Decoding the 2026 Mahjong Card with THE Bubbe Fischer! - Tile Talk EP5

The 2026 card is here and we are diving in with the one and only Karen Gooen. AKA BUBBE FISCHER! 

**If you weren’t born with a mahjong playing Bubbe, look no further! Karen Gooen, Mahjong Guru, Author, Speaker - is Bubbe to all! She does a fabulous card analysis each year, helping thousands of players decode the new lines. This year she has agreed to join us on Tile Talk to share her insights with all of you!

Karen's books: ”Searching for Bubbe Fischer”,”Small World”, ”Take Two”, ”Ellen, Discovered”

Email her to order yours today! bubbefischer@gmail.com

Bubbe's Mah Jongg Blog: https://bubbemj.blogspot.com/

https://haywardhousetlh.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MahJonggThatsIt/

Hayward House Bistro
A downtown Tallahassee Bistro featuring local traditions, globally inspired flavors, on corner wit

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Welcome to Tile Talk with Christina, Elizabeth, and Marshall.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Your go-to podcast for all things mahjong. We are gonna deep dive into all things mahjong.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Let's go. Roll the dice. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Okay, guys. All right. Hello, hello. Hello, we are back. We're back. Welcome to Tile Talk episode five. Can you believe that? No, actually, I stopped being able to count. I couldn't remember if we were on like four or five or six. I know. I was like, wow, we're getting up there.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

We're doing it. We're doing it. I'm excited. This one I'm so excited about. This is probably gonna be my favorite one yet. I just you guys are in for a huge treat.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Buckle up, here we go. So what are we talking about? We're talking about the 2026 card, but we're not just talking about it. We are decoding it with Bubby Fisher, aka Karen Gwen, um, the Maj Guru. Listen, um, we're so excited to dive in. This new card is everything right now. But if you weren't born with a mahjong playing Bubby, look no further. Um, Karen Gwen, right? Mahjong guru, author, speaker is Bubby to all. She does a fabulous card analysis every single year, um, helping thousands of players decode all of these new lines. And um, this year she's agreed to join us on Tile Talk. We're so excited. We are super honored. We are so lucky. Yes. She's gonna give us all her insights and um share all of her, you know, findings with I cannot wait.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Yes. And you know, you and I both um when we first learned Mahjong, we were desperate to find things and places to learn more about the game, and it was more challenging than I than we thought. And one of the things you and I both did was was listen to Fern Bernstein's podcast. And I think maybe you or not, maybe uh the first one you listened to was the new card rollout. And I think it was Bubby that didn't. Karen, you were the first one. You helped suck us in.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Yes, ma'am. Yes, and you broke the card down and with your little sayings and things. I knew the the next year when the card came out, I went looking for your episode. I knew that Fern would have you on again. And um, again, you know, it's it's you breaking it down for me that helped me commit so many of these lines to memory, and it's the ones that you talk about that happen to stick for me, and I tend to overplay if anything. Right. Um so if you if you were lucky enough to have heard one of Bubby's card breakdowns in the past, you'll know that sometimes she'll theme the year, the card, and the lines last set.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Oh, god, I need alliteration to help remember. Well, I need I need help remembering anything anyway anyhow. Yeah, you know, and I I really I learned the capitals with all the you know, singing the funny songs and having the funny names, but I need that to in 2025.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

I'm gonna miss my lines. I know we we need to themed it, it was the P, um, the P card, yeah. Um, the letter P anyway. And my favorite lines on it every single time were the Pep Rally and the Paper Boy. And because they had such great stories, so the pep rally was the two, four, six, eight with the pung pungs. Um, that was the pep rally line. So every time those would come on my rack, I spotted it immediately. I was like, there I've got the pep rally.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Yes, and uh my favorite of that one was the Purina dragon chow. Yeah, and I I went on that line a lot. And I didn't know if I ever got dragons, I was like, oh, go for the chow, go for the Purina.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

That's right, yeah. The paper boy, as she called the the news was in a new neighborhood for 2025, right? Yeah. So that was the paperboy line, the news line in um one, three, five, seven, nine or one three one three five seven nine odds. Yeah. So anyway, it you know, whether you have a name for the line, the way you kind of introduce them, they tend to stick. Yeah, which gives you a huge advantage when you're playing, when you can immediately recognize or remember a line, recall it quickly when it's on your rack, right? Yes. Um, it's very helpful.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

So we especially when you're playing with speed and need to be making choices quickly. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 4:30

So, anyway, welcome. Uh, we are so excited to have you, Bubby. Thank you for joining us today. Yes, thank you for having me. So, before we get into too much, we want to know how everyone's doing. So, we'll start with you. How have you been, Bubby? Things are good. Things are good.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah, getting ready for a big holiday. By the time this broadcast, the holiday will have come and gone, but big holiday starts tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

That's right. We've got big holidays coming up for lots of people. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

It's um and it's spring, finally spring. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yes, exactly. How have you been?

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Oh man, um, we you know, we all we all went on spring break, so we had I missed you. I missed you. I missed you too. That was the longest we've been apart since we started this. So I having withdrawals. Um we had a great spring break, and then we got back and everything is covered in pollen. And I'm like, well, here we are in spring. I mean, it is just it's then there's no point in cleaning it up because the next day it's covered again. So it's still going. My poor husband has really bad allergies, so he is suffering big time. Yeah, my whole family. My yard looks great though, but the pollen is is not smells like a flower shop in here.

SPEAKER_03 5:36

No, it is busting. It is I did some eye drops just in case I was like, whoo! What's she gonna bring in here? But but honestly, like I am living for this. Yes, this if if you guys are watching, if anybody is watching, the arrangements today are just gorgeous. They smell good too.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Those are real, yes, they come from her yard. Yes. Well, and I had I did have to phone a friend. I had to call my mom because I wasn't exactly sure about this name. This is a the purple flower. Here is called yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And because the the blooms change color, so um, when they first bloom, they're dark purple, then it goes to a light purple, and then it turns the white is the last one. Yeah, so really cool. And they have a really fragrance, too. I know. I'm sure there's like a you know, scientific name, but I like that color. Yeah, yeah. It's called and it it blooms for a long time, it'll bloom for a couple months. It's a great one.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

This one's shedding over here.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah, that's the pitisporum, it's blooming right now, too. The pitisporum, yes.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

I think that's a scientific name. I know, yes, I think so.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

And it's it's awesome, it's a great one for any arrangements that holds stuff. And then the amaryllis, it's not an Easter lily, it is amaryllis. It does look like a lily. Yes, but it is it's an amaryllis, and they are going off right now.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Yeah, I was at your house the other day. Your yard is going off.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

It looks beautiful. I know, but god, the pollen, man. I mean, I I guess it's a trade-off, but it is a trade off. I'm ready for that to be. DONA. Yeah. All right, and we haven't, what about you? What's been going on with you? Do you have a great spring break?

SPEAKER_03 7:05

I mean, yeah, we had a wonderful spring break. We were at the beach with friends, we played so much mahjong. We I taught two um friends mahjong, which is my favorite thing, honestly. When you can create more players within your group, and then now you have more people to play with everywhere you go. You know, I need everybody to know how to play.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

I know. Spread the love, spread the joy.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

I know. Yeah, and it's so funny because we really bonded. These ladies, I just met one, the other one I'd met a few times. We bonded so much over the week. I mean, we are like best friends now. That's awesome. That's that we just sat there and played and played and played. And the husband, I remember her husband, um, one of them, they were like, Are you just gonna sit there on spring break and just play mahjong? And I was like, get used to it, buddy. This isn't just spring break. This is like from here on out. I have taken your wife on a trip. She will never return from.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 7:57

Sorry, not sorry. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

We have well, we had three mahjong events last week, and I thought both of our husbands were gonna be like again.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

This is my husband's second week on carpool duty for ballet. I have him ready. He's got the snacks and the leotard and all the things, and he's got three girls piling in his car today. So yeah, kudos to him. He is the best.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Awesome. And we have a special guest today. Marshall is out of town on his real job. Uh yeah. Um, his money-making job. That's right. We are not the most important, we're not even the most important women in his life. But um, yeah, we missed Marshall. But um, one of his good buddies and employees is is here with us, and we are so thankful to Chris. Thank you for joining me. Yeah, I'm excited to be here. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, well, maybe not by the end of the day.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

So, Chris, like Marshall, Chris does not play Mahjong yet, but he is very interested in learning. He is a gamer.

