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My dearest table guests, welcome
back. 

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This is the order of the tile 
and I am Prim. 

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You are invited to enjoy issue 
#11 and this week the calendar 

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has moved, the community has 
steadied, and the tagline Prim 

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has been holding for months has 
finally arrived. 

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Nothing at the table escapes 
notice. 

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00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:55,400
Prim is writing this on the 
Thursday after Memorial Day, and

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she wants to thank you plainly 
and without fuss for the way the

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community carried last week. 
The responses to last week's 

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issue have been unlike any 
response Prim has received in 

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00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,680
these pages. 
A reader in Tennessee wrote to 

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say that she lit a candle at her
Thursday game and cried with her

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table mates for the first time 
in 20 years. 

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A reader in Massachusetts told 
Prim about the specific Gold 

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Star pin her mother wore to 
every game until she died. 

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The inbox was heavy. 
Prim may not be able to reply to

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every one of those letters, but 
she would like you to know that 

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she read every single one. 
Thank you for trusting her with 

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what you wrote. 
The table held. 

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Now the calendar moves. 
The Mediterranean cruise photos 

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00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,680
have finished scrolling. 
The summer arc of the season 

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begins in earnest. 
And the card that Prim has been 

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writing about for 10 weeks is 
finally, truly settling into the

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community's hands. 
People are winning with it. 

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People are losing with it. 
People are developing opinions 

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about which sections reward 
which temperaments. 

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The conversation has matured in 
a way that it had not yet. 

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By April, we are no longer 
figuring the card out. 

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We are now figuring out what the
card wants from us, which is a 

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different and more interesting 
question, and this issue is 

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00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,080
about sitting with that 
question. 

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The tagline this week is the one
Prim has been holding for months

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because it is the one she most 
wants you to understand. 

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Nothing at the table escapes 
notice. 

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The game is an information game,
and every player at the table is

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producing information 
constantly, whether she intends 

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to or not. 
The player who becomes excellent

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00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,640
over time is the player who 
tunes her attention to the 

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00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,680
signals other players are 
unconsciously emitting. 

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00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,960
This issue is about noticing, 
and about being noticed, and 

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about what to do when you 
realize one of your regulars has

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been reading you for longer than
you realized. 

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00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,160
We will talk about the Winds and
Dragons section, which is the 

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2026 Cards Power Pattern 
category and which rewards 

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00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,640
exactly this kind of patient 
attention. 

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00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,240
We will talk about the table 
mate who has figured out your 

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patterns and what to do about 
it. 

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00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,680
We will meet a woman who quietly
shaped this game from behind a 

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desk for nearly three decades. 
We will look at the automatic 

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mahsong tables that are slowly 
creeping into the American 

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market. 
And we will tell the story of 

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the first woman to host a 
mahsong television show in 1951 

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because she was doing the work 
of broadcasting this community 

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before most of us had been born.
Pull up your chair. 

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The wall is built. 
Let us begin. 

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Let us begin with what everyone 
is talking about. 

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This is the draw. 
The community mood this week is 

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what Prim would call restored 
quietness. 

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Last week was heavy and 
beautiful and the right kind of 

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00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,959
heavy for that weekend. 
But a community cannot live at 

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00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:21,000
that register for long. 
The Facebook groups this week 

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00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,760
have rebalanced back toward 
their usual rhythms. 

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Set photos are returning. 
Car debates are sparking again. 

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00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,960
A new argument about Charleston 
optionality flared briefly on 

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00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:37,280
Tuesday and then resolved itself
by Wednesday morning, which Prim

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would note as a sign of a 
community that has regained its 

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footing. 
The week did what weeks in this 

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community do. 
It moved on without forgetting 

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00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,520
what came before, two 
developments worth flagging in 

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00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,840
the wider community. 
First, registration for the 

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Midsummer and early fall events 
has visibly accelerated in the 

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last seven days, which is the 
post Memorial Day bump Prim has 

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seen in every year she has been 
paying attention to the 

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calendar. 
Players tend to think about 

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summer and fall commitments 
after Memorial Day, not before. 

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The registration managers know 
this. 

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If you have been waiting to 
commit to a full event, the next

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two weeks will be the decision 
window for many of the good 

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ones. 
Set your rack. 

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Below, we'll have the 
particulars. 

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00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,680
Second, the Mediterranean cruise
debrief has begun. 

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Players are home, unpacked and 
posting their thoughts and the 

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00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,520
consensus on this year's cruise 
is that it was one of the 

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strongest destination events in 
recent memory. 

