38 North Shore Towers Courier n March 2015 WHICH HAND TO CHOOSE? Honoring Your Loved Ones Reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and Elaine Sandberg. Elaine is a mah-jongg instructor, who has taught the game for Holland American Cruise Lines and at American Jewish University, and the author of “A Beginner’s Guide to American Mah Jongg: How to Play the Game and Win” (Tuttle, $14.95). Guiding Your Family With Compassion Sinai Chapels respects all Jewish traditions and customs, has a compassionate staff that is second to none, and has three generations of experience serving New York’s Jewish families. Funeral Directors & Planners • Dignified and comfortable chapel, located in Fresh Meadows, Queens • Funeral services at locations throughout the New York Metro area • Costs are reasonable and all family budgets are accommodated • Ceremonially correct services for all Jewish religious movements • DVD and real-time webcast of chapel services, at no additional cost • Our staff Rabbi is available to answer your questions • Experts to guide monument selection • FDIC insured pre-planning 162-05 Horace Harding Expressway | Fresh Meadows, NY 11365 718.445.0300 | 800.446.0406 www.JewishFunerals.com We are here 24 hours to serve your family. One of the challenges of Mah Jongg is out of the 50 or so hands on the card, is being able to choose the one that will win. But how many times do you have to decide b e t w e e n p o s s i b l e hands that you think will win? Many!!! T h e first is when you put your tiles up on the rack and decide on a tentative hand(s). Then, when you get new tiles in the Charleston and possibly again, as the game is progressing, changing your hand is not unusual—sometimes changing it more than once. It’s often not an easy choice and many times there isn’t much time to make a reasonable and winning decision. As the Mah Jongg guru says, “She who hesitates, holds up the game!” In all of these “decision times” there is a commonality.. In other words, the same criteria c a n / s h o u l d be used in all of these s i t u a t i o n s to make a r e a s o n a b l e d e c i s i o n about choosing one hand over another. As a general rule, my advice is when you have to choose between two hands, choose the hand that’s easier to make. 1. Count the number tiles toward Mah Jongg for one hand vs. the number of tiles for the other. Choose the hand with the greater number. 2. Choose an Exposed hand over a Concealed hand. 3. Choose the hand that has no gaps—-tiles you have that are the start of each combination the hand requires. 4. Choose the hand that requires no Pairs over the hand that requires one or more Pairs. 5. Or choose that hand that requires the fewest number of Pairs. 6. Choose the hand for which you already have the Pair or Pairs required. Follow these guidelines— they will make it easier for you to come to a decision and hopefully improve the ratio of wins over losses. AMERICAN til next time... may the tiles be with you!
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