SPEAKER_04 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

Um, he likes rummy. What are you? Rummy cubes. Rummy Q. Love Rummy Q. Yeah, oh, you're halfway there. Yeah. You're oh god, we gotta get you in.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

It's like way more aesthetic and pretty.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

So I'm yeah, okay. Yeah, we gotta get Marshall. Yeah, we'll do a we'll do a little session.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Yeah. Thanks for being here. Of course. Yeah, for having me. And on such a special episode. I know, I know. Great stuff, great stuff. Okay, well, we have so much to talk about with this card. So let's go through our tablescape drink and get all of this out of the way. Please get to the drink. Um, our beautiful mat is um, you know, it's spring. Spring has sprung. So we have got the citrus songbird by Oh my mahjong. It's a very popular one. But I've pedaled it. I've paired it with the petali tiles by, and I don't, I'm probably botching this, Verora Mahjong, which is the beautiful tile brand that is available on Amazon. Everyone on Mahjong, that's it, um, that Facebook group that we always talk about, um, has been talking about these tiles. They're currently sold out. I checked this morning just to be sure. By the time that you hear this, they may be back in stock. But it's um V-I-R-O-R-A and it's the Petal Lee. They have a couple of them, but they have the beautiful color stacks, very similar to Oh My Mahjong, but totally different colors. And um, the faces are completely different, but the quality is beautiful. I bought these for my daughter for Christmas because she wanted some fancy fun tiles to play with her friends, and I was not willing to pay the fancy fun price. And this was a great compromise. And now I steal them and play with them.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

They're really beautiful. This is the first time I've seen them. They are gorgeous. The one bam bird is so pretty.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

So there is a little bit of confusion over what the dragons are, and some people thought that they were like some sort of cactus or whatever, but they are actually the horns of a dragon and they're wrapped in like vine and flowers. Okay. So anyway, but yes, this is a beautiful set. Um, I highly recommend it. I hope they get some more in stock because they're doing a great job. Hopefully, they'll bring some more designs out. Yeah, and it's really nice to have options throughout the you know, the financial realm. Yeah, that absolutely can be. My racks are again, they're the Miss Mahjong iridescent opal. I mean, you were not putting another rack on this table today. You would have to fight me. And at this point, almost every week, these are my favorites. They are followed closely by the Oh My Mahjong tortoise racks. And if you think you've got a better rack out there, uh, let me know. I have the one. Yeah, yeah. So far, I'm in love. Um, but yeah, if you think you got a better one, I mean better yet, send it my way, and I'll let you know how they rack up. Um, but um yeah. Yeah, that was really good.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Um yeah. We already talked about my flowers. We talked about your flowers, let's talk about the drink. Let's okay, then again, this is from Hayward House, downtown Flor Tallahassee Bistro, one of our favorite little jaunts. It is, oh yes. We they have not failed us yet. So what are we having? Today we're having the spicy Hugo spritz.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

So this is like a trend. People are putting jalapenos in their white wines. So I've seen this a lot lately. I have not tried it. I've done the jalapeno in my beer. Have you done that? No. So that was fantastic. We did a little bit of that over spring break. We had like lime and jalapeno in our coronas, and it was really good. Nice. This is fun. Um, I had to like kind of put it together so I had a sneak peek taste while I was. I just wanted to make sure it did it right. But um, I think I did. Let's give it a taste. It's the um spicy Hugo Spritz. It's Villa Maria Sauf Blanc with alder flower, jalapeno, mint, and lemon. All fresh. Um, very delicious.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

So very um, buddy. Very spring. Oh, look how pretty you did. A great job.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

That was great.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Very good. Oh my gosh. Wow. Oh, that's so refreshing. That's very easy. Oh, Bobby, I wish we'd see we knew that better than my sip earlier. Delivery service. Oh, yes. Okay. So good. I do want to. My sister made fun of me because she says when y'all take the drink, you take forever to receive it. She's like, well, it's so good. There's such a long silence. So we'll have to cut it short. We drink more drink a lot. Help us out. Don't make us look so lushy. But it's delicious.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

So very good. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Super good.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

You liked it, yeah. We made Chris one. Thank you, Hayward House. Worth helping us out, yeah. I have been on sort of a white wine hiatus. I think I'm gonna have to bring it back this summer with this combo: fresh lemon, elderberry syrup, jalapenos, and mint. I mean, what's yeah, what's not to like? That goes very well in a Sau Blanc. Okay, perfect. All right. What's blowing in the wind? What is blowing in the wind?

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Well, obviously. Yeah, it's the 2026 card. 2026.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

Yeah, cards.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

We're not talking about anything else right now. Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

They are arriving daily in the mail. Yes. And they're going out quick. So there are people who have ordered just last week and they've already gotten them this week.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Yeah, they seem to be really on top of it this year.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

And they are showing off this.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

They are, yeah. They are. And well, a lot of places around town are sold out, and um, it's you know, everybody's very excited to get their card and get learning and get going on TO2.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

I ordered them in bulk because I teach and I lose a bunch and I run the league, so I let people borrow them all the time. But I have just been spreading the love. I'm like, let's all you know, I've got like about 20. So I've been I've been sharing as much as I can so we can.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Well, and I have been playing online to try to learn the card a lot more. I kind of feel more comfortable, so I'm not holding other people up. I can kind of get comfortable with the card on my own terms and play with the bots and so she's not holding people up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Well, you know, I well, I'm so comfortable with the with she just doesn't, she likes to get in there and kick butt right off the bat. And she's actually you brought up something really um, really interesting. You're gonna start tracking your wins and the lines that you make.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

So yeah, I didn't I've not done this before. And I really I think it'd be super fun and super I think I'm gonna learn a lot about my own game by tracking where I'm successful, where I'm not successful. And um, I I so wish I had done that uh with this with previous cards before.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Um, do you do that?

SPEAKER_01 15:16

No, no, I don't I don't keep track of the whole season. Right. But when I go to tournaments, yes, I have this thing where I I talk about this that I keep statistics on every single hand that I play during a tournament. And the main things I look at, I look at the how how many jokers and how many flowers I start with, and what I think I'm playing at the end of the Charleston, and what I end up playing by the end of the game. That is so smart. Yeah, it's really interesting.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

And it goes so fast. How do you manage to track that? That's impressive.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

I I have shorthand, like I write. Oh, you're writing it everything.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Nice. That's that's very good. I love that. That is awesome. I'm sorry you need to do that. So that's really good. Okay, that's and I also, you know, sometimes on the online games, I'll go back and play cards from years prior, um, just to change it up. Uh, and I've I've learned, and you know, some some cards are vastly, vastly different. Um, it's really interesting to go back and see how the the different arrangements and how you know they they get really creative.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

They really like it. It wasn't last year, it was 2024 they got really creative, which was really exciting. I think I'm thinking of the right year. They start to jumble. Um, and then 2025 came out, and that was great. They took away a lot of stuff I really liked, and then I feel like they brought it again this year. But of course, Bubby's been playing a lot longer than us. So I'm excited to hear um everything that you have already observed about this card. Yes. Um okay, so we already said we are so honored to have you. You have done this breakdown, you did it for Fern for several years. I think it was like um five or six years you've done it. I I could be miscounting.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

I think we've we might have started in 2000. I know we did 2001. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

But I think this might be like year six. Okay, yeah. So if you haven't gone um listen to one of these, I'm really excited for anybody new to Bubby. Um, because she breaks it down on fern, but then um you can go and check out her blog where she will tell you um where to find that and all that later. But she breaks it down like panel by panel. Um, and it it's fantastic. So let's just let's just dive right in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, okay, so first let's talk a little bit about you before we get into the card. We want to know more about who you are. How did you find Mahjong? How did it find you? How did it find you? Tell us a little bit about you. Introduce yourself to everybody.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Okay, well, I'm Karen. I'm a mom of two. I have two dogs. I live out in the suburbs in New Jersey, but I'm originally from Maryland, that's why I don't have a New Jersey accent. Okay. And um my friend Melanie, back when we were we were brownie leaders together. Oh, and her husband back in 2003 was uh having his weekly poker game. And Melanie said, I want something like that. Do you want to play mahjong with me? And I was like, Okay. Both my grandmothers had played, but I never learned to play.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

We had been saying that for years, yeah, trying to start up the game now. So that's so interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah. So she got me to come to this class. We had six sessions, and by the end of it, we were like, This is great. And we decided to play every week. And like this light bulb went off. It was like the perfect game for me because I couldn't stand bridge. I don't know if you all are bridge players. My my godmother played bridge, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:43