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The on board tournament 
structure was praised almost 

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universally, the ship's staff 
accommodated mahjong specific 

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needs gracefully. 
The ports of call offer 

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genuinely beautiful playing 
backdrops and a cluster of 

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00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,000
players have started circulating
a rack on balcony in Santorini 

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00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,480
photo that Prim would call the 
single best piece of mahjong 

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photography produced so far this
year. 

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The cruise circuit as a format 
has matured substantially in the

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last three or four years. 
It is no longer a novelty, it is

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a legitimate category, and the 
community is treating it as one.

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One small community pulse note. 
The Facebook groups have been 

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00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,240
quietly debating the etiquette 
of the mahjong table camera, 

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00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,920
meaning the question of when and
whether to photograph a game in 

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progress, and whether the rack 
photo crosses any lines in 

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certain settings. 
Prim has opinions on this that 

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she will save for a future 
issue. 

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00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,120
For now, the debate is worth 
reading. 

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It reveals a community that is 
growing more aware of its own 

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documentation, which is a 
healthy thing for any community 

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to become. 
Which brings us to crack the 

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card, The Winds and Dragons 
section on the 2026 card. 

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Prim has been circling the Winds
and Dragons section for weeks 

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and she is going to give it the 
Crack the card treatment this 

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issue because it is one of the 
most interesting and one of the 

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most misunderstood sections on 
the 2026 card. 

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A certain kind of player loves 
the Winds and Dragons hands. 

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She sees the high point values, 
the dramatic exposures, the 

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satisfying completion and she 
chases them with enthusiasm. 

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A different kind of player, 
usually a more experienced one, 

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treats the section with cautious
respect, plays it only when the 

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00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,360
deal invites it, and never 
forces it. 

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00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,480
Prim is firmly in the second 
camp. 

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Let her walk you through why #1 
The section is about supply more

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than it is about strategy. 
Here is the core truth about 

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Winds and Dragons hands on any 
card, and on the 2026 card 

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specifically. 
These hands depend on a tile 

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supply that is structurally 
limited. 

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00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,560
There are only four of each wind
tile in the set, and only four 

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of each dragon tile. 
If you are building a Winds and 

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00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:31,400
Dragons hand that requires, for 
example, 3 N winds and three 

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00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,200
green Dragons, you are competing
with the rest of the table for a

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00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,679
supply that is already thin. 
The flowers are similarly 

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limited, and while flowers are 
ubiquitous in supporting roles, 

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the core winds and Dragons are 
the hardest tiles to aggregate 

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00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,680
in the quantities these hands 
require. 

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00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,000
This is not a section where you 
succeed through cleverness. 

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00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,960
This is a section where you 
succeed when the deal, the 

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00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,280
Charleston, and the Wall 
cooperate. 

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If they do not cooperate, no 
amount of strategic play will 

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rescue the hand #2 the read on 
your deal happens immediately. 

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00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,960
The decision to enter the Winds 
and Dragons section has to 

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00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,720
happen earlier than the decision
to enter almost any other 

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section on the card. 
The reason is tile scarcity. 

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00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,080
If you are going to commit, you 
need to be collecting, holding 

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00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,840
and calling for Winds and 
Dragons from round one, because 

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00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,400
waiting until round three to 
decide means that half the tiles

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00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,440
you need have already been 
thrown. 

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00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,160
The Charleston is your earliest 
and most honest indicator. 

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00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,600
If the Charleston is bringing 
you Winds and Dragons, you are 

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00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,400
being invited. 
If the Charleston is bringing 

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00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,320
you predominantly numbered tiles
and flowers, the Wall is telling

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00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,440
you to build elsewhere. 
A player who forces a Winds and 

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00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,160
Dragons hand when the Charleston
has not delivered is a player 

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00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:08,800
who is, to be blunt, hoping. 
Hope is not a strategy in this 

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00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,400
section. 
Accept what the Wall gives you 

150
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:18,240
and pivot without regret #3 
Dragon management is the subtle 

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00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,200
skill. 
Once you are committed to a 

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00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,080
Winds and Dragons hand that 
involves Dragons, the next 

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00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,120
challenge is managing the Joker 
interaction carefully. 

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00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,440
Several of the Winds and Dragons
hands on the 2026 card involves 

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00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,360
specific dragon counts, and 
Jokers can substitute for dragon

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00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:42,560
tiles under most conditions. 
The subtle strategic question is

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00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,360
whether to use a joker to 
complete your dragon count 

158
00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:50,360
early, locking in the value but 
exposing your intent, or to hold

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00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,240
jokers in reserve while you try 
to aggregate natural Dragons for

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00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,120
a closed or partially closed 
version of the Hand. 

