Tabletop rehearsal: one whole hand
Use this sheet to play one practice hand with real tiles, from the deal to the payment, without a screen telling you the next move. Print it with your browser’s Print command, or keep it open beside your tiles.
What you need
- A full set of 152 tiles and a table.
- A card: the teaching card from Chapter 9: Try a new game (fictional practice lines), Practice Card P from Chapter 9: Play a whole game with less help, or the current card your group agreed on.
- This sheet, a pencil and the table reference.
Who plays the other seats
You play your own seat with real choices. The other 3 seats are played by you or by helpers, following these fixed rules, so that no one makes strategy decisions for them:
- You are East, so you start with 14 tiles. Each other seat starts with 13.
- Each other seat keeps its tiles face down and, on its turn, draws and then discards the tile it just drew. It never calls and never declares Mah Jongg.
- In each Charleston pass, each other seat passes 3 tiles taken at random from its rack; if a Joker comes up, put it back and take another. For the courtesy pass, Across always offers 0 tiles, so no courtesy trade happens.
- After the Charleston and before your first discard, give Left one ready-made exposure so you can practice a Joker exchange: take 2 matching natural tiles and 1 Joker from Left’s rack and lay them face up on the flat top of Left’s rack. If Left’s rack doesn’t have them, take the missing tiles from the end of the wall that is drawn last, and put the same number of Left’s tiles there face down instead. If there is no Joker left to find, skip the Joker exchange row. Left still holds 13 tiles in all, counting the exposure.
Because the other seats never call or win, this rehearsal practices your own procedure, not reading real opponents. Play it once until you win or the wall runs out; then play again until you have seen the other ending too.
How each answer is checked
For every stage, check your move against the place named in the “Check it against” column before you go on. Then fill in the four boxes: Legal? (✓ if the move followed the rules), Strategy (✓ if you can say why it helped your plan), Hint used? (✓ if you looked something up before deciding) and First try? (✓ if your first attempt was right). Keep the four apart: a legal move can still be a weak choice.
On a narrow screen, swipe the table sideways to see the tick boxes, or print the sheet.
| Stage | Do this | Check it against | Legal? | Strategy | Hint used? | First try? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Set up and deal | Mix the tiles face down, build 4 walls of 19 stacks, two tiles high, and deal: East 14, every other seat 13. In this rehearsal you are East. | Count each rack. Chapter 4. | |||||
| 2. Choose a target | Pick a lead line and a backup. Write why: places your tiles fill, X or C, natural pairs you still need. | Count the filled places again on the card. Chapter 6. | |||||
| 3. Charleston | First Charleston: right, across, left. Decide on a second one (left, across, right) and a courtesy pass. Never pass a Joker. Pass blind only on the First Left or Last Right. | The passing reference at the end of Chapter 5. | |||||
| 4. Ordinary turns | As East, your first turn is a discard from your 14 tiles without drawing. After that: draw the next wall tile (13 → 14), check for a win or a Joker exchange, then discard one tile and name it (back to 13). | Count your tiles after each turn. Chapter 7, Section 1. | |||||
| 5. Call or pass | When another seat discards a tile you need, decide: call, pass, or claim for Mah Jongg. Call only the newest discard, only for an X line and a group of 3 or more, unless it completes your whole hand. | The checklist in Chapter 7, Section 2: Before you call. | |||||
| 6. Joker exchange | On your turn, if you hold the natural tile that Left’s exposed Joker stands for, exchange it, then discard. | The tile count stays 14 until you discard. Chapter 7, Section 2: exchanging. | |||||
| 7. Notice the ending | Notice a win (yours) or a wall game (the wall runs out with no winner). For a win, check all 14 tiles group by group. If a claimed win fails, write which group fails and which requirement: count, suit, number, a Joker in a single or pair, or X/C. | Chapter 9: Check all 14 tiles. | |||||
| 8. Settle the payment | Work out what each player pays: who discarded, self-draw or discard, Jokers or Jokerless. A wall game has no win payment. | The payment rules in the table reference and Chapter 8. |
Ending and payment
Ending: ☐ My win ☐ Wall game Value of the winning line: ______ How the winning tile arrived: ☐ a discard ☐ a wall draw ☐ a Joker exchange (Chapter 8 shows how the course scores this)
Payments: Right ______ Across ______ Left ______ Checked against the table reference: ☐
What this rehearsal shows
Your checks are self-checks against the course. A completed sheet shows that you carried out each stage of one hand in order with real tiles, and how often you needed a hint or a second try. It doesn’t show that you can keep up with players who make their own choices, or that you know your group’s house rules. A quiz or a simulation can’t prove you are ready for a real table; playing with people can.
Back to Chapter 9: Play a whole game with less help · Chapter 12: Your first real game