Oh, I hate bridge.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

You've got a partner and you have to communicate. And if you manages me on, I don't want to depend on anybody else.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Yeah, my husband and I would play stuff with them. Yeah, and they make me partner with him, and I can't, we can't, we do not partner in games well together. I have friends that got divorced.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Yeah. Well, that's not that isn't a healthy scenario for Mark and I. We do a lot of things well together, but game playing, he just doesn't take it seriously. He doesn't care, and I'm very competitive. Yeah, and I get so mad. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah. So when I found this game, I was like, this is it. But there weren't books about it at the time. Right. Right. You know, you go and you look for all these books, they would get better, and there was no such thing. Right. And I was like, I wish there was. I'm gonna write the book that I would have wanted to read. That'd be amazing. So I went out and started playing against better players and picking up tips and all of that. And I found a couple people that had blogs online, but they didn't have a book yet.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

And finally they did come out with their books, but I cranked mine out too, and it really caught on. I was very excited that it had a nice oh, we should tell them what the title is. Yeah, that's because that's where the whole buggy thing came in. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

I had started working on the book and I didn't know what title, and then it suddenly came to me. I was like, Oh, I'm like looking for a guru, I'm looking for like Yoda of Mahjong. And then I was like, I'm looking for Yoda, I know. Yeah, so I was like, I'm searching, and I was like, oh my god, I'm searching for Bubby Fisher. That's a Bubby Fisher. Yeah, it's like and so I was like, I was telling my husband, I gotta get this published before anybody else steals that title. Yes, because you know the world was full of mahjong.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

Nobody was creative enough to think of that, though.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Yeah, but I was so like, gotta use this title.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Anyway, Karen stuck. I mean, it totally stuck. And I I mean And that's that's what we all need is a Bubby. That's a mahjong bubble. That's right. I mean, my grandma played a lot of bingo. Um, my mom.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

A lot of strategy in bingo.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

There's yeah, a lot of strategy there. Um, I remember crawling under the tables at bingo and seeing all their little feet with their pantyhose and stuff, and her her friends would give me dollar bills to go get them cigarettes out of the machines. Oh my gosh. So when I think of like playing games with my grandma, I think about like being in a smoke-filled bingo hall. Oh my gosh. Crawling under the tables and the ladies being like, ooh, ooh. Um, and yeah, sending me on little errands to get their cocktails and cigarettes. That's hilarious. Well, yeah. So anyway, I needed a a mahjong bubby. Yeah. And I'm I'm so happy to have one. And I guess I'll I guess I'll share you. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Well, and you know, that's not the only book you've written either. You're a very accomplished art author.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

And well, what happened was when I started doing my book tour, people were like, Oh, the strategy's great, but we really like hearing stories about players. Oh, yeah. And I I'm a nonfiction writer, but I had a cousin who wrote romance novel. And so I asked her, shout out to Ricky. I asked her if she would help me with the story arcs, because you know, I'm used to getting to the point because I'm like a journalist. Let's get the facts out there. Okay. She's she's like, no, you gotta like intertwine the stories and draw this part out and make you know have some suspense. So she really helped me. So I wrote these two books. One's called Um Small World, and then the next one's called Take Two. And they're like part, they were gonna be part of a series. Now there's just two. But I call them Mahjong rom coms. I love that. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yes. I haven't read those yet. But I they're very late. They're they're popcorn, they're not serious.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Oh, that's that's what I need. Life is heavy right now. Like, give me all the popcorn. Yes. I was really excited to read. I was um, I ordered the books. I've got everything coming, and I'm excited to read these. And uh I have to say though, when I saw that um Ellen Discovered is not one of your mahjong books, but no, no, no, and I'm actually gonna hold that one up because this is what the box looked like.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Oh, that's beautiful. And that's the cover.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

I saw that that one was on Audible. Yes. And that Karen, you actually that's your voice on Audible. Oh, and I was really excited to get into that one.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

When you started that one, I I just I I heard you talk about it on on Fern um Fern's podcast, and the story about your mother is just incredible. And I just I love how you talked about how that was so healing for you, and it was just such a great patharic process for you to get through grief. And I just I I yeah, I really applaud that. I love it. I can't you're right. Pass it to me when you're done.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

I will well, it's audible. You gotta get it to yours, girl. Um things, but I I have enjoyed it. I am right in the middle of it, and you're a beautiful writer. I'm totally invested. I want to hear so much more about your mom and what you've discovered.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Um where are you in it?

SPEAKER_03 23:43

So you are describing the photos, and you were able to get a little information from her best friend.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Right. And um, you're giving us more detail about this photo. And I love how you describe how you capture her kind of turning her head and being caught in the moment um in this photo that you found. And I mean, I'm just hooked. And you're you're so descriptive and your writing is wonderful. So I'm really excited to get into the other ones. The popcorn ones are next on my list. So yeah, I could use some of that in my life right now.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yes. And um, well, should we talk a little bit about how you and Christina got can how we got connected and that whole circle?

SPEAKER_03 24:22

So, like I said, um, I was already, you know, fangirling you and looking for your I was already uh always looking for um anything you had to say when the new cards came out. And I've connected with the wonderful Johnny Levine of Mahjong That's It. And she's been giving me such great guidance and everything. And when I mentioned to her, we'd really like to have somebody to help us go through the card. Um if she had any suggestions, and you had been on the back of my mind, but I felt I wasn't sure, you know.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

We didn't think we were cool enough.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

Well, that, but also, you know, Fern's passing was it's been about six months, right? So, and I didn't know how to really approach that. Or I I always very cautious about how to approach friends who are dealing with loss and things like that. So I wasn't sure what she would say, but she came back and she was like, Yes, uh, Karen Gooen, but I was like, she goes already spoke to her. She said she would do it. Um, she said she would talk. You were so excited when you told me. Oh my gosh. You were like, I won't believe it. You won't believe it. I texted in all caps. Um I was really Yeah, I know. So when I say I'm fangirl, I do. Um, and I'm so thrilled. So that's you know, thanks, Johnny, for connecting us. That was really sweet. I was not brave enough to do it myself. So I really appreciate that. And then we had a great conversation on the phone, which made me more excited, though. Yeah. Now we're friends. Yes.

unknown 25:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Um, yeah. So that's how, you know, that's how we connected. But I I want to talk a little bit too about your style um of how you break down the card. We kind of touched on it a little bit. How you're really good, like you have this analytical mind and you see lines in a way where I absolutely don't. And I'm sure a lot of people kind of interpret lines differently. Um, but you have a way of making them stick, which I really love. Um, but you also have a lot of sayings and philosophies that have to do with mahjong that really help your ideas stick as well. And I wanted to know if you would share some of those with us too.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Well, the most fundamental one is luck favors the prepared mind.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yes, mahjong and in life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah, it's it's been accredited to a whole bunch of different people. But the whole idea, especially with mahjong, which is so much luck. I say this game is 70% luck and 30% skill, but a lot of us don't maximize our skill. Right. That's right. And I get the 70% sort of by saying, well, we only pick one out of every four tiles, and we're only able to call very few tiles because we're not ready for them, or it's a concealed hand, or for whatever reason, we can't. Right. So a lot of it is completely out of our control. The thing that isn't in our control is how well prepared we are in terms of understanding the card, understanding the hands and how they interplay, knowing when it's time to get up, you know, give up and switch your hand. Right. And just like even just looking at the tiles in the first place, figuring out what to play, what makes sense? Right. You've got you've got three soaps, and you're like, oh, I'm gonna go for the big hand, but you also have two jokers. Why the heck would you go for the big hand if you've got two jokers?

SPEAKER_03 27:35

If you've got two jokers, you want to use those to your advantage. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

So the whole idea is Booby's job is to get everyone as prepared as they can be. That's especially why I write the new card review is I want you guys up to speed as quick as possible so they can enjoy the new card. The other thing with the learning the new card is I'm like, you're not memorizing it, you're just familiar with it, and I want you to not be afraid of any section on the card. Right. Because some people are like, I don't do quints, or I don't do singles and pairs. And it's like you're missing out right all sorts of options. Yes, the one thing I totally agree. I'm gonna correct you guys and don't get mad at me. We won't we don't call them lines, we call them hands. Oh, okay. Because it gets confusing, but I do change up what I say.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

I call it both. When I'm teaching, I say hands a lot, so I like that. Okay, right. Okay, hands, not all right. Does everybody hear that? These are hands. We are playing hands, we are dealt hands, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Yep. Well, we're dealt tiles that we're trying to turn into one of the hands of a hands, turn into a hand.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

And that kind of correlates more with the card games, too. When you're playing cards, we call it hand. You get a good hand, yeah. Yeah, all right, okay. I like that. Keep it coming. We we're tough.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

We want to get so there was luck favors the prepared mind, which is absolutely key. I want you guys prepared. Another one is he can't major. You know, people that are like, Well, I know she needs that tile for mahjong, but I really think I might make it on the, you know, I'm only two away. Right. It's like if you give her her winning tile, you're never gonna get two away doesn't end. Right. So sometimes you have to play defense because you're not gonna get it.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

And that's it's hard to let go. But yes, it's so true.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

So when you're playing among friends, I would prefer somebody win over a wall game. That's just my preference. I know not everybody feels that way, but I just think it's more exciting for somebody to get a win and then they have a great night.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

But in a competitive setting, we do a lot of league play.

