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Anyone Play Mahjong?

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I’m looking to learn to play Mahjong…. Hoping to find a few local lessons, figure out a good beginner set to buy etc.

Does anyone here play? Any tips on getting started or good sets to start with?
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I play Chinese mahjong. Tried to learn American MJ but it’s too complicated!
I heard this same thing from a friend. That Chinese is easier and she is much better at it than American.

Around here the vast majority of lessons and playing opportunities are all for American, so that is most likely what I will be learning. It does sound a bit daunting, but hopefully will be fun when I’m a bit further along.
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well, I found a woman around 30 minutes from me who teaches Mahjong lessons from her home in 4 weekly lessons. So I start tonight because it worked out that she has a session starting today and can fit me in. Might as well jump in I guess. The fun part is I already have 2 more friends who might go to this same woman for next month's session if I find it well run. Excited I might have others to play with this summer and find fun local events to attend with. :goodluck:
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
Mahjong is having a moment right now for sure. There are a few places around here that offer drop in play and lessons and stuff. Looking forward to hearing what you think!
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Mahjong is having a moment right now for sure. There are a few places around here that offer drop in play and lessons and stuff. Looking forward to hearing what you think!
It's having a major resurgence here as well... unfortunately that currently seems more focused towards the Boston area, coast, Cape Cod area etc. But hopefully it'll keep moving over to central MA in terms of more opportunities for drop in events and such. There is a bunch being done at local libraries and senior centers too, but that stuff is often midday on workdays. This feels like the same issue we have in women's golf leagues sometimes where they have women's events during the day when there are many retirees participating. But the Mahjong thing seems to be a lot of younger women joining in now too, so hopefully that will start to shift more.

I'll definitely report back on how it goes and whether I actually like it once we get going! :smile:
 

Aerlind

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My mom plays. Apparently it’s the “new Bridge” for retired ladies, LOL!

She found a couple books online, I can ask for references. She also found a weekly class/drop in and play/etc at a few area libraries (this is in the Denver metro area), so do check those and your local rec centers. Honestly senior centers as well…they may not cater to someone your age but probably could point you in the right direction.
 

santacruz skier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Angel Diva
My mom, aunt, and grandma all played mahjong . I always thought it was mostly an old ladies game.... now I'm hearing it all over the place.
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My mom, aunt, and grandma all played mahjong . I always thought it was mostly an old ladies game.... now I'm hearing it all over the place.
It was, but apparently not anymore! There were a bunch of New England Patriots wives (so all these ladies in their 20s) who were posting about it with pictures playing recently. That's how I started hearing inklings about it and now it sems to be all over the place here too. I was talking to my trainer about it at the gym today and she said it was on Squid Games too... which I didn't watch but is quite popular so perhaps lots of avenues where younger people are hearing about it. I will say, the events I found at Pubs and bars for learning and playing drop ins around here are selling out extremely quickly when they are posted. With lots of people in the comments asking to know when more will be happening. Seems to be quite a bit of demand.
 

GladeDuchess

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've not known anyone who played for real. I remember playing years ago when every computer seemed to come with it as a demo game........like before we got nickeled and dimed for everything as a pay app.

Warms my hearth though to see people returning to the real physical version of something like this though. : )
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've not known anyone who played for real. I remember playing years ago when every computer seemed to come with it as a demo game........like before we got nickeled and dimed for everything as a pay app.

Warms my hearth though to see people returning to the real physical version of something like this though. : )
Of course I've already been perusing the beautiful tile sets out there... they are like art work, and also can be VERY pricey! But I think there is something to what you said about it coming back to a physical thing of actually touching the pieces and socializing live versus more virtual online play.
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Attended my first class tonight, and it was so much fun! It was supposed to be 2 hours and ended up going 2.5 hours. I was greatly surprised by how much I actually did learn from when we started, even though overall it is still a bit overwhelming. There is a lot to take in, but we played a mock game too after learning the tiles and how to use the card, it was really fun and helped make some sense of things. I’m really looking forward to the next 3 Mondays, already quite sure I’m going to be hooked!

There are 7 students in the class and then the teacher. The amazing thing is she mentioned that she is teaching at different places in different towns everyday right now, sometimes up to 3 sessions per day. The demand is that great. She’s been playing for around 20 years and started teaching friends and family during Covid, and then things took off after that. She also runs monthly open play times to help students find playing partners. I feel really lucky to have stumbled upon a post of hers this weekend when I started looking for classes, it feels like a great fit.
 
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Jenny

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Angel Diva
Attended my first class tonight, and it was so much fun! It was supposed to be 2 hours and ended up going 2.5 hours. I was greatly surprised by how much I actually did learn from when we started, even though overall it is still a bit overwhelming. There is a lot to take in, but we played a mock game too after learning the tiles and how to use the card, it was really fun and helped make some sense of things. I’m really looking forward to the next 3 Mondays, already quite sure I’m going to be hooked!

There are 7 students in the class and then the teacher. The amazing thing is she mentioned that she is teaching at different places in different towns everyday right now, sometimes up to 3 sessions per day. The demand is that great. She’s been playing for around 20 years and started teaching friends and family during Covid, and then things took off after that. She also runs monthly open play times to help students find playing partners. I feel really lucky to have stumbled upon a post of hers this weekend when I started looking for classes, it feels like a great fit.
So, how different is it IRL vs the computer version? Everytime I’ve seen it in a movie/tv it doesn’t even seem they’re related.
 

MissySki

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So, how different is it IRL vs the computer version? Everytime I’ve seen it in a movie/tv it doesn’t even seem they’re related.
I’ve never played it on a computer, so I couldn’t say. However, there are apps to play the American version as I am being taught, and you can play against bots or friends or random people. The instructor yesterday said playing against the computer is a good way to practice. There are lots of versions of mahjong though, so you also could have seen other variations.
 

yogiskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@MissySki To your point about library events mostly taking place during the daytime, my local library branch (population ~7,000) had one Mahjong class mid-week/midday, and a couple of months ago I was shocked when it started offering both a beginner Mahjong class and a beginner group on Monday evenings --- wow, I thought, Mahjong must be REALLY hot for that to happen!
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I don't play Mahjong, but I thought I'd put this up, anyway. I have an antique mahjong set that I think is from the 1920's. The panel in the front slides up, and there are four drawers containing mahjong tiles & stuff, which I think are made of bone. My parents got it somewhere, I think in the 60's. I've always liked it. I have it on a shelf in a bookcase in my living room.

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