Lots Of Mah Jongg Controversy Today

Even though I was teaching two classes, which took up most of the day, I still was inundated with queries about the two new Mah Jongg card announcements. For those who are not up to speed, two competing tile manufacturers both announced they are creating their own new Mah Jongg cards that will compete with the National Mah Jongg League’s card.

This is not the first time that someone has come up with a different mah Jongg card. And the National Mah Jongg league has not done itself any service by not modernizing it’s customer service or by not producing a color blind friendly card. So some of this “alternative card” competition they brought on them selves. But… I am not supportive of dividing the mah Jongg world into many factions that play many different cards.

One of the beauties of having one card that is very prevalent is that you can travel all over and find people to play with who all play the same card. Learning to play a new card takes time and learning multiple cards in the same year just adds confusion.

It is hard enough for new players to learn to master one card. I would hate to make the game harder on new players.

I have not seen any of these new cards, so my opinion is purely about the idea of having many different cards. It is not about the quality of the hands on any of the cards. I also think that it is also just another way for tile manufacturers to make more money. If they sell you tiles, and mats and racks, well cards makes perfect sense, from a business point of view. Cards are cheep to make and so they are a very high profit margin item.

A a Mah Jongg professional I purposely do not represent any mah Jongg products because I want to be free to give my honest opinion on all things mah Jongg and not make any money representing something I might eventually think is not the best product in it’s category. For now I am sticking with the NMJL card because it is the one that has gotten us where we are today and they have stood the test of time.

I don’t suggest that most people try and play more than one kind of card. It will just mess up all your Mah Jongg. Do I hope this makes the NMJL get off it’s ass and modernize, “YES.” Larry and David Unger, if you need suggestions, I have them.