SPEAKER_03 29:31

We play we played in a tournament, our first tournament. Yeah, we'll talk about that at some other point. But yeah, we did, and so now my competitive, and now I I don't know. I don't know how easily I'm gonna be giving up wins with you know, at a table with friends anymore because I see I see the benefit more, and I want to practice playing that.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Well, and it's a good way to practice, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Here's the thing here's another big boobyism is there are two kinds of play. There's the wine game and the coffee game. That's yes, and and so obviously at a tournament you gotta be in coffee game. You gotta be. But I totally get it. You've been playing for about two hours, and Stacy over there hasn't won one hand, and you feel bad, you're like, you know, you just sort of throw that flower even though you're gonna be able to get it.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

I know, I know. You want her to come back next week, you know. And I want especially if it's newer players, if it's a newer player, I want you to get some wins because that keeps you coming back. That's that's the bug that bites you, right? And that's what that's what keeps you coming. So that's very good though. But I don't know, not anymore, Stacy. Sorry. I've moved on. Um, I've leveled up, but yeah, okay. Anything else, Bubby?

SPEAKER_01 30:48

No, there's so many.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

There's so many. I know. We could go on all day. I know she's got some good ones, and actually, we're gonna let Bubby do um tile tips with us at the end. So um, she'll share some more. I think that one of my other really key concepts in fact. She'll share more with us towards the end, but let's go ahead and get into the 2026 2026's heo. Oh my gosh. The six is back, baby. Okay, so tell us your first impressions. Yeah, first impression of the card.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

I was so excited to see the sex tet back because it's really unique. There were, I don't know if you guys were around when there were quince of flowers. You must have seen quince of flowers. I think we have quince of flowers. And that's that's kind of cool, but you never see the sixes, they don't come out that often. So it's very cool. And I really make a point of making sure everybody can differentiate between the two pungs and the sextet. It's very important that you understand the difference. Right, yeah. There's a couple hands on there that have two pungs of flowers, and those are much easier to make. Much easier to make.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

But the sextet, you really you have to have between them five jokers and flowers before you can call for that sixth flower when it's discarded, you know, or you put it together yourself with flowers and jokers, right? But you can't do it piecemeal, it's all at once, right? It's hard. It's really hard.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

Yeah, yeah. Lots of flowers in this card. And that sextet, we see um, so there are some lines where you have six flowers, kind of what you're saying, and they're broken up, but then you have six of a kind in where's that line? Um, for second of run, right? Right. Yeah, so lots of flowers throughout the card, but you'll see them in different in different ways. Two pongs.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

But do you know what's not on this year's card? Tell us four flowers. There's no Kong of flowers this year.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

That's that's very interesting. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

So if somebody puts up four flowers as their you know, exposes that, their hand is dead. Their hand is dead.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

There's no such thing, yeah. Oh, and that you know, I can see people making that mistake because if four flowers was very prevalent on last year's.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Yeah, this is that this might be the first card I've seen that didn't have it. Wow, yeah. It's pretty rare. Very not just to have it.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

That's right. Yeah, all right. So keep keep an eye out for those four flowers. If somebody exposes four flowers, dead hands on the spot. There is not four flowers. There's not a Kong of flowers on this year's card. Cheers, man. Cheers, buddy. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

And do those cards switch each year? Oh no! Chris, welcome to the show. I like flowers.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Yeah, and that's what keeps it fresh and interesting every year. It's you've got to get your brain working again, kind of re-evaluate the car. And it's you know, it's similar arrangements, but also very different. So, you know, you have a whole year of kind of wrapping your head around one way of doing things, and then whoop, you gotta clean, clean slate and challenge. Yeah, and that's that's what makes it fun and fresh.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Yeah, that's a good thing. Well, that's the thing, Chris.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

Do you play poker?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

I don't. A lot of my friends do. I actually learned recently how to do it. I couldn't do it though. I would need a little guidance.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Oh, because because like I'll explain it to poker players. I'll say, What if next year aces and twos was the thing to have? That is a great analogy. You know, like every year they change it up. Right. And that's the only game I know of that changes every single year. You have to relearn it, and it's great, it's great for your brain.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Yes, that's that's one thing that sets American Mahjong apart, too. It's having that card, right? Basically just relearning 70 give or take in your line.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

That you yeah, really good for your brain. Yes, it's oh, it so is. I I think I've really gotten so much smarter after playing. Oh, my memory has improved, right? For sure. Well, and you know, Clint and I are playing every night instead of watching TV. Like that's that's a win. That's a huge jealous of that stuff right now.

SPEAKER_03 34:54

Yeah, gosh, that's amazing. That's amazing. Okay, so any more first impressions?

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I had pointed out that the sixes appear Yes, I was noticing this. Yes, they have a really special place in that we already knew that sixes can be in the even's hand. They're really crucial to winning an even's hand, and they're really crucial to three six nine, but now they're also essential for making the year hand 2026.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

Yes, they are all over this card.

SPEAKER_02 35:24

So that is don't give away your sixes.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Yeah, and the even section, right? Like numbers, you can use sixes all over those cards.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Yeah, pretty much. Sixes are a hot, hot ticket, hot item. That's right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

And if you're not using them, hold on to them because somebody else needs them. Odds are, yeah. Or get rid of them early, I guess. Yeah. So that they can't call for them.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

Yeah. Okay. So what else? Um, what else is how many different like numbers hands there are, not just in the like numbers section, but all over the card that you can find two Kongs of a like number all over the place on this card.

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Yeah. Which is similar to last year, too. I really liked.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Right. It's good for you to know that if your original plan falls through or if new tiles come in that support a different hand, you can switch even once you've exposed two different cons of a like number. Right. You could still switch your hand.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Yes, right. There's several different directions you can go with that. So it's a really good pivot.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

Yeah, and I noticed too, we've got the north and souths with the like number, the odd like numbers. Yes. And the east and west with the even. So now when I was I taught a class last night, and I, you know, I always like to say the opposite winds, they attract. So you'll see north and south together and east and west, but you know, I'm bringing up again, you also will see north and south with odd numbers and east and west with even numbers. So that that was fun to see that again here. Did you teach them the mnemonic about the vowels? No, what's the mnemonic about the vowels?

SPEAKER_01 36:56

East and west and even. The words east and west both have an E in their eyes. There you go. And north and south are both odd, but they go with the odds, and they both have an O in them.

SPEAKER_03 37:07

There it is. There we go. I'm putting I'm putting it in my notes for my teaching notes. Okay. See, this is what I'm talking about. I know, I know. And now I'll never forget that. I know, right? I know. Okay, so quick break, real quick. We cannot see Bubby anymore. Yeah. Oh, we can play. We can hear you great.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

We just lost the video.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

And that just happened, but I like I like to see you.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Got you.

SPEAKER_03 37:30

It'll take like five seconds. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

It's about everything.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

I want to play right now. I know I wish you were here, Karen.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

We can play. I know. Now, how do you guys play a three-person game? Well, we've we play with the Bob wall, the false wall. Um but you pass, you do a Charleston.

SPEAKER_03 37:52

We like the Charleston, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

And if you get a joker, you keep it.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

Well, if we're playing in league, um, we we do let we do the patio, we but I will come and remove jokers for everybody or somebody who's not playing. Yeah. Um, but if we're playing willy-nilly, try to be honest. It's like no, I'm not honest. I just get hey, I say keep your jokers. Yeah. Yeah. How do you do three player? Yeah. That's the way I love to play. Yeah. Yeah. Uh-oh. We paused.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

But the complete rules is three people.

SPEAKER_03 38:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

You know, you have three players, they get their deals, no Charleston, just start. Just start, just start. Yeah. We play that way too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I hate that. I need the Charleston. I love Charleston.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

And that's the when I play with my husband, we play Siamese. And so when we play when I play with him with other four people, he's like, whoa, whoa, what are we doing? Like, I don't know about the stuff. Because he doesn't, he's he plays so much Siamese. He's like, I don't know what's happening. But I'm like, trust me, you'll you'll grow to love this part. This is the best.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

I know. Your mind gets organized.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

Yes, right. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 38:59

So we can get back into it now. Thanks for fixing that for us, Chris. Okay. Okay. So do you want to get into um any interesting variations you've seen on previous hands in this card?

