Mahjong is a really popular game that’s been around the western world for quite a few decades now and it has been in the east for even longer. The game revolves around players picking up and discarding tiles until one of them has a full 14 tile hand which wins the game. It’s been debated over the years whether or not Mahjong requires any actual strategy or whether it’s based solely off a players luck and in this article we’ll be going into a bit of detail about this matter.

Simply put, once you play the game a bit and read up about it then you’ll pretty easily come to realize that the game is a lot more strategic and tactical than meets the and isn’t just based off luck as many like to argue. The first thing that will tell you about tactics in Mahjong is that you simply can’t win without planning ahead.

When it’s your turn to discard a specific card, that decision is very crucial and you have to think very carefully which card you have to discard as it can end having a negative or positive effect later on in your hand later on so if you discard properly you can easily seal the game for yourself but on the other hand if you rush this decision then your hand will pretty quickly begin to fall apart.

Aside from your own discards, it’s pretty crucial