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00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,800
Experienced players tend to hold
the jokers longer than newer 

162
00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,240
players do. 
The reason is that a Joker 

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00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,840
exposed in a Dragon Pung is a 
joker that can be called by 

164
00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,040
another player who has a natural
dragon to swap for it. 

165
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,000
And in the Winds and Dragons 
section, those joker calls can 

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00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:21,360
be devastating late in the game.
The move that looks strong in 

167
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,760
round three can become a 
liability in round 7. 

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00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,680
Hold Jokers aggregate naturally 
where you can expose only when 

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00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:36,760
the timing forces it #4 The 
defensive read is the other half

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00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,000
of this section. 
A final principle that most 

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00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,440
strategy discussions of this 
section skip. 

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00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,240
Even when you are not playing a 
winds and Dragons hand yourself,

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00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,040
you need to be watching for the 
player who is. 

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00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,360
The signals are distinct. 
A player who is aggregating 

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00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,440
winds and Dragons tends to hold 
them in her rack without 

176
00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,400
exposing for longer than a 
player in a numbered tile 

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00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,400
section. 
A Charleston that sees winds and

178
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,640
Dragons disappear is 1 to pay 
attention to. 

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00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,280
Early discards are heavily 
skewed toward numbered tiles of 

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00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,960
multiple suits. 
Winds stay concealed and are not

181
00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,240
the early choice for release. 1 
tends to pick and pause on any 

182
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,680
wind or dragon that surfaces in 
the centre of the table. 

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00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,840
If you notice two or three of 
these signals in the same 

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00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,000
player, assume she is in the 
section and adjust your own 

185
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,840
discard strategy accordingly. 
Do not throw loose wins or loose

186
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,560
Dragons late in the game. 
Do not pass a loose dragon in 

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00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:41,640
the Charleston if you can avoid 
it. 

188
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,760
The Winds and Dragons player is 
often quiet until the moment of 

189
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,480
her call, and her call is often 
on a tile the rest of the table 

190
00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,120
through carelessly. 
Do not be the player who 

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00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,680
carelessly feeds her. 
Read the table adjust the 

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00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,080
section punishes inattention in 
both directions. 

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00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,640
Now this publication receives 
questions, many questions. 

194
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,120
And this week the question came 
from a player who asked to be 

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00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,920
identified only as a long time 
Thursday regular Prim thinks it 

196
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,360
is the best question she has 
received in a month. 

197
00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:27,000
This is the table is asking. 
I have been playing with the 

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00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,200
same three women for 11 years. 
Over the last year, I have 

199
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,360
started to notice that one of 
them is beating me more often 

200
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,360
than she used to, and I think I 
have figured out why. 

201
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,120
She has read my patterns. 
She knows when I am building 

202
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,960
2468 hands versus consecutive 
runs hands based on how I 

203
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,080
arranged my rack in the first 
Charleston. 

204
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,160
I am not imagining it. 
What do I do? 

205
00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:55,080
I cannot confront her. 
I also cannot keep losing. 

206
00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:00,160
Prim has thought about this 
question carefully because it is

207
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,040
the kind of question that 
touches on the deepest etiquette

208
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,360
of long term table mates, and 
because it is also a real 

209
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,800
strategic problem with real 
solutions. 

210
00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:11,960
Let her give you a three-part 
answer. 

211
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,240
Part 1. 
She has not done anything wrong.

212
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,760
The first thing to name for the 
Oscars own Peace of Mind is that

213
00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,400
the table mate who has read her 
patterns is doing exactly what a

214
00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,000
good mahshong player is supposed
to do. 

215
00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,120
Reading other players is not 
cheating. 

216
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,520
It is not a violation of 
etiquette. 

217
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,160
It is, in fact, the game at its 
most skilled level. 

218
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,440
The players who win tournaments 
at the national level are, 

219
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,600
almost without exception, 
players who have trained 

220
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,680
themselves to read the subtle 
signals of other players. 

221
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,400
The table mate in question has 
simply levelled up and she has 

222
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,880
done it through 11 years of 
careful attention. 

223
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,480
You do not owe her a 
confrontation. 

224
00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:05,920
You owe her quietly respect. 
She has earned her advantage 

225
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,240
honourably. 
Part 2. 

226
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,960
The advantage is reversible. 
The good news, and this is the 

227
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,320
part Prim, once they ask her to 
hear clearly, is that the 

228
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,400
advantage she is facing is 
entirely reversible. 

229
00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:24,640
Your table mate has read your 
patterns. 