SPEAKER_01 39:11

Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's some really cool modifications. Right. Okay. What do you see? Well, first of all, everybody really liked that floating pair hand last year. Yes. And this year it showed up in the odds section, which I just thought was so creative of them.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

Yes, very cool. I like that floating hand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

So you get you have to have singles of all of the odd tiles in suit A. And among those, there's one that there's a pair. So it's like there's one, three, five, seven, and nine, and then you have a second in that suit. It could be any of those five numbers. And then you need to have the matching number in the other two suits for a cong of each. Yep. So that's how you get to 14.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

So remember that line was in consecutive run. I loved that line last year. It was a love hate line.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

Uh I loved it. I I ended up, well, it was, you know, and the the singles are more flexible than you think. Because if you've got that pair, then you can build on either side of that or around it. And it's really neat. You know, I really, and there's no flowers. Um, I I really I think I was successful on that line a lot. I was not.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

I tried, I tried for it a few times. My brain just couldn't work it in. I I loved it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 40:27

I like runs. I you know, I just gravitate towards it. But there's a lot of them this year. Yes, I know them.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

There is a lot of runs. Yeah. Yeah. One thing I'll say about that that hand is how important the Charleston is for that one. You know, if you're going for the odds and you're looking at your hand at the end of the Charleston, you're like, well, this one's not really strong enough for like numbers, but I've got sort of everything in that suit. What am I going to do? And you're like, oh yeah. Yes. I've got everything in that suit, and then I've got some that match and it it works out really nice.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

Even if you don't have the pair, do you think, Bubby?

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Oh, yeah, chances are pretty good I'll show up because especially if you've collected all the others of that number. Right. It means nobody wants it. Nobody else wants it. Yeah, true. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:06

And if you've got that many during the Charleston, nobody wants it, right? Right. Yeah. Like Blink. I'm excited. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

Great tips. Great tips. Okay. So any other variations? Tell us about the variations.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

Well, they're really uh single tile, a single dragon happy. You know, like last year in the picnic hand.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Yes. The picnic hand, I love that one. I did too. Yeah, they each brought their dog and then the couple brought their flowers. I yes, I know them all. Yes. Bring it, bring it.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

This year we've got the single dragons in the 246A section and in the like numbers. That's right. And it's it's kind of fun. And it's also in singles and pairs. Yeah. Um, yep. And I totally agree with Elizabeth. It is so much easier to get a single than a pair. Yes. So you know, you'd be surprised. That's true. How easy it is to pick up that that extra.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

You've said that before. I I agree with that. And I also the winds have a line where you have single wind, uh, at least one single one, the north. I noticed that, which I hadn't seen yet. Yes. Um, that's so that's well.

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Well, that's that's that's the whole thing about runs that you were saying. There's like this year, there's not just a a chow. We know that chow is three numbers in a row. Yes. But now we have something with four numbers in a row. What do we call that? Well, I'm gonna just call it a super chow. I love that super chow. Super chow. Okay. Here's the thing there is a Chinese word for it, but as I said in my blog, I'm not here to teach you Chinese, but I'm here to teach you mahjong. So we're just gonna call it a super. We're gonna call it her super chow. I like it. I like that. So in the winds and dragons section, there are actually two super chows. Oh my gosh, yes, technically, yes. Yeah, there's the second one is all those dragons with a super chow anywhere on the number line. It can start with a one, it can start with a six. It's just gonna be the same suit, four numbers in a row. Anywhere one through six is the beginning of your super chow. That's right. But that other hand, let's see, it's the sixth hand in the winds and dragons. That is. I call that my uh my Beatles hand. Do you remember at the end of Yellow Submarine? Were they singing one, two, three, four? Can I have a little? I would sing, but I'm not that good. Yeah, yes. So it's it has to be one, two, three, four. But the way they lay it out on the card, you wouldn't remember that it was a super chow. So you have to think back and say, yeah, it's one, one. It is you know, a one, a two, a three, a four, and then in order northeast, west, south of those numbers. One, two, three, four.

SPEAKER_03 43:40

I love that line.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

That's a brilliant line.

SPEAKER_02 43:42

We'll see. Uh that it I think that's gonna be harder than it. I like it. And it, yeah.

unknown 43:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

I'm gonna say, just in general, I think Winds and Dragons is so great this year. That's usually not my favorite section by a long shot, but I really those two hands you're talking about with north-south odds and east-west evens. Those are great hands.

SPEAKER_03 44:01

And I like that they've mixed winds with dragons, finally. Oh yeah, yeah. I tend to winds and dragons together, and there's never a good option for that.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

Yeah, but this is a beautiful hand. And again, with you know, extra flowers, but you do not have to make them as a sex tet, you get to use them as pungs. So that's really beast.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

Yes. That's oh, my aunt is gonna love that. That's the beetle's hand. She's from Baltimore and she loves the Beatles. So we were and I taught her Mahjong this summer and she's a big fan. Yeah. Oh good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

So tell her it's like Yellow Submarine. That's on the end altogether now. I'm a bummer.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

I'm telling you, that'll be the that'll be the line that I overplay this year now because I it's the Beatles line. It's the lines that stick that you that you always make stick in my brain, those are the ones I just see it on my rack every time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Okay, then you're gonna like the crazy, crazy King Kong thing that I did.

SPEAKER_03 44:55

Okay, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

Oh my god. I'm trying to remember now. Okay. Okay, so one, two, three, four, five. The sixth hand down in the even section. Okay, okay. You've got like numbers of any even number in two suits. Yep. And they've got matching dragons, right? So that's so I call that a double feature of King Kong. Yes. Okay. Against against the Dragon King.

unknown 45:31

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

So it's the beginning and the sequel, and the audience is so excited that they're cheering two, four, six, eight. Oh, that's it's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 45:42

I mean, but that's the more ridiculous. There it is. That's why it sticks. I love it. So Kong is more of a kind. You've got two Kongs there, two even Kongs with matching dragons.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

I love the dragon. Cheering audience.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

Two, four, six, eight. So we're not at the pep rally anymore. We're at the double feature. That's right. Right. We're calling it the monster creature. Cheers. Let's go to the feature. All right. What are we calling that one?

SPEAKER_01 46:06

The monster creature double feature. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

Is that not brilliant?

SPEAKER_01 46:12

That was so good.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 46:16

Done.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

That is pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 46:17

And then the next one down. Okay. Also with your two, four, six, eight. Yes. Is the Faye Rey.

unknown 46:25

Fey Ray.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Fey Ray. Okay, tell me about that. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

Well, she's got all the flowers because she's so beautiful. There's six flowers. She gets two pungs of flowers, two little bouquets. Yes. And they're still there triggering for her. But she has tamed King Kong. So she tames Kong. So she gets to tell him what to wear. She says, You're going to wear whatever number I pick.

SPEAKER_02 46:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

And in a different suit than the audience again. So the 2468 is one suit, and King Kong's wearing a different, but it's whatever suit Faye picks.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Yeah. She has tamed the beast. I love that. So what do we call that one? Faye Ray? Faye, okay. Yes. With the flowers, with the flower bouquets. Everybody who's listening to this, you've got to tell me which of these are going to stick for you.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

Gosh, that's gonna I'm that I'm gonna go to that one a lot because I want to tame the beast. If you get your two four six eights, that's great. There's lots, yeah. These are great pivots too. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So if you get some flowers in a two four six eight, tame that beast. If you got the dragons, then you're gonna go to the double show. Oh yeah. Okay. This is so good. Well, okay.

SPEAKER_03 47:45

What else you got for us?

SPEAKER_01 47:48

I gotta say, I didn't I didn't come up with as many metaphors this time. I think that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 47:53

But I want to hear your predictions. What are gonna be the easiest hands to make on this year's card?

SPEAKER_01 47:58

Oh, definitely pungs and kongs. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, there are so many this year all over the card. To anybody that doesn't understand the official uh Chinese terms, the Pong is three of a kind, the Kong is four of a kind. And in every hand you have to have 14 tiles. So three, four, three, four is a really easy way to get to fourteen. Right, because you can you can use a joker for any of those. Right. No, no concealed hands, you can expose anything, it's jokers everywhere. That's right. It's and it and officially it can't go dead. That hand doesn't go dead because you can use jokers. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Yeah, yeah. That's so true.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Those are great hands, and those are always good for backup hands, too. If you find that what you were going for went dead, you can hopefully pivot to something nice with a punchy odds. So specifically, the ones you were just talking about, I think is going to be super popular. That the odds and the evens with the um matching wins. Yes. Because if you play your Charleston right, all you need is maybe a pair of the Norths and a single South, and you happen to have a Joker, you've got it. You've got it. Yeah, I love those. You can call for it and you can go for the other. Right. Yeah. Just pay attention or the Charleston if you have a couple wins, because you know it's really rare that two people are going for wins, and most people are unloading their wins.

