Essence of Taiwanese Mahjong – Introduction

Even after immigrating to California at six years old, I have played Taiwanese mahjong on and off for a good majority of my life – mostly with family and friends. No friends and relatives around me were very serious about mahjong, so it wasn’t until a few months ago I was humbled by the skill of strangers. That night I played 4.5 complete, 4-wind games, and lost about $100 playing $3 base/$1 tai bets. Since that night I have researched – from both them and other research – about how opponents think and how they play.

This is the beginning guide to a trilogy of Taiwanese Mahjong, going into statistics and numbers before delving into player behavior and playing scenarios. I don’t think other places in the internet has quite as detailed analyses (in English), and I will continue to add to it for, as I have always mentioned in other of my posts here, personal learning and memorandum.

Read more