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Anyone Play Mahjong?
- Thread starter MissySki
- Start date
MissySki
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
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. 
MissySki
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
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!
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.
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.
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
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. : )
Warms my hearth though to see people returning to the real physical version of something like this though. : )
MissySki
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
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.
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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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
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!
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.
MissySki
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I’ve been loving my lessons! Tomorrow will be my fourth and final one. Basically the first one was learning the tiles and rules, then we played one hand “open” where everyone could see each other’s tiles so we could learn from all of the hands. The second lesson we did one round open again and then did a closed hand where you don’t see other’s tiles. The third lesson we did 2 rounds of closed tiles. In all cases the instructor is helping guide decisions and answering questions as needed… she amazes me with how she can keep so many hands in her head as the game is going on. Who needs what and which hands you might pivot to etc. Anyway, I feel slow at times but like I can conformably play and know a bit about how to strategize from an offensive and defensive point of view. And I know how to setup the game and go through all of the dealing and Charleston steps which feels so complicated at first but gets pretty easy as you do it a bunch of times.
The weekend after my last lesson my instructor is holding an open play fay at her house. She ensures there are tables for both beginner and more advanced players to participate and holds it monthly so you can play in a familiar environment and meet more people to play with elsewhere if desired. She also does pop up play days at local Pubs etc. I’m looking forward to attending some play days and gaining more experience! Very fun and it definitely is a great distraction in general. Time flies while playing, each of our first two classes have run to 2.5 hours versus the 2 hours stated on the class schedule.
I have two golf friends signed up with her for the new classes session starting in May. Can’t wait until we can all play together this summer for apres’ golf.
MissySki
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
There is a retreat happening in New Mexico… wish I was closer because it sounds fun. Though perhaps above my current level of play too haha. Not sure what that expectation is. I will say now with 3 out of my 4 lessons completed that I feel I have a good grasp of the rules, setup, and flow of the game. I’m sure starting to play more will help with decision speed etc. as that part feels slow still and I imagine gets a lot faster for seasoned players.