SPEAKER_03 49:22

Right. So you can figure that out during the Charleston. Yes, yeah, it's pretty easy when they're totally okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

Yeah, great tip.

SPEAKER_03 49:29

So, what about is there a hand that's sticking out to you like as a favorite?

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Well, there's one that's like gonna be my white whale, yeah, like Moby Dick.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Okay. Um which one is this? Are you sure you want to share this?

SPEAKER_01 49:45

Well, here's here's the thing. First of all, everybody knows. First of all, you have to understand that Booby is a Mahjong philosopher. Yes, I love analyzing the game, but I am not gonna be your tournament chat champ. I've only won one tournament because I have no poker face. None. I have been known when somebody throws out a four bam, I will actually say, darn. Right. I mean, yeah, no poker face.

SPEAKER_03 50:13

Yeah, I'm similar. I I know all the rules. I like to say I I can not all the I mean, you know, there's always something to learn, I feel like, but I'm great with the rules. Um, strategy and poker face. I I play with emotion. We're very I'm a very expressive person. Yeah, I do all the things I preach not to do. Right. Right. Trying to do that.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

Write my hearts on my sleeve. Yeah, yeah. Um, but I always say I'm a sucker for a soap.

SPEAKER_04 50:39

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

So if somebody passes me a soap, I'm gonna go immediately to the year hands because I just love them. Yeah. But but my white whale this year. Okay. Because when I first saw this hand, I thought it was a typo. Oh. And I had to put my I had to put my reading glasses on. I don't usually wear these, I just wear these to see close-up.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:56

Um I know we are. But I had to put on my reading glasses and I was like, what the heck? And I just I just loved it. It's that third hand down in singles and pairs. I was like, wait, this they they screwed up. There's a typo. And then I realized, no, they really want you to sort of mix those up.

SPEAKER_03 51:12

Yeah, that is not what I thought you were gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 51:15

No, I it it just it intrigues me. Yeah, I got 12 tiles of it the other day. I'm like, I got that close, but I didn't make it. So I'm gonna keep oh my if I'm close, I'm gonna go for it. Yes, I love it.

SPEAKER_03 51:27

So funny. I thought you were gonna say the sex tet, the flowers. Thought you needed your glasses to count those flowers.

SPEAKER_01 51:35

No, that I can I can do that. Yeah, but you can see where when you get that when you that yes, that is really fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:42

It's funky. That's a great line, though. I love that. I okay. I've now I'm gonna search for my white whale. I'm gonna also have a goal to share to achieve. Yeah, I did get a singles and pairs in the tournament last week. That's right. So I was very proud of myself. But it can happen. It can happen. But yeah, oh, she showed out at the tournament. Well, you know, when you're on, you're on.

SPEAKER_04 52:08

She's gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_03 52:08

When you're off your Taurus, chicken kick butt, that's for sure. Okay, yeah. So that's your white whale, but what hand that that's not the hand you're probably playing most often. Is there a hand that you're playing, you're finding yourself gravitating towards when you are playing this card?

SPEAKER_01 52:27

Oh, yeah. I'm definitely anything with like numbers. Yeah, like numbers. I just start there and see what it's where you end up what flavor of like numbers it's gonna be. Let the tiles tell you there, but it's a like numbers hand. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

I'm I'm very similar. I see like numbers immediately. I I will try to do like numbers with like two opposite vibes on my I mean, like I I just I push it too hard sometimes, but I just well it's it's just an easy, such an easy pivot with like numbers.

SPEAKER_02 52:58

There's a lot of different directions you can go, and sometimes where you think you're going, then you draw a new tile and you're like, oh, snap. Yes, exactly. I'm gonna move houses. One tile can change your whole perception of life, but that's because you're prepared. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 53:15

You're prepared. You know how to you know, take in new information and figure out how to use it. Right. When you first start playing, some players are so keyed into the one hand and they don't even think about anything. That's right. And that's fine when you're just beginning, right? But that's what separates the beginners from the events.

SPEAKER_03 53:33

And I advise that for newer players. Sometimes I say, Okay, you are you are all over the map right now. I want you to sort of hone in, focus in on one thing and just get used to the steps, right? There's so much to learn. Let's let's not like dissect the entire card every time it's your turn. Let's just begin, right?

SPEAKER_02 53:52

Absolutely. Right. But but as you progress, you do need to be able to know what what you're getting and what that means for the repercussions of your life.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

And that's why learning these lines and giving them personalities, if you will, you know, I know um really makes an imprint. And then, you know, you've always got those lines in your pocket. Yes. And I love that. I love that so much.

SPEAKER_02 54:12

Okay. I um I'm excited about this question. Okay, so I've been thinking about this too. What line or or area of of um or what hands are you going to miss the most from 2025 from 2025? It could be a section too, but was there a hand that you really enjoyed?

SPEAKER_01 54:29

And well, I'm still when I'm practicing now, I'm still sort of defaulting with the fives, and I have to remember fives don't matter so much anymore.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

That's right. Oh, that is a hard palette to break, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Yeah, so I'm used to 2005s. I gotta get 25s, I gotta just keep the fives out of my mind, right?

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:45

Yeah, that's always the thing that I'm having trouble with. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 54:48

Well, the lines I'm gonna miss are the pep rally and the paper boy. Yeah, those are the paper boy was great. That was a great one.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

And I I wore that line out. I went on that line a bunch too.

SPEAKER_01 54:58

Yeah, and nobody's expecting it. Right. It's it's really I it's fun. And this year, this year they have wins in the 2468, in the odds, and in the 369. Yeah, they're all over the place. I'm very impressed.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

I like that. The year of the winds, I like it when it gets windy. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Did you guys notice? Did you notice that concealed hand in winds and dragons? You will sometimes see that hand in the in the year section. Right. This year they put it with winds and dragons.

SPEAKER_02 55:27

Right, okay. I've seen it in both ways. Right, and I wonder how they decide, you know, what where to put one of each. Yeah, yeah. Because I've yeah, I've seen it both ways.

SPEAKER_03 55:36

I always like to see how they put the the wins in singles and pairs.

SPEAKER_01 55:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 55:43

Yeah. This year they've using pairs of each drawing a single dragon. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

Yeah. I like that line. Man. Maybe that'll be my white mail. Oh, yes. That's a good one. Aim high. Aim high, right? That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:55

Of course. Um, all right. Well, that was wonderful. Thank you for sharing all that with us. Yeah. I want to play right now. I want to play right now. You know. I know. All right.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

We have a few more questions for you.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

Yes, maybe we do. Okay. So back in episode two, we discussed etiquette. And, you know, you've been playing for a while, and I know you've got some stories. I was wondering if you had any stories in particular you'd like to share with us. Anything that comes to mind? Anything um, you know, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 56:24

Yeah, or the or common mistakes you see people make that, you know, um, you have some pro tips for. Or tournament stories.

SPEAKER_03 56:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:31

Tell us a little bit of both. Okay. Great. Thanks. Well, first of all, I'll tell you the most important tip that even experienced players forget sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 56:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 56:40

And that's to look before you discard. Because we all miss exchanging for a joker now and then.

SPEAKER_02 56:47

And it's so frustrating. It is so devastating.

SPEAKER_03 56:50

Oh gosh. You just oh the lowest of the low. I've started pretending like I meant to.

SPEAKER_01 56:57

Well, sometimes, sometimes you might mean to. Yes, right. It can, yeah. But it happens to all of us and it's so frustrating. It's painful. So that's that's that's separate from etiquette, but that's something.

SPEAKER_03 57:07

No, it, yeah, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

Okay, so etiquette, I'm gonna bring up um something that I heard you guys talking about, which was when you were saying, you know, don't necessarily let people know how you put your tiles out. Because everybody puts their tiles out differently, right? And you don't want to give anything away. Right. So here's the story. Okay. I was at an event in a major Midwestern town. I will not say where. Okay. Even name it. Somebody's gonna remember this event. So it was bad. It was bad. Um, it was an evening thing, and I had given my little shout out. Somebody was drinking. All right, a lot of drinking. And um, afterwards we were having open play, and they said, one of the one of the ladies wants you to come and sit at her table. And I was like, Great, fine. So I sit down at her table, and she is bad mouthing one of her friends. She's saying, Oh, this one here, she always plays dragons, she is so predictable, she's so boring, and I just felt so bad for that friend. Yeah, and this woman's just being super, super catty. So then the next hand, she was the better, and I was not gonna let her win. Or I didn't want her betting on me.

