Mahjong: Winning Strategy and Tips
Contrary to what many people think, mahjong is not a game of chance. Experienced players win consistently or, if they do lose, lose small. So how do experienced mahjong players do it? Simple! They adopt the following 3 simple, but powerful, tips and strategies.
Tip #1: Sometimes Winning means not Losing. This might sound contradictory, but it is not. To win consistently you must acknowledge that you will not always have a “winner-able” hand — you might need to change “too many” tiles to be ready, or your opponent may be holding on to your tiles, or you need to discard a “dangerous” card in order to be ready. In situations like this, the experienced player will play for a draw, or let another opponent discard the winning tile. By doing this, the experienced player preserves his capital and wins by not losing.
Tip #2:Game of Probability. The game of mahjong is played with incomplete information. Fortunately, based on the known number of each type of tiles, you can use your opponents’ discards, the tiles in your own hand and the remaining number of turns to assess the probability of you drawing the winning tile. Mahjong is overall a game of probability, and experienced players constantly “count cards” to help them decide what to do. The use of probability to guide choices during the game is an…
