Customer Reviews

Mah Jong Handbook

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

 

 

How many times have you wanted to play a game of Mah Jong but you you are bombarded with different rule books on the subject - each one giving a more confusing set of scoring instructions There are many times when I have encountered this problem especially when teaching newcomers the game We play using Eleanor Noss Whitney's "A Mah Jong Handbook" as our rules which we find of all the other books on Mah Jong the easiest and most understandable set of rules compared to all teh others which clutter the field with a multitude of sets and scoring tables that make the game a nightmare to play Her rules are Clear, Concise, Unambiguous and simple to use I use her book to teach all newcomers the game and everyone agrees that her rules are the best I show them the scoring from the other books and their examples and explain to them that there are many other variations regarding the scoring and everyone opts for the simple version without any complications

I would heartly recomend this book to everyone if they want to get into playing the game within inside a hour of opening the book There is plain simple concise instuctions that dont confuse you with umpteen different names for the same Mah Jong scoreing hand

If there is one book you should get to learn and play Mah Jong - It should be this one - You wont regret it

A great book for anyone wishing to become familiar with all aspects of the game. Describes and illustrates in great detail all that the beginner needs to know to play. Extensive strategy sections with illustrations and scenarios show offensive and defensive techniques. The book covers the Japanese, American, and Chinese versions of the game. My only complaint is that it focuses on the Japanese, and to a lesser extent the American version of the game. Nice tables are provided for both. In order to learn the rules of the less complex Chinese game, one must read through pages of detailed text to reverse engineer the Chinese rules by removing all of the irrelevant bits. No tables are provided for the Chinese rules. It would be better to have started with the original Chinese version of the game and work up to the other two. However, the book is extremely complete, even with a very extensive glossary of terms in Japanese and English. Highly recommended book.

The best book there is in English on the game. Organized as follows:

Part One: The Official Game.
1. The Mah Jong Set
2. Preliminaries
3. Playing
4. Scoring

Part Two: Alternatives, Variations and Additions.
1. The Mah Jong Set
2. Preliminaries
3. Playing
4. Scoring
5. American Scoring

Part Three: Strategy.
1. Luck and Skill
2. Offensive Strategy
3. Defensive Strategy

This is an excellent book for the Japanese mah jong enthusiast! If you want to learn to kick some ...in Japanese mah jong definitely buy this book. It is well worth the money. I think that the strategies for offense and defense are really good. It has really helped me improve my game. I have returned to the book over and over for more help. Read and learn and then immediately apply it to your game....

After learning the basics of Mah Jongg, Eleanor Whitney's book is the next step. Although most of the book actually covers the basics of the Japanese version of the game (along with most of the world wide variations), and the basics of scoring, Part Three, "Strategy," is what moves this book to its true value. In this short, 50 page chapter are the basic, fundamental strategies which allow the raw beginner to become an informed, reasonably good player medium level player. Though this section is short, it is very dense, and bears reading several times. My own play has improved many fold by following Whitney's sound advice. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the stratigies of Mah Jongg and in playing the game as it really should be played.

This book is well written and organized. The writing is clear and understandable and the rules and scoring of the game are presented in a manner that makes them very easy to reference. A must have book for anyone playing the Chinese or Japanese version of the game.

Though the book is quite old. there are many good points in it, most of which would interest a beginner and get them to play more Mahjong. Parts of the book talk about a wide known rules and some forgotten ones. Clearly, a good book for any Mahjong player.

Book from 1964 missing some visual aids. Book is a good starter, but missing visual aids on how the game is played. For example, some colorful pictures displaying the various peices would be nice. Not sure if printing press had cost-effective color prints in 1964. So, this book can use a revised edition, with more vibrant pages of diagrams. Maybe even include a DVD, and more.