Show notes
Mahjong personalities are real. If you don’t recognize them at your table, it might be you.
From league drama and “your hand is dead, sweetie” to Texas‑proud tablescapes, moaners, sandbaggers, and no‑show offenders, Jenn and Cathy break down the characters and conflicts that prove there is absolutely no crying in Mahjong.
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During the episode we mentioned The 12 Steps of Mahjong (Anonymous):
Step one: We admitted were powerless over pairs, and that all the new Mahjong cards
have become unmanageable.
Step two: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves—perhaps Jokers—could
restore us to sanity.
Step three: We made a decision to turn our hands and our picks over to the Gods of luck as
we understood them.
Step four: We made a searching and fearless inventory of every missed exposure and joker
exchange.
Step five: We admitted to our fellow players, our table, and ourselves the exact nature of our bad Charleston passes.
Step six: We were entirely ready to have all these weak hand choices removed.
Step seven: We humbly asked for the strength and timing to call for a needed tile.
Step eight: We made a list of all the players we had harmed and became willing to make
amends for groans of being “just one away” when our friends called Mahjong.
Step nine: We made direct amends to anyone whose tile we took that led to their missed mahjong.
Step ten: We continued to take inventory of our friend’s tells and favorite hands, and when we misnamed a tile, promptly admitted it.
Step eleven: We sought through practice and patience to improve our hand-reading skills and the power to carry it out in a tournament.
Step twelve: Having had a mahjong awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
practice these principles in all of our in person and online games, continuing to play with kindness at every opportunity.
Five Key Takeaways
1. League play changes the stakes: honest mistakes still mean dead hands, and guilt‑tripping the table to stay in is a major etiquette foul when prizes and rankings are on the line.
2. Every table has “types”—from moaners who complain their way to top scores, to sandbaggers, silent assassins, and guests who leave early or no‑show and wreck the game flow.
3. Tablescapes are a whole personality: Texas‑themed tiles, leather mats that slide just right, and even badass‑women code names for league ranking keep things fun while protecting egos.
4. House rules and expectations (like four‑player preference, bob setups, and how you label fouls) are key to avoiding tears, resentment, and passive‑aggressive “honest mistake” debates.
5. Mahjong gossip is alive and well in leagues and online; the healthiest response is to own your fouls, learn the rules, and keep the space generous, not manipulative.
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