230
00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,600
You can change your patterns. 
The specific tell the Oscar 

231
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,120
identified, which is the way she
arranges her rack during the 

232
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,760
first Charleston is a habit, and
habits can be modified. 

233
00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,200
Try rearranging your rack in a 
different order for six games. 

234
00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,960
When you accept tiles from a 
Charleston, mix them in before 

235
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,000
pulling them back out for the 
next pass. 

236
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,040
Try alternating numbered tiles 
and flowers across the rack 

237
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,240
rather than clustering them. 
Try leaving your rack more 

238
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,440
neutral for longer before you 
start sorting it visibly. 

239
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,920
Never leave your tiles separated
into groupings. 

240
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,320
Everyone else can count the 
groupings. 

241
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,600
Above all else, never give value
to good or bad passes in the 

242
00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,840
Charleston. 
Others are listening. 

243
00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,520
Any one of these changes will 
break the pattern that your 

244
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,480
table mate has been reading, and
for the next several games you 

245
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,200
will have regained the 
information advantage you lost. 

246
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,720
She will eventually read your 
new patterns. 

247
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,040
That is fine. 
The game is an ongoing dialogue.

248
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,440
You will rotate your signals. 
She will eventually rotate her 

249
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:40,800
reads. 
The dialogue is the game Part 3.

250
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,360
The relationship is more 
important than the Ledger. 

251
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,400
The third part of Prim's answer 
is the most important. 

252
00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,080
You have been playing with these
three women for 11 years. 

253
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,720
The relationship is worth more 
than any single season's win 

254
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,880
loss ratio. 
And the behaviour the Oscar 

255
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:05,040
describes is not a betrayal of 
the relationship, it is the 

256
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,680
relationship maturing. 
A table that has played together

257
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,400
for a decade should be producing
players who read each other. 

258
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,200
If you were not reading each 
other at this point, something 

259
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,920
would be wrong with the table. 
The right response to this 

260
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,440
situation is not to fix the 
table, mate. 

261
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,520
It is to match her. 
Level up your own attention. 

262
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,720
Notice consciously how she 
arranges her rack during the 

263
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:37,200
first Charleston Watch, how she 
holds her hand when she is early

264
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,960
on a joker hand versus a 
numbered hand. 

265
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,000
Learn to read her as carefully 
as she has learnt to read you. 

266
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,160
The 10 years of friendship at 
the table will not be diminished

267
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,480
by the fact that you are both 
getting better. 

268
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,280
It will be deepened because the 
game will keep producing new 

269
00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,520
things to notice about each 
other, which is part of what a 

270
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:03,080
long running table is for the 
broader principle Prim would 

271
00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,720
close this section with a 
principle that applies to every 

272
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:10,120
long term Ma Shong relationship.
The game is a window through 

273
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,760
which your table mates see you 
and through which you see them. 

274
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:19,760
What you reveal at the table 
over years is a reflection of 

275
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,440
who you are. 
When you are not trying to 

276
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:26,760
manage the impression. 
Your patience, your impatience, 

277
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:32,000
your competitive fire, your 
generosity, your tendency to cut

278
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:37,280
corners, or your refusal to all 
of it shows up at the table if 

279
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,480
you sit there long enough. 
This is why the game, done 

280
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,520
right, produces friendships that
outlast most other social 

281
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,240
formats. 
The table does not lie. 

282
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,040
Neither do the women at it. 
The longer you play with the 

283
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:59,320
same table mates, the more each 
of you becomes to the others a 

284
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,120
known quantity in the best 
possible sense. 

285
00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,880
Prim would trade a lot of things
for that kind of mutual 

286
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,400
legibility. 
She would not trade the table 

287
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,960
for a winning streak. 
Neither, she suspects, would you

288
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,560
now, this publication makes it a
point to recognise those who 

289
00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:20,560
distinguish themselves in the 
community. 

290
00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,680
Not through volume. 
Heavens, no. 

291
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,280
Through substance, This is who's
talking. 

292
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,080
And this week we are talking 
about the woman who ran the 

293
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,120
quietest institution in American
mahsong for nearly three 

294
00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:39,720
decades. 
Her name was Ruth Unger, and she

295
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,800
served as president of the 
National Marshall League for 

296
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:48,240
nearly 30 years from the early 
1970s into the early 2000s. 

297
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,240
During her tenure, the league 
grew from a mid century 

298
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,920
institution with a modest 
membership to a major cultural 

299
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,280
organization that shipped 
hundreds of thousands of cards 

300
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,880
annually and touched the lives 
of several million American 

301
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,200
women. 
Ruth did this work largely out 

302
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,880
of the public eye. 
She was not a media figure. 

