Keeping Long Tiles And Discarding Short Tiles

First, let’s talk about the idea, 'when missing pairs and missing honors',

Keeping Long Tiles and discarding Short Tiles

What’s a long tiles? A sequence like is an example of a long tile. Its main purpose is to help you form pairs. If you draw or , you can easily make a pair and complete a set. With 16 tiles available in the bamboo suit, what are your chances?

If you draw or , you can also make a pair and a set. So, all the bamboo tiles are valuable, and you shouldn’t discard them.

That’s why the saying "missing pairs and missing honors, keep long and discard short" is very useful. By keeping your composite tiles, you increase your chances of drawing the right pairs. You should avoid discarding bamboo tiles; instead, you can choose to discard Dots or Characters.

Now, let’s break down the game stages. Mahjong has three phases: the early game, the middle game, and the late game. The early game is the first five rounds, the middle game is from the 5th to the 10th round, and the late game is after the 10th round.

Each phase has different goals and strategies, so you need to adjust your play accordingly.

In the early stage, if you see 1 or 9 on the table and they haven’t been claimed a Pong or Kong, you should keep the 2, 3 or 7, 8. It’s likely that they are still in the wall, which means your 2, 3 and 7, 8 are good tiles to keep.

Why? Because the tiles 2, 3 or 7, 8 need the 1 and 9 to construct a combination.

If you see a 1 and 9 and on the table and they haven't been claimed or discarded, it means there's a high chance that those tiles are still in the wall.

Since the 1 and 9 are still in the wall, the tiles 2,3 and 7, 8 are good combinations to keep. So, at this point, you should discard other tiles and keep bamboo tiles.

For the , you need the and . There could be 8 of those tiles left, or maybe none at all, and we can't really tell.

What we can be sure of is that your , are good tiles to keep.

The second saying is:

In the middle game, if there are no 1 or 9, break up 2, 3 or 7, 8.

What does this mean?

For example, if you’re in the 7th or 8th round and there are no 1 or 9 on the table, it’s likely that those tiles are with other players, forming pairs or sets.

So, when you reach the middle game, you need to be willing to break up your tiles instead of just keep waiting.

In this case, if you are in the early stage you should consider discarding the .

Good day! Happy winning!