CARD-READING Battle For Survival by STEVE BECKER EXPOSURES TELL ALL A vital part of defensive playing is for you to determine what hands are being played by the others from their exposures so you can determine what are “safe” tiles to discard. This is admittedly, not always easy, especially when there is only one Exposure made by another player. There are probably lots of hands that fi t the one Exposure, especially if the Exposure is for example, a Kong of Flowers. There are 11 hands that require a Kong of Flowers. When you make two Exposures you are revealing the hand almost for sure. 2 odd numbers, even numbers, Consecutive numbers, matching Dragons, opposite Dragons, one or two Suits, these are clues that will surely tell your opponents the one or two possible hands you are playing. Once the other players fi gure out your hand, the chances of them discarding your Mah Jongg tile are almost zero. And the chances of you declaring Mah Jongg, at best, are diminished. That’s why you must be judicious about when and what you expose. And why I strongly suggest to expose only when you must!—- when you have no other option but to call the tile you need and expose. Many players grab the fi rst tile discarded that completes the Pung or Kong, especially in the early stages of the game. “What if I don’t see the tile again?” is the reason I hear for exposing early. But the chances of your seeing it again are greater if you let the fi rst tile go, uncalled. Mostly, it’s assumed to be a safe tile and it will probably be discarded again by another player. And of course there’s always the option of picking the tile yourself or picking a Joker to complete your combination. In the course of playing and teaching these many years I have seen it happen over and over, saving the player from the need to expose and give away vital information. This is particularly true if your Pung or Kong is made up using Jokers. For example, you have a 6Crak and a Joker towards a Pung. When the fi rst 6Crak is discarded, WAIT until the third 6Crak is discarded. Then call and your Joker is secure from being taken by another player. But there is a caveat here. If you call before all the 6Craks are out, there is the possibility of you picking the last 6Crak and exchanging it for your own Joker. If you have 3 natural tiles toward a Kong, no matter how early in the game, you must call for the fourth. And when the game is closer to the end, calling and exposing becomes more reasonable. Exposing is fun—but like many fun things, there’s a price you pay. And the price is that you are giving information about your hand to your opponents. So keep track of how many of your needed tiles are out, how many are left and when you MUST—call and expose. carding AMERICAN 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). Contract Bridge It’s easy enough to see that with a low diamond lead, the declarer has the suit doubly stopped. It is far less obvious, though, that after a low diamond lead the suit is triply stopped with proper play. South failed to recognize this and, as a result, lost the contract. He covered the diamond four with the six and won East’s seven with the nine. After playing a spade to the king, he finessed the jack of hearts, losing to West’s queen. Back came the king of diamonds, which declarer ducked, followed by the queen. South won but could do no better than lead another heart. West took the ace and cashed the 8-2 of diamonds to set the contract. South should have made four notrump, however. His only real concern was to establish his hearts before West could establish his diamonds, and he should have concentrated all his efforts on this one goal. By applying the Rule of Eleven (assuming that West’s diamond lead is fourth-best), declarer can tell that East has only one diamond higher than the four. (South deducts four -- the card led -- from 11, leaving seven cards other than the four in the North, East and South hands. With six of those cards in plain view, East can have only one card higher than the four.) South should therefore play the ten from dummy on the opening lead. If East’s diamond is the seven or eight, the ten wins, and South is certain of a triple stopper. If East’s diamond is the queen or king, South wins with the ace and is again sure to have the suit triply stopped. By playing high from dummy at trick one, South makes certain of winning the race for the establishment of his long suit. He starts out a step ahead and makes sure he stays there the rest of the way. (c) 2016 King Features Syndicate Inc. North Shore Towers Courier n April 2016 45 til next time... may the tiles be with you! Don’t Be a Tale-Teller
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