303
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,880
She did not cultivate a public 
persona. 

304
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,920
She was a steward in the oldest 
sense of the word, and she was 

305
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:23,440
extraordinarily good at it. 
She understood that the card was

306
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:28,960
the institution. 
What set Ruth apart for Prim was

307
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,560
a clear understanding that the 
League's primary product was the

308
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,360
annual card, and that the annual
card was the single most 

309
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:38,720
important piece of 
infrastructure holding the 

310
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,080
American mahjong community 
together. 

311
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:46,360
Every major decision she 
oversaw, from printing runs to 

312
00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:50,440
pricing to the composition of 
the card design committee, was 

313
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,000
guided by the principle that the
card had to be worthy of the 

314
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,120
community's trust. 
The card is why an American 

315
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:01,880
mahjong game in Ohio looks 
recognisably like an American 

316
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,560
mahjong game in Florida and a 
game in California. 

317
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,040
The card is the common language.
Ruth's stewardship ensured that 

318
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,800
the common language stayed 
coherent across 3 decades of 

319
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,840
community change, which included
the decline of the mid century 

320
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,960
mahjong generation, the quiet 
years of the 1990s, and the 

321
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,200
early signals of the revival 
that has become the boom we are 

322
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,600
living in now. 
She kept the committee small, 

323
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:37,520
serious and long tenured. 
Ruth's other signature decision,

324
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,200
which is less discussed but 
equally important, was her 

325
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,600
commitment to a car design 
committee composed of players 

326
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:49,400
with decades of experience who 
served long 10 years and who was

327
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,240
selected for judgement rather 
than celebrity. 

328
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:56,320
The women who sit on that 
committee now and the ones who 

329
00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,920
sat on it in her time accumulate
500 years or more of combined 

330
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:02,920
playing experience across the 
table. 

331
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,440
This is why the card each year 
is not a surprise. 

332
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,640
It is a calibration. 
Ruth understood that an 

333
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,440
institution like the League 
could only maintain its 

334
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,400
authority if the people making 
the consequential decisions had 

335
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,920
the experience to justify the 
authority. 

336
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,960
The committee under her 
leadership became the most 

337
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,520
experienced game design body in 
the American parlour game 

338
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,400
industry, and it remains so 
today. 

339
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,440
The game you play is the game 
she defended. 

340
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,120
Ruth passed away in 2015 and the
League's current leadership has 

341
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,480
carried her institutional 
philosophy forward in ways that 

342
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,360
honour her work. 
What Prim would like you to take

343
00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:52,120
from this feature is the simple 
recognition that the community 

344
00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:57,040
you love and the game you play 
is held up by decades of quiet 

345
00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:01,640
institutional labour performed 
by women whose names most of you

346
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,600
will never learn. 
Ruth Unger was one of the most 

347
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,520
significant. 
She did her work from a desk 

348
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:13,440
without fanfare for nearly 30 
years, and every time you play a

349
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,120
hand on a new card, you are 
benefiting from the 

350
00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,080
institutional discipline she 
built. 

351
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,200
At this table, we remember the 
soldiers. 

352
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,000
At this table we also remember 
the stewards. 

353
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,560
Both kinds of memory belong at 
the same table. 

354
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,720
Ruth would have approved Prim 
suspects of that sentence. 

355
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,000
And now a brief indulgence, 
because this author believes 

356
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,080
that one cannot play well if one
does not play beautifully. 

357
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,360
This is Tile Envy, where we 
cover it openly and without 

358
00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:53,320
apology. 
Prim wants to talk this week 

359
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,160
about a piece of equipment that 
most American players have seen 

360
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,600
in videos from Asia, but that 
very few have encountered in 

361
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,840
person, which is the Automatic 
Mahsong Table. 

362
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,200
If you are not familiar, the 
Automatic Mahsong Table is a 

363
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,160
fully electric table that 
shuffles, stacks and delivers 

364
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,080
the wall for the players. 
At the start of every hand, the 

365
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,080
tiles drop into a chamber 
beneath the playing surface, are

366
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,920
mechanically shuffled, stacked 
into four walls, and then raised

367
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,320
up into position, all in under a
minute. 

368
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,840
The players never touch the 
tiles between hands. 

369
00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:35,920
The ritual of the wall build, 
which is such a central part of 

370
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,880
the American game, is compressed
into a brief hum and a 

371
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,520
mechanical rise. 
Automatic tables are ubiquitous 

372
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:49,240
in Japan and in high end mashong
parlours across East Asia where 

373
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,560
the game is played for hours at 
a time in commercial settings 

374
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,760
and the tables ability to 
accelerate the between hand 

375
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,560
interval is a meaningful 
productivity gain. 

