This post describes how I transformed from a total newbie in Mahjong to become a
world renowned self proclaim expert known as the "God of Mahjong" (麻将大侠), aka "King of Self-Draw" (自模天王).
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From the start, I have no interest in Mahjong whatsoever, even though all my siblings know how to play it. I've probably tried to learn it during various point in my life, but mostly gave up due to its "immense difficulty". I simply wasn't able to comprehend what the whole game is all about.
Then, in around 2002 to 2003 period came the release of what I remember as the "first mahjong movie" I saw:
呖咕呖咕新年财Starring Andy Lau and Gigi Leung, it was repeatedly telecast over the years so many times I've lost count. It's probably one of the first few Mahjong movies that feature something known as "making friends with the tiles". Treating the tiles as some kind of living spirits, and how your "relationship" with the tiles can win you the game.
It's the first movie that actually made me want to learn Mahjong, but I never really did...
Until I brought this game.
I learnt the most basics of Mahjong from this game, cause it is super newbie friendly. You only need to know "4 melds + 1 pair" win the game. EVERYTHING else is automated for you in the game. Basically, it's more like waiting for buttons to pop up. When you can eat, the button will light up. When you can game, the button will light up. All the winnings are automated for you too.
I didn't know how to make ANY special hands, and I don't understand how they calculate the tai. I don't even know how the whole game works. I just "look at my hand, discard those that doesn't match, and wait for buttons to pop up". That is it.
It's a great game, but eventually I got bored of it (once I can memorize all the things the characters say).
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Subsequently later, during a Poly Chalet, I was "forced" into playing Mahjong, this time for real (probably for the first time in my life). Again, I used all the knowledge (which was pretty limited) from the game to play. And of course I had to keep consulting the people around.
Playing Mahjong in real life is TOTALLY different from the game. No buttons will light up for you to press! -_-
Basically, you have to call the 'pong' and the 'chow' and the 'hu' yourself. You have to react to it in real time. You got to remember to draw and discard tile or risk getting a "small husband"...
You also got to deal with stuff like throwing the dice and calculating the tile deck. And then how you have to "jump a tile" at the end. It's something I still don't understand to this date. And then of course you have to learn about the flowers, the animals, the dealer and the prevailing wind, etc... all of which I didn't learn until much later.
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My interests in Mahjong died after that. I did play various online Mahjong games like the ones from Yahoo and some freeware version, but it didn't last very long. Those version were just not that impressive, often lacking in graphics, game-play or implementation.
After that, I basically never touch Mahjong again...
It popped up in the Viwawa website, but I didn't feel like learning everything from start. (I've forgotten like 90% by then) I feel more interested in the daidee game...
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Until recently...
In fact, just a few weeks ago...
When I saw the telecast of...
雀圣 & subsequently
雀圣2.These are the 2 movies that "reignited" my interests in Mahjong again.
And this time I'm quite determine to master it. Or at least, be able to play it at a decent level.
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I've been playing the
Viwawa Wahjong for these past week or so.
Anyone want to get thrash by me, The God Of Mahjong, feel free to sign up for an account. I will welcome any challengers.
Wahahahahahaha...
3 Steps To Thrashing People
1) "各位观众~~~~~"
2) "自摸天王!!!!"
3) Click "胡"!
