Although it’s not a big issue, we’ve noticed some things in regards to both American and Japanese players.
1st on the list is in regards to calling.
This may be due to players used to playing online or in games, there were some players who don’t or forgot to call on tiles. If you don’t call on your tiles, it will cause delay to the game, and will cause confusion, so it is always to have good habit on calling a tile with the appropriate volume. Although there were players who called on tiles a little louder than necessary, it is better to call than not calling. But if you call on tiles too loud, this will startle players around you, so please try and call on tiles at a moderate level; not too loud and not too quiet.
2nd would be timing.
As mentioned in the European WRC report, it seems like there are still players that take a little bit of time before drawing their tiles. Although we can see that it isn’t “koshi” (which is equivalent to bluffing in poker, where you see a discard and pretend to think if you want to call it or not, even though it has nothing to do with your hand). taking time before drawing your tile will make it seem like the tile from your “kami-cha”(person before you) is something you want for your hand. It would be best if you think about your hand after you draw your tile. Using “koshi” or bluffing with your movements and words is called “shamisen” in Japanese, and unlike poker, there is a penalty up to disqualification of such action in Japanese Mahjong tournaments. Needless to say, “shamisen” is not permitted at jansous too. We know that these actions are not done purposely, and WRC rules do not stricktly enforce this, but this would be something to think about and fix at an early stage in your mahjong career. If we all keep this in mind, our manners as American players will pass the European players, leaving a better impression overall. This is not a difficult thing to do.
3rd is reporting your points.
During the tournament, do you recall the judges and PML players exchanging weird numbers? Those numbers were the Han numbers and the Fu numbers of the won hand. The numbers were entered in the main system, and is something most NorCal PML members were able to do with no problem. We want Japanese players to be able to do this as well. We sometimes leave the point calculation to players that can at times, but in order to level up your game play, learning how to report your points is something we should all do.
4th on the list is talking during play.
We weren’t too strict on this, but it was very noticeable. It’s fine during regular play where all players just want to have fun, but at a tournament, unnecessary talking during play will affect players around you. We will let small talk fly, but it was pretty bad towards the end.
5th will be your attitude during play.
Experienced Japanese players who need to be examples to new players were noticeably bad. Crossing your legs, sitting in a weird position, putting your elbows on the table, etc. NorCal members had better attitudes. SoCal members will need to keep this in mind in the future.
And lastly will be using both hands.
This was also something that we didn’t strictly enforce, but in Mahjong, it is said to use only your main or dominant hand. This is because in the past, people were using both hands because it would be easier to cheat. Some players were using both when drawing and discarding tiles. You will need to practice this to get rid of bad habits, but you will get used to it easily! Keep this in mind, and practice will make perfect!
These were not serious issues, but in order to make game play smooth and prevent any issues, it will be wise to keep in mind. All players, including us LAPOM players, let’s all get better! In future events, let’s all be thoughtful of improving not only our Mahjong skills, but also our manner and attitudes so we set a golden standard and be an example to the world!!