish my dealership.

The East Wind left me in its dust and blew nothing but good luck toward CaveDyke who smashed our house record with a double-wind win (when the dealer wins with the East wind it's worth double han because it's obviously their seat wind at the same time), plus an open honitsu (2 han) and the dora for a total 5 han Mangan win. Although Goul and Ky both won Mangans on the Fifth Night, CaveDyke's victory has the glory of being our first ever dealer Mangan and in so doing cost the brave deep-water diving Dev (who dealt into it) a devastating dozen g's (12,000 points!). I think this is the first time the 10,000 points sticks have even changed hands.

Since the dealer won, we had to repeat the East second hand for CaveDyke with a honba marker on the table. Determined to regain some of my lost status from my earlier blunder I put together a cheap and fast hand winning with an open tanyao, dora, plus the honba for a total of 2300 point ron, and ending CaveDyke's dealership. CaveDyke took this opportunity to walk quietly away with their winnings still in hand. Ky and Bluejay stepped in (by sitting down) to fill the vacancy.

Goul greeted Ky with a coolness that rivalled their first awkward meeting two weeks ago by setting a trap for Ky that ultimately cost them 2900 points (dealing into a Riichi pinfu with substantial fu I guess). Goul extended their dealership and was well on her way, I am sure, to setting up another trap. However she was unprepared for my secret weapon. I had the great fortune to have acquired a deputy player BlueJay, who's tremendous luck turned the tides in my favour. BlueJay drew our winning tile himself giving us a clean tsumo bakaze win worth 1400 in total. Feeling the exhilerating East wind blowing in hist favour, Jay decided to go off on his own, leaving me to take over dealership perhaps counting on his skill and luck (and the East wind) to carry the day. Due to the vissisississitudes of this turbulent game, it was not to be. Not only did Ky deal into my tremendously cheap hand, but they did so after Jay had followed some of the very questionable guidance of his fellow players and declared Riichi. This turned my modest win into a respectable 2000 point prize and also ended the Fourth East round. And so concluded our Heavenly Seventh Night of Riichi. What will happen next week? I cannot say, for the future remains clouded in the fog of mystery, but when the mist clears, you can be sure you can read about it here!

~hanajo

Final Score

Player     Score 
----------|------
CaveDyke  |+12.0
Hanajo    | +3.3
Goul      | +1.0
BlueJay   | +0.4
Ky        | -4.3
Dev       |-12.4

† Spirit points tonight will go to Dev and BlueJay for such sportsmanlike conduct on their first Mahjong night, to CaveDyke for generously forfeiting their seat for new players and to the shadowy support player for water, soup, food and congenial shit talking.

Dont forget to check on the running seasonal player rating

Mahjong Night #6, December 4/2024

As we creep up upon the dark long nights of solstice, our First Autumn Season of Mahjong is burning brightly to stave off winter. Even as the ice grows upon the oval, the fervour of our brave new Mahjong players warms the table and cheers our host. Tonight was another successful Mahjong Night.

In attendence were some famliar faces P* arrived early along with an ebulliant companion who asked to be addressed as Sasha. Not long after, Elliot arrived, early in hopes perhaps of getting the jump on their arch rival Goul. Goul took this affrontery in stride, and (spoiler) casually crushed the upstar, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. While the wall was being built Ky arrived and agreed to play as Sasha's deputy (An honourable gesture which will be well rewarded with the advent of generous spririt points).

The first East Round hand was cleverly won by Sasha and Ky with a dealer tsumo netting them 2400 points (800 all). At some point during this openning hand CaveDyke arrived. I suggested immediately breaking up the game to start another table of Sanma (three player Riichi) but the K2 team refused to be broken up. Understandable in light of their openning victory. However Goul offered to rotate out for the next hand allowing CaveDyke to step into the South Wind Seat just in time for Team K2's first renchan. I'm sure they hoped to capitalize on their victory and rack up points but it was not to be. The second East Round ended in an exhaustive draw. As the only player in tempai this netted Hanajo 3000 pts but left everyone feeling vaguely unsatisfied.

Demurely, Hanajo took her winnings and rotated out in Goul's favour for the third East Round. But the table doldrums only intensified and despite more than a few false promises of victory delivere yet another exhaustive draw. This time every player was sitting in tempai and thus each one earned 25% of zero points. Now I'm sure everyone was unsatisfied in vivid detail.

At this stage Hanajo decreed that voluntary rotation out of play would be rewarded with spirit points. Seizing this opportunity Elliot gallantly invited Hanajo to take their seat. The fourth East Round was yet another renchan this time CaveDyke was repeating their dealership. Hanajo greedily targetted the honba sticks with a fast and cheap yakuhai ron ending CaveDyke's dealership and taking 1300pts.

