Customer Reviews

Improve Your Mah Jong

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Having a basic knowledge of the game I was looking for a book to improve my hands. This book covers special hands and has great illustrations of each hand which are clearly drawn and easy to read. This book also provided an overview of the differences between the Western and Chinese games. In other books I've found the sections on scoring to be tendious and off-putting, however, this book describes it clearly and gives examples. In summary: A great graphical book for a game that is quite graphical!

After five years of playing this game weekly with the same group of four, we thought we'd covered all the strategic moves possible. This publication has made each of us players rethink our playing styles and open our minds to thinking differently about the game of Mah Jong.

This book is an uncomplicated read for such a complex game. We eagerly await the next publication!

This book is the best tool I have read to improve upon the game. It provides a valuable tool in the scoring card.
No doubt more poeple would play the game with these well-writtem and truly helpful books.
It is a great companion to the authors' other works, especially Mah Jong Illustrated. SLZ.

If you are looking for a book to talk you through a different perspective or give you strategy, don't bother with this book. The pages are approx. 4" x 6" and it's 64 pages. True, they are pretty pages. The illustrations are colorful and the book itself uses sleek paper, not usual "paperback" paper, and it is spiral bound. Pages 21 to 55 are illustrations of special hands. There is roughly 15 (albeit small) pages of "wisdom" if you exclude the table of contents, index, and counting table pages. If you play with the National Mahjong League card, this book will be of no use to you. If you play Chinese mahjong or American mahjong and don't allow "special hands", this book will not help you. I can think of only one place this book might be of help. I play Chinese, Hong Kong, Japanese (Riichi), and Taiwanese mahjong online (for free) at [...]. The Hong Kong style allows special hands. So if I'm so inclined to memorize certain hands in this book, then it is possible I didn't waste my money.

This book has only 54 hands ---that means you have a REAL chance of memorizing a dozen or so and having a chance at actually CONVERSING with those you play with! WHO WANTS TO PLAY WITH SOMEONE CONSTANTLY READING A NOTEBOOK OF 200 POSSIBLE HANDS? All those xerox pages and pages of possible mahjong hands, are a drag to watch someone read through as you wait your turn--sigh

Who wants to play with a kazillion jokers (I don't mean the kind with blue hair) and try for speciality hands you never heard of? Not me!

I want to play the old fashioned way-- memorizing a few hands and being able to look up a few speciality hands if I want to----This book allows me to do that! Of course I wish there were more hands using one each of dragons and winds and less hands using each wind and various number sequences-- but no book is perfect.

This one is good for beginners and experienced and allows for quick calculation of points! Find a cashe of these and keep a good supply for friends! In my group we use this book exclusively--if the hands not in the book we don't play it => RESULT. . .

Mahjong games where we have play--actually play--plus converse and have fun!

If you play typical American Mah Jongg this book may not be the best for you.

Our group uses the Western hands in the book as our agreed upon hands. Giving this book to new players helps them catch on quickly with the color illustrations and clear explanations.

This books' version on Western Maj Jong is not one I have heard of. It seems to assume that a player can make up any hand that matches his/her tiles. I was looking for strategies to win with the game that goes with the card that changes yearly. This book has no reference for "Jewish" maj.