Mahjong
MAHJONG IS HAVING A MOMENT – AND THE CRAZE IS HAPPENING HERE
Everywhere you look, mahjong is popping up. You’ll find fun videos on social media,
educational podcast episodes, and informative articles. Forbes magazine wrote about
the game’s growing popularity. The Wall Street Journal covered the discontent over the
mahjong card printing error, and The New York Times reported on the game’s new
generation of fans. Celebrities like Joanna Gaines and Julia Roberts have embraced the
game. The TODAY show recently did a segment about mahjong offering social
connection and friendship, and hundreds of companies and products are being
launched to meet the demand.
The interest and demand in Colleton River are no different. The Friday afternoon
mahjong game (held in the ladies’ lounge at the Nick on Friday afternoons from 1:00 -
4:00 p.m.) now boasts at least six full tables of players every week. Members are buying
their own sets of tiles and are playing in each other’s homes and at the Plex daily. A few
have even invested in tables that float in a pool or automatically sort and set up tiles!
This fun, brain stimulating game is played with 152 tiles and typically four players. The
objective of the game is to be the first to create a pattern of 14 tiles in your hand that
matches one on the official mahjong card. This card is published annually in April by the
National Mahjong League who also sets the game’s rules. New players initially find it a
challenge to learn the tiles, interpret the card, recognize patterns, understand the many
rules, make quick decisions and learn to play defensively while building their own hand.
This is why having good teachers is key. Luckily, we have two right in our neighborhood.
Melanie ad Jamie have created a fun, supportive community of Mahjong players – and
we hope you’ll join us!