Despite warding off the Winter's chill, no amount of Mahjong cheer could stop time itself. With the hour growing late, consensus was reached that the next hand would be the last. Hanajo formed a cunning plan to win that last hand but she foolishly failed to account for the unnatural luck of of the goulash player Goul. "Ron!" Goul called out and with an evil laugh revealed her fiendishly finessed open ikkitsuukan (a "straight" of triplets (123, 456, 789) all in a single suit!) To add insult her hand included a pair of dora. As she was the dealer, Hanajo was liable to pay 6000 points completely reversing their positions. Hungry for revenge Hanajo lobbied for another game but the night had run its course and bedtime would not be denied.

Final point tallies at this point were: Goul 30,200; Ky 28,100; Hanajo 23,500; CaveDyke 22,700; and Elliot 20,500. Converted this resulted in the following score.

Final Score

Player     Score 
----------|------
Goul      | +5.2 
Team K2   | +3.1
Hanajo    | -1.5
CaveDyke  | -2.3
Elliot    | -4.5

Spirit points going to Ky for being team player, P* for universal support, Goul and Elliot for voluntary rotation, giving up their seat for a round or more. See the Scoreboard for the updated seasonal player ratings.

Mahjong Night #5, November 27/2024

Players: Goul, Ky, Atapi, Hana-jo

At long last, after much anticipation, the day arrived we have all been waiting for: Ky's first awkward encounter with Goul in the lobby. (Surely it wont be the last). But no, seriously Goul and Hanajo were very excited to finally welcome Ky to Mahjong Night. After a couple practice hands during which Hanajo said the phrase "secret sauce" a nauseating number of times everyone was up to speed. When Atapi arrived we were ready to jump into our first full tonpuusen (East wind round game). Of course we didn't know it then but it would be a night of several other firsts.

First hand dealership went to Goul. The hand ended smoothly when Hanajo, greedy for points carelessly discarded a late-game Chun (Red Dragon) and dealt-in to the dealer's ron! (1 han, 30 fu, 1500pts). This earned Goul a renchan (dealer repeat) but Hanajo retaliated with a non-dealer ron! taking back 1000 pts from Goul (who had called riichi) and 1300 from Atapi who dealt in to a Hatsu (White Dragon) yakuhai. Hanajo's win also cost Goul to lose her dealership and the East wind passed to Ky.

Ky celebrated by generously dealing in to Mahjong Night's first ever Mangan (a hand that scores 8000 points), scored by Goul with a suuanko (three concealed triplets) plus three dora! Perhaps with some relief Ky passed the East wind Marker to Atapi, but there was no relief in sight for the neophyte. Atapi scored a dealer ron! taking away another 3900 pts! A lesser person may have despaired in the face of such cruel treatment, but not our Ky who bravely rallied and spoiled Atapi's first renchan by scoring Majong Night's second ever Mangan, this time by tsumo! (self draw). With the renchan bonus this netted Ky a cool 8300 pts and the distinction of becoming the player to have both lost and won the greatest number of points in single hands in Mahjong Night's short history.

Dealership passed to Hanajo who won the first "last hand" with a cheap tanyao (all simples) yaku. She then took the opportunity offered by her first renchan to commit a noten riichi chombo (the shameful crime of declaring riichi when not actually having a ready hand). If someone else had won the hand she would have got away with it too, but as fate would have it the last round ended in an exhaustive draw, forcing her to show her humiliating noten hand. This cost her 3000 points distributed to each other player who was in tempai (having a ready hand).†

With that we successfully completed our first complete tonpuusen. Happy and content, players dispersed once more into the mysterious Halifax gloom. But fear not, they shall return.

Final Score

Player     Score 
----------|------
Atapi     | -1.0
Goul      | +6.9
Hanajo    | -3.8
Ky        | -3.1

† Out of curiosity I looked up all the penalties and infractions I could recall from the game. If it weren't the forgiving First Autumn Season of Mahjong Night and we were enforcing all penalties my noten riichi chombo should have cost me the equivalent of a mangan (8000pts). I looked a little further and learned about lesser penalty called agari houki meaning "dead hand". It is administered to players for infractions like having the wrong number of tiles in your hand (Goul!) or drawing a tile from the dead wall by mistake (me again!!). Let us all rejoice in the spirit of patient compassion that distinguishes the First Autumn Season and grants us amnesty for our little foibles.

Sidequest Hanajo: Novemebr 25/2024 Mahjong Soul Victory

Last night I hit the milestone of reaching ADEPT rank on the Mahjong Soul website. I put some screenshots up on my new player profile page. Hanajo's Player Profile

Mahjong Night #4, November 20/2024

Players: Atapi, Elliot, Goul, Hana-jo, CaveDyke, X*, P*, K*

CaveDyke and K* formed a team to continue their Mahjong education. For their pedagogical benefit the table started the Tonmpussen (East-only round) with an open hand. Atapi, in their fervent ambition to make up for last week's losses seized the opportunity to win a dealer ron against Goul who so obligingly dealt in losing 5800pts† for her trouble. A dealer win forces a repeat of the hand with added stakes. Elliot "the disciplinary dragon" did not waste the opportunity and capitalized on the chance with a second dealer ron, this time punishing X* for just trying to learn a new game! Elliot's 26fu/1han green dragon yakuhai hand cost X* 1500 points, plus 300 for the renchan (dealer repeat)! Devastating! Some people would just get out of the pool after such a cold reception. But not X*!