376
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:04,360
The American market has until 
very recently shown almost no 

377
00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:08,600
interest in these tables for a 
combination of reasons Prim 

378
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,440
finds interesting. 
The American game is played in 

379
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:16,320
homes, not parlours. 
The wall build is considered 

380
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,440
part of the social fabric of the
game. 

381
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,720
The price point of a quality 
automatic table, which ranges 

382
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,800
from 3000 to $15,000 depending 
on the tier, is a commitment 

383
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,960
most American players have not 
seen a reason to make. 

384
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,760
The machines are engineered for 
a Chinese or Japanese tile set, 

385
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,640
which is slightly different from
an American set. 

386
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,760
All of these factors combined 
have meant that the American 

387
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,840
market has been essentially 
empty. 

388
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,800
This is changing slowly, and 
Prim wants you to know it is 

389
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,720
changing. 
A handful of importers have 

390
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,400
begun bringing automatic tables 
to the American market over the 

391
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,400
last two or three years, often 
with adapted tile chambers that 

392
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:08,120
can accommodate American sets. 
The price points are still high 

393
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,000
and the tables are still 
relatively rare, but Prim has 

394
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,560
seen three in person at private 
residences in the last eight 

395
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,760
months, which is 3 more than she
had seen in the previous decade.

396
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,440
The buyers are generally players
who play many hours per week, 

397
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,960
often in established home groups
that play competitively, and the

398
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,640
feedback Prim has received is 
mixed but leaning positive. 

399
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,880
The speed of the game increases 
meaningfully. 

400
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,320
The fatigue of repetitive 
shuffling at the end of a long 

401
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,160
evening decreases. 
The social fabric, which Prim 

402
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,720
worried about in advance, seems 
to remain intact because the 

403
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,120
conversation during the wall 
build is replaced by 

404
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,800
conversation during the slightly
different pre deal ritual when 

405
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:02,600
the machine is running. 
Prim is not going to tell you to

406
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,240
buy one. 
For most American players, an 

407
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,440
automatic table is not a good 
purchase. 

408
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,080
The home game with tiles on a 
mat is the heart of this 

409
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,600
community. 
Thinking about the loss of the 

410
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:19,120
beautiful mats saddens Prim and 
the less beautiful tiles that 

411
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:23,600
are required even more. 
And Prim would not want the wall

412
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,240
build to disappear from the 
American experience of the game.

413
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,840
But Prim also wants you to know 
that the technology exists, that

414
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,040
it is slowly entering this 
market, and that there will 

415
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,480
eventually be a generation of 
American players who consider 

416
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,680
the automatic table standard 
equipment for serious home 

417
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,480
groups. 
How this interacts with the 

418
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,880
broader American aesthetic of 
the game is a conversation the 

419
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,120
community will have in the 
coming years. 

420
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,760
Prim has no strong prediction 
about the outcome. 

421
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,800
She will report developments as 
they emerge. 

422
00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:02,160
One small note for the 
collectors and aesthetes among 

423
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,280
you. 
The Japanese made high end 

424
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:10,200
automatic tables, particularly 
the Amos brand, are genuinely 

425
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,720
beautiful pieces of engineering.
If you have occasion to see one 

426
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:19,480
in a Mashong parlour in Tokyo or
Osaka, Prim recommends the 

427
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,440
detour. 
The tables are the kind of craft

428
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,200
object that makes you think 
differently about what a game 

429
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,440
table can be, even if you never 
plan to own one. 

430
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,080
The Asian Mashong equipment 
market is more developed than 

431
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,800
the American one by a large 
margin, and observing it is 

432
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:41,000
useful context for where the 
American market might or might 

433
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,680
not eventually go. 
Now to matters of the calendar. 

434
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,240
Where shall one be seen this 
season? 

435
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:54,000
This is set your rack. 
The post Memorial Day 

436
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,480
acceleration is real. 
Prim mentioned in the draw that 

437
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,240
registration for summer and fall
events has accelerated visibly 

438
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,000
in the last seven days. 
Here are the specifics. 

439
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:11,760
Destination Mashong's Atlantic 
City event in mid August has 

440
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,760
moved from 60% to 80% filled in 
one week. 

441
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:20,000
The Shriners tournament in 
Austin on June 20th is now 

442
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,000
accepting names for the wait 
list, not primary registration. 