SPEAKER_04 58:26

Right.

SPEAKER_01 58:27

So, what I did, I set my tiles up in all sorts of random ways, like no logic whatsoever. It was all over the place. And she comes by and she's pretty sloshed, and she says, Are you dyslexic? And I'm like, So what if I were? Yeah, like it's not a it's not an insult to be dyslexic, but it was just like she was like, I don't know what you're playing. And first of all, we know betters are not supposed to talk. No, period. Keep your mouth. And she was just being nasty. Oh my god. So yeah, that's she was like double negative etiquette there, you know. She's very invited back. No. Oh, I hate that. It must have been barbarous. You don't make fun of your friends, no, or anyone, or call them out, right?

SPEAKER_03 59:13

Or even let on, even if you know their game, you know how they play. That's well not use that to your own advantage.

SPEAKER_02 59:21

Share that thing. Calling people out over anything is not cool. Missing a joker, just they feel bad enough. You don't need to add to the insult. It's punishment, honestly. That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:33

So that was like 10 years ago, and it still sticks with you. Yeah, that would stick with me.

SPEAKER_02 59:38

Absolutely stick with me.

SPEAKER_03 59:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:39

Well, and this again, this is a a joyous, fun game for everybody to get together, and but there's always that one, you know.

SPEAKER_03 59:46

I mean gosh.

SPEAKER_01 59:47

Well, that's what I was gonna say. The only always that one I was at a tournament. I'm gonna tell you this story. Okay. Um, I was at a big tournament, and the woman across from me, very intense, like must win. Okay. And we're down to like the last five tiles. And I was pretty close, but I knew I wasn't gonna win. And I picked up a tile and it was a flower. And I didn't need it, but I knew she did, and I wasn't gonna throw it.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:16

So it was clear what I was playing, it was clear what she was playing, but I wasn't, and somehow I don't know how she had figured out that I was that had the flower, but for whatever reason, somehow I was transparent enough that she knew that I picked up the flower, but I didn't throw it. I threw something else and broke up my hand. And she screamed. She literally screamed at me. She said, You can't do that, you can't throw something that you need. What?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:44

I don't think she understands the game. Like right there in the middle of the game. She never learned it right, but she wanted to call the tournament director over. She calls her over. The tournament director says she can throw what she wants. And honestly, it was crazy. Wow. She was like so adamant she wanted me to throw. I'm not gonna throw you the title. No, so that was that was crazy. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

So that's so we feel like we've experienced a lot of crazy so far. I guess there's a lot more out there. Yeah, well, no, this is the thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

I do I do think that crazy happens more at tournaments. And I write about that in in one of my books.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

I write about in the um people have money invested, time invested, you know, they they come in.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:25

And you're bringing a lot of people in who are used to playing in different groups, right? And and maybe their table has a different energy than we're used to playing.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

So then they then they bring that energy to the table and it's like uh um that's not my well, which is why it's so nice to have a standard and to know the proper rules, and you can do what you want in your own home, but it I think it's really great to be able to go anywhere and play with any with new people and know what's accept what's expected and accepted. Yes, yeah, that's why etiquette is.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

You can have your crazy table rules, right? You can do whatever you want, but at a tournament, they're gonna they're gonna know. Like if you're if you're throwing and then picking, forget it. Yeah, you can do that. Yeah, yeah, you know, all that stuff. Yeah. I mean, although I know down in Florida, especially South Florida, I think, they will say we're having a 14 top tournament, you know, like throw and then pick. Uh they have both.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:21

I've seen I've watched a lot of throw and pick because I'm trying, I was I'm trying to grasp it. And I think I've got it. I mean, I've I've watched a lot of it, but it looks I mean it's it looks fun, but it's intense.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:33

It goes Yeah, it's not for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:35

It's a little discombogulating, but I I want to try everything once, you know. I'll I'll give it a shot, but yeah, I'll probably come back to the OG.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:44

Always always, always okay. Well, that was I love your story. I know thank you for sharing those with us. So now you know more of what not to do, especially at a tournament. Um, no one's gonna hand you a win. No, at a tournament. Sorry, yeah. Uh, you're gonna go for a wall game. So tough cookies. All right. I we we did kind of go through your books a little bit, but you know, I wanna I want to talk, I wanna remind everybody what the names of them are. And then if you could just tell us where we can find them, right? So we've got yeah, small world. This is the original.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:24

This is the original, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:25

Okay, what's that? Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:27

Yes, okay. So that's searching, right? Okay, searching for Bobby Fisher, and these are my grandmother's tiles.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:33

That's really cool. Oh my gosh, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:36

That's so I have this guy named Dwayne Stapp, who's been my designer for all my books, and he's wonderful. He likes designed this, it's just so cute. That's really special.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

I love that. I love that. So I have that one on the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:48

I'm excited to add to my collection searching for Bubby Fisher. Yes, and where can you find that? Well, that's the thing. You can buy it on Amazon, but for listeners to Tile Talk, we're gonna have some discounts that I'm gonna talk about in a second.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:03

Yay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:04

But you can get it's also on Kindle. You can get the Kindle version if you want. My mom loves Kindle, yeah. She lives on that, and then there's two novels. Oh, there we go. The Mahjong rom-coms.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:15

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:16

Oh my god, those are my summer reads. Yeah, okay. Small World. And then Take Two is the sequel. Okay, and they have the spines here. So if you need to know, there's the the one and the two. Okay, perfect. Red and blue. And those are they're rom-coms. They're about um a mother and a daughter in the suburbs who one's a mahjong instructor. It's just a whole that's cute. Oh my gosh. That's can't wait. Yes, so they're they're cute.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

And then this was the one about yes, yes, that's the one I am listening to right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:49

Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. I I can't imagine making Bobby audible because I'd be sitting here going 2244. Yeah, it doesn't cut it. That's a reader. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:03

Yeah, that's a good one. Well, congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

Thank you. I I love writing, so it's amazing. You're a beautiful writer.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:10

Um, I like you said, when you were learning, you know, it was hard to find, you know, ways to learn the game and learn the proper stuff. And I just I really admire you for being like, it's not out here, I'm gonna do it. Oh, yeah. And that's kind of how we felt with the podcast. You know, we both loved Fern so much. We loved it. And not that we are, you know, in any way um taking it. Well, you're a different flavor. Very, very different flavor. Next generation. Yeah, but we you know, it was we were really let's be what we're looking for. Yeah, right. It was yeah, exactly. And you know, we should be so lucky to be able to sit down and hang out and talk about mahjong. I mean anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:48

Just remember that. Yeah, yeah. No, if if it if it's something that you would want, it's definitely gonna resonate with other people too. That's what I knew that Great. Yeah. So for your listeners, if they want to just buy one or two books, that's fine. They can email me. I don't know if you'll put up with the link.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:10

We can we can put a link, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:11

Yeah, they can email, but if they buy and they'll get like a 10% discount. But if they want to buy in book, like if they and their friends each want to get one of the booby book, or if they want to get a whole selection of all four, but whatever, um, they get 20% off.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:27

Wow, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:28

On an order of thank you more books of any titles, and we'll figure it out. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:33

So they can email you to purchase directly through you.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:37

And get discounts. And get discounts. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:39

So we'll just email you and tell you the titles that we're interested in.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:43

And that and a shipping address. I'm not going to mail it to all of you. I mail it to the one who coordinates for everybody. Sure, sure, sure. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:51

Great. And just let her know that you um heard this episode on Tile Talk. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:56

Only for Title Talk listeners.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:58

Thank you. Oh amazing. That is amazing. What a sweet gift. Thank you very much. I love all the books. So you do. Yeah. Yes. I know. I know. I'm excited about that. Trying to get better. This this I'll read this. These are these are my first beach reads. I'm ready for it. Yeah, they're beach reading face. Very beachy. Well, thank you for sharing that. We have one final question for you before we let you. Well, we're not letting you know we're making you do tile tips, but before we move on to that, we will have one. Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:28

Did you give our heads up on this or no? Oh, cheated. Okay. Well, I think this is a thing. We could do, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:36

We can't do this one on the spot.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:37

Okay. If you could sit a perfect mahjong table, who are the additional three or two that you would want to play with?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:46

Well, can I have two different tables? Sure. Okay. Do what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:50

Okay, I would want to hear this.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:52