To break the ice I kindly requested Elliot to give up their cozy chair at the South end of the table and let me play a hand or two. Sated with victory they obliged. X*, perhaps feeling a weight lifted, began to soar. Making call after call she was suddenly threatening a pure flush toitoi. (All triplets, all the same suit). But it wasn't meant to be. Atapi, perhaps sensing disaster, made a desperate move and declared ron on a triple South wind, unfortuneately for her she was sitting in West at the time. CHOMBO! Lucky we're still in the forgiving First Autumn Season of our Mahjong adventure and CHOMBO comes with no addtional sanction (beyond the humiliation of having her infamy documented here) . And so ended the third hand.

Stymied, but not dismayed, X* offered her unlucky seat to CaveDyke who slid up to the table determined to make their mark. And this they did, calling ron on poor Goul. This added a 1300 point insult to her earlier injury. And with that Mahjong Night #4 drew to a close. With tears and joy friends departed once more into the night but never fear, they shall return!

†Goul, if you're reading this, I'm sure you're shocked by this development. Sorry, I misread the scoring table earlier and severely undervalued Elliot's hand. Elliot: congratualtions. I think this is the highest scoring hand since official Mahjong night has been documented.

Final Score

Player     Score 
----------|------
Atapi     | +/-0
Elliot    | +7.6
Goul      | -7.1
CaveDyke  | +1.3
Hana-jo   | +/-0
K*        | +/-0
X*        | -1.8

Side Quest: Hana-jo's weekend game Saturday, November 16

Read an account of my game on Saturday, November 16. Also find a link to a fun teen tv drama about Mahjong. Boardgame Weekend at Sam's house

Hey! If you have any Mahjong Adventures you want to share. Just write to me and I'll be happy to add them to this page.

~hana-jo

:-)

Mahjong Night #3, November 12/2024

Four players: Goul, Elliot, Atapi, and Hana-jo entered the arena to vy for mahjong supremacy. By the decree of the dice, Hana-jo was first in the East wind seat. Despite her efforts to acheive a ready hand, Elliot dealt into the Goul's devastating Chitoitsu Seven Pairs closed hand. Like a bolt of thunder, the Goul declared "RON!!" and ended the hand.

By virtue of the seating arrangement, dealership (or parenthood) passed to Goul for the second hand of the East Round. Once again the south wind carried a lucky scent, this time bestowing the fashionable chitoitsu (Seven Pairs hand) upon Atapi. Sadly it was Elliot again who bore the cost, dealing in once again. Chitoitsu is perhaps especially difficult to defend against because it's a closed hand and contains no sequences.

As the evening was wearing on, all agreed to end after the next hand instead of pressing on to complete a full East Only game. As the parental perogative and East wind passed finally to Elliot, everyone had to wonder if their luck would finally turn. Early in the hand Hana-jo generously discarded her lone Green Dragon into Elliot's pon, establishing them as a threat with a visible yaku-hai on the table. Hana-jo and Goul played with all due paranoia and avoided dealing in but Atapi was ultimately entrapped and handed Elliot a winning tile only a few turns before the exhaustion of the wall. Atapi's payout was nearly enough to bring Elliot back into contention. Had the East-round continued we might have all witnessed a glorious comeback. However the session end dropped the curtain on Elliot's dreams.

Another successful Mahjong night was concluded. Warmed by tea, soup, veggie snacks and a lucky box of Ritz crackers, the players dispersed into the howling North-westerly winds of a Halifax gale. But rest assured, they will be back!

Final score†

Notable - two chitoitsu wins; no dealer wins in 3 hands

 Player     Score  Rating
 ----------|------|------ 
 Goul      |  +1.6|   2.6 
 Atapi     |  +0.3|   1.3  
 Hanajo    |    0 |    1  
 Elliot    |  -1.9|    1

† Round score is calculated by subtracting 25000 from final point score and dividing by 1000. Rating is a total of all positive points won over all Mahjong nights plus one point for every Mahjong night atended.

November 6/2024

Players 4 and 5 returned. Players 6 and 7 teamed up and made some devastating calls. The first match ended in an exaustive draw but Player 5 won a menzentsumo riichie worth at least 4 han! That would have cost each other player 2600 pts... wait no I think I counted wrong. Possibly 3600! Amazing. Sadly bedtime meant that players 4, 6, and 7 were long gone and didn't have to pay out. Player 5 and Hanajo played a yaku-building drill afterwards and developed a strong "no-fu" hand. Players beware!!

October 30/2024

Players 1, 2, 3 returned for the innaugural Mahjong Night. Players 4 and 5 made their debut. Hanajo ran around serving tea and causing as much confusion about the rules as possible.

Precursors to Mahjong Night

October 19/2024: Saturday learning session

player 1 and player 2 Joined Hanajo one Saturday for a fumbling brief explanation of the rules followed by playing some open hands with 3 players. Player 3 arrievd later and practiced with Hanajo as well.

Hana-jojo's Mahjong History

coming later

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