443
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,920
mAh Shong Fever's late summer 
destination is approaching 

444
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,320
capacity. 
The Mahjong World Championship 

445
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,240
in October has added a second 
block of hotel rooms and a 

446
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,440
corresponding second wave of 
registrations, which is a 

447
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,720
meaningful sign of continued 
growth year over year. 

448
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,440
The summer local circuit is in 
full swing. 

449
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,320
The JCC and Community Centre 
tournaments that Prim has been 

450
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,200
covering in these pages are now 
running at full summer cadence. 

451
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,600
The Atlanta Area joint 
tournament weekend in mid June 

452
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,440
has confirmed its inaugural 
dates and opened registration. 

453
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:07,280
The Chicago North Shore JCCS are
running a three weekend summer 

454
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,520
series beginning in mid June. 
The South Florida Federation's 

455
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,280
summer charity tournament 
calendar is now posted in full, 

456
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,400
with seven tournament dates 
between June and August and 

457
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,600
three of them already near 
capacity. 

458
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,000
The Bay Area community centres 
are posting weekly through 

459
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,880
August. 
If you have been circling a 

460
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,520
summer local event, the calendar
is now dense enough that you can

461
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,080
probably find one within 30 
minutes of your home on at least

462
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,960
two or three dates this summer. 
Call around commit. 

463
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,760
The fall is beginning to 
solidify beyond the October 

464
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,280
World Championship. 
The full destination calendar is

465
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,400
now visible enough to commit to 
destination. 

466
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,000
Mashong is running events 
through November. 

467
00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:00,120
Mashong Fever is layering in two
additional fall events beyond 

468
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,480
the one Prim has been covering. 
Mashong Madness is running its 

469
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,440
traditional full circuit with 
dates in September and October. 

470
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,000
If you are a player who wants to
do more than one destination 

471
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,600
event this year, now is the time
to build your full calendar. 

472
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,400
The math on back-to-back 
destinations is favourable if 

473
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,320
you are organised about it. 
The math on deciding in 

474
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:24,840
September is much less 
favourable. 

475
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:32,000
The retreat format quietly 
gaining a final trend worth 

476
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,120
noting. 
The retreat format, meaning 

477
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,880
multi day small group intensive 
mashong events with a teaching 

478
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,680
component, is visibly growing 
this year. 

479
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,080
Destination Mahjongers Cashiers 
retreat in April was well 

480
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,080
received. 
The Miraval Berkshires retreat, 

481
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,880
which was originally planned for
Memorial Day weekend and has 

482
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,000
been moved to late August, is 
nearly full. 

483
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,200
Crack Your Bags continues to add
retreat dates. 

484
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,480
The retreat format combines the 
destination aesthetic with 

485
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:08,040
serious teaching in a way that 
the tournament format does not. 

486
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,560
Prim has been watching this 
segment carefully. 

487
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,120
It may be the fastest growing 
category of destination mahshong

488
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:22,960
in the American market this 
year. 80% filled destination 

489
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:28,600
Mahshong Atlantic City August 
16th through 18th Wait list 

490
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:34,600
Shriners Mahshong Tournament 
Austin, TX June 20th Near 

491
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:40,160
capacity Mahshong Fever late 
summer destination event open 

492
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:45,040
Mashong World Championship Paris
Las Vegas October 16th through 

493
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:51,520
18th Nearly full Miraval 
Berkshire's retreat August open 

494
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:58,040
summer local JCC and community 
centre circuit opening Full 

495
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,840
destination Mashong calendar 
September through November Full 

496
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:07,000
event calendar at the order of 
the tile.com/events. 

497
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:12,200
And finally, because this author
believes every player deserves 

498
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,720
at least one piece of knowledge 
that makes her the most 

499
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,040
interesting person at the table,
we close with crack 

500
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,520
intelligence. 
Here is a piece of American 

501
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,960
Mashong history that almost no 
one in the current community 

502
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,760
knows about, and Prim wants to 
change that. 

503
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,080
In 1951, at the height of the 
post war American television 

504
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,560
boom, a producer named Dorothy 
Myerson hosted what is widely 

505
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,560
regarded as the first televised 
American Mahsong program. 

506
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:47,360
The show aired locally in New 
York and by some accounts 

507
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,080
briefly on a small regional 
network. 

508
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:58,440
The format, by the standards of 
1951 television, was unusual. 4 

509
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:03,600
women played a game of American 
Mahsong on camera live, while 

510
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,200
Dorothy narrated the strategic 
moments and explained the rules 

511
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,760
to the home audience. 
The production was simple. 

512
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:15,560
The lighting was harsh, as 1951 
television lighting was. 