Okay, my sentimental one would be both of my grandmothers and my mother-in-law.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:59

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:00

Because they've all passed away. Yeah. And I never got to play with any of them. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:06

So it would be really neat to and I can tell you you were close with your mother-in-law. You got you said you spoke every day.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:12

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:13

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:14

It's kind of crazy that we never played.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:17

It is crazy. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:19

But she she was a big fan. She was very supportive of my whole Mahjong career.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:24

Yeah. Oh, that's so great. Yeah. Okay. She's she's playing up there somewhere. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:30

That would be a special table for that is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:32

So that's the sentimental table. Okay. Okay. And then the other table, this is funny. Okay. Um, there's there's an actress who I was hoping played, and I got in touch with another friend of mine and who knows her and said, Did you find out if she plays Mahjong? And she said, She doesn't play, but her mother-in-law plays. I said, That doesn't count then. No. So of known, these are known celebrity Mahjong players.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

I would want to play with Harvey Feerstein.

unknown 1:08:58

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:59

You know who that is. Yes. Okay, and Fran Resher.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:02

Oh my gosh, yes. Frank. And then she just Fran plays. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:08

Franz from the nanny, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:10

Yes. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

Yeah. Oh yeah. So it would be very funny. Yeah. And then there's this is cheating a little bit too because this person also passed away, but Steven Sondheim.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:22

I don't know that I know who that is.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

I don't know who that is. Steven Sondheim wrote a ton of musicals. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:28

I should know who that is.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:29

Mostly before your time, probably. Do you know Company? Yes. Okay. He wrote Company. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and the lyrics for Gypsy. I mean he was the best lyricist ever, just brilliant. Wow. And he played Mahjong. Well, this is the thing. When he died, and they had this big estate sale of all of his different, like his book collection, and his this and is that. Yeah. There was a mahjong set. And I was like, I do not have tens of thousands of dollars to blow on Stephen Sondon's Mahjong set.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:01

But it was really that's amazing. Yeah, I'm a big Broadway person, so I should have known that. She's a ham already. I am a ham.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:09

Well, in his musical follies. Yes. Oh, I know Follies. In follies, there's a lyric where he uses the word mahjong.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:16

No way. Okay, that's cool. So Violet's doing a camp this summer, um, a musical camp, and she's doing follies. Oh my gosh!

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

Yeah, how amazing! So you'll say that's the one with Marvel.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:28

Yeah, that's a good table.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:30

Wow, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:31

Frank, we would just be laughing the whole time. Exactly. Oh my gosh. She's so fabulous. I bet she'd have some amazing tiles too, like super colorful. I don't know. I think she'd have classic. I don't know. That girl's that girl's full of life and color.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:45

I don't know. I'd love to know. If you if you ever get her at a table, please let us know. Fran. We love you. Yeah. That is cool. Well, those are great tables. Yes. Do you know your dream table? Exactly. I know. Time to think. I know. Don't put her on the spot. Sorry. Okay. So we are going to keep you around for our tile tips um segment here because I mean, we've already got you here. Who are we to give tips, right? Exactly. Um, right. So we want to cover what happens when you can't choose between two lines, specifically during the Charleston. That happens a lot, and somebody wants to stop the Charleston.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:28

So I feel like you get that question um when you're teaching so much. And it's it's kind of hard to answer. Um, but yeah, give us your best advice on that.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:39

Well, Booby has a term for what happens when you stop the Charleston after the first level.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:48

Especially, especially when you can't decide between two hands. Yep. And usually it's because neither of them is that good. That's the point. I mean, if you sat there and you counted them up and you're like, I've got six here and I got six there, and you're like, I don't know whether you're basing basing it on I've got six in this suit and six in that, or I've got six on this part of the number line and six on or events or odds, or whatever it is, not enough of either of them to get that excited. To feel strong, right. Which is exactly why you gotta keep going. Thank you. But if you stop it because of that particular reason, it's called Charleston karma. And what it is is you are not gonna win. OMG. Yeah. I would say 95% of the time, the person that stops it for a reason like that is not gonna win.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:39

Right, that's right. All right, everybody listen to her right now. And I feel like I preach is a very common.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:46

Oh, yeah, that's a very rookie mistake. Yeah, you hear that rookie mistake. Yeah, the thing is, even though you may think there are times and you've got like nine or ten tiles towards a singles and bears hand or something, and you're like, oh my god, it's so good. I don't wanna I don't wanna keep going because I don't want to blow it. Right. There are some options for you, especially if you're playing a exposable hand, not a concealed hand. It's harder with a concealed hand, but even then there are ways around it. But if you're playing a hand and you've already got like the Kong, you can afford to pass one of those away. It's either it's gonna come back to you or you're gonna get to call for it. Right, or call for it, yeah. So don't sweat it if you if you have to break up a Kong during the Charleston. I mean, do it. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:34

I did that this week. Break up your Kong to not stop the Charleston.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:39

Right. Well the other one is um if you have flowers if that's really the only thing that you could pass and you need the flowers, that's the one that you have more of a chance of getting more of. You know, because there's eight of them. Right. So the probability is you might get it. Either you probably won't get it back in the Charleston, but you might pick one.

unknown 1:14:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:00

You might pick one. Right. There's eight of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:02

There's four of most everything else. Yeah. There's eight of those. So it's a little bit safer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:08

I try not to pass flowers because they're very valuable. Right. But if you had to pass it, you could. The biggest dilemma is when you've got so many jokers. Oh, darn, so many jokers.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:18

Oh, what a what a horrible project. I hate when that happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:21

But it does make it hard to do that. Yeah, it does. It makes it a little bit harder. Yes. But yeah, if if at all possible, keep it going, especially because you know that there are tiles that you've seen the first three times around. Yeah. It's possible that nobody wants it and it'll come right back to you. Right. I love that. Be brave, keep going.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:43

Yeah, that's right. Yes. That's great advice. Thank you. Um, yes, I preach this all the time. I loved your perspective on that. Um, I also was reading something you wrote the other day. That's so funny. You said, Do you want to win or do you want to look at your pretty tiles?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:00

And I thought that's right. That's that's the don't fall in love with your tiles.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:04

Yes, right. And we all have our favorites of this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that one stuck with me. I laughed. I watched, I was basically laughing at myself because I was like, Yeah. Stop being so emotionally attached to your pretty tiles.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:18

I know. Yeah. And sometimes you're gonna win on a really that's another thing Bobby says life is too short to play boring mahjong hands. But sometimes that's the winning hand. You just go with the you know, the consecutive run, one, two, three, four, five. You just play it. It's boring, but you're gonna win.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:36

It's boring, but I feel like there's a lot of people who don't ever take the risk, right? They never go for an exciting hand. Yeah, and I think, yeah, life's too short. Go for it. That's right. Exactly. Yeah, I love that one too. I know you might be the movie. I love it. There, there's so much more of you to share. I hope you'll come back to and um spend more time with us sometime. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:02

Well, next year for sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:04

But we don't want to wait that long, but yes. I don't think I can go a new card without having your total analysis. So this was I I can't believe we get to have it again via podcast this year. We're so grateful for you. We want to thank you so much for joining us, Bubby. Yes, really, really. This was amazing. And like I said, she's also she's got a blog. Can you tell us where to find your blog? I didn't memorize that.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:31

That's okay. We'll put it on. You do a go, you do a Google search, you say Bubby's Mahjong blog. Okay. And I think the website's called Blog Spot, but if you just do a Google on Bobby's, we'll get it we'll get it. We'll have it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:44

Can you give us that email one more time, Bobby?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:47

Sure. It's Bubby with an E, B-U-B-B-E, Fisher with a C, F-I-S-C-H-E-R, at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:56

All right, awesome. And we'll have that all linked in all of your information um on this episode. Thank you so much. This was so much fun, and I can't wait to play. Do you have time today? We can play after this. Oh let's see. Mark Mark. He's doing ballet. Let's a go. We're good.

unknown 1:17:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:12

Okay. All right. All right. So I guess you want to close us out again, Elizabeth. Shut us up. We love you so much. Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:19

I hope everybody enjoyed this episode. And thank you so much for standing in for Marshall today. That was amazing. You did a great job. Yeah, you'll have to come back and play. I want to play. It looks so fun. Now you're in. We've sucked you in.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:31

Well, thank you all for joining us today. We're so excited to watch Everything Grow in Bubby's Life. And the 2026 card is blossoming. And here we go, ladies. Let's go. But that's it for today's Mahjong for Tile Talk. Thank you so much for joining us. Until next time, may your tiles be lucky and your table always be welcoming. That's right. Thanks for joining us, guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:56

Love you bye. Cheers.