513
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,320
The cameras were static. 
The game proceeded at roughly 

514
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:25,320
the pace a real game proceeds, 
which is to say, leisurely, with

515
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:30,120
pauses and conversation and 
occasional confusion about whose

516
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,320
turn it was. 
What Dorothy Myerson understood,

517
00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:37,800
and what almost no one else 
understood at the time, was that

518
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,719
Ma Shong was a television 
compatible game. 

519
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:46,560
The rhythm of the turn, the 
visible nature of the exposures,

520
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,400
the drama of the call, the 
satisfaction of the closing 

521
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:55,000
hand, all of it translated to a 
visual medium in ways that most 

522
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:59,320
parlour games did not. 
Card games did not translate 

523
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,840
well because the hands were 
private. 

524
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,480
Chess did not translate well 
because the action was internal.

525
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:11,080
Mashong with its public 
exposures and its public calls 

526
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,040
and it's visible wall was 
inherently telegenic. 

527
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,880
Dorothy saw this years before 
the rest of the broadcasting 

528
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:21,440
industry would have understood 
what she was doing. 

529
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:27,440
She was, in the sense that would
matter decades later, early. 

530
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:34,680
The show did not last long. 
Television in 1951 was an 

531
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:38,320
expensive medium, and a mahshong
program did not attract the 

532
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,240
advertising revenue that the 
networks were looking for at the

533
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:44,280
time. 
The program ran for a limited 

534
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,080
number of episodes and was not 
renewed. 

535
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:51,600
Dorothy continued her broader 
work in media production and in 

536
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,200
the mahshong community for 
decades afterward, but the 

537
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,640
televised experiment remained A 
footnote until recent 

538
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,680
researchers began to piece 
together the early history of 

539
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:07,320
the game's media presence. 
What the 1951 show demonstrates 

540
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,520
in retrospect is that the idea 
of mahjong as broadcast worthy 

541
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:18,200
content is not a modern idea. 
It was tried 75 years ago. 

542
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,000
The medium was not ready. 
The audience was scattered. 

543
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:28,080
The game was Prim would like you
to carry from this section a 

544
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,320
small corrective to the 
widespread assumption that mAh 

545
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,880
shong has only recently become 
visible to the wider culture. 

546
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,880
The game has been trying to 
reach a broader audience for 

547
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,720
more than 7 decades. 
The YouTube channels, the 

548
00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:47,600
Instagram Reels, the TikTok 
hands, the podcasts that are 

549
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,520
emerging now are not a new 
impulse. 

550
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:54,480
They are the continuation of a 
thread that Dorothy Myerson 

551
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,840
pulled in 1951, when she set up 
four women at a table in front 

552
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:04,240
of a camera and explained 
patiently for a live audience 

553
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:08,280
what was happening. 
Every modern mahshong content 

554
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:12,560
creator is, in a small and 
unacknowledged way, her 

555
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,640
descendant. 
The community has been 

556
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,960
broadcasting itself all along. 
We are finally in the era where 

557
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,960
the technology and the audience 
have caught up to the game. 

558
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,880
Dorothy Wood Prim suspects be 
delighted. 

559
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:34,440
You're welcome. 
A closing note for the observers

560
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,680
and the observed. 
If you take one thing from this 

561
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,840
issue into your next game, let 
it be this. 

562
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,000
Nothing at the table escapes 
notice. 

563
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,800
Everything you do is being read 
by someone, and everything 

564
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:50,640
someone does is being read by 
you. 

565
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,640
And the long dance of mutual 
observation is the game itself. 

566
00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,480
Play with awareness, play with 
generosity. 

567
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,840
Play in the knowledge that your 
table mates are reading you and 

568
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,000
that they deserve your best 
signals and your worst tells in 

569
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,240
equal measure, because that is 
what the table is for. 

570
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:17,840
If you have not yet subscribed, 
visit theorderofthetile.com and 

571
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,560
drop in your e-mail. 
Forward this issue to the friend

572
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,240
at your table who notices 
everything and says nothing. 

573
00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:27,880
She deserves to know you 
noticed. 

574
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,760
Until next week. 
May your rack be blessed and 

575
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,400
your Charleston ruthless. 
This has been the order of the 

576
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:42,560
tile issue #11 nothing at the 
table escapes notice. 

577
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,480
Do forward this to your favorite
4th. 

578
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:50,160
Everyone deserves a seat at this
table, and everyone deserves to 

579
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,840
be properly informed before they
take it. 

580
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:56,240
Until next Thursday, dear 
listener. 

581
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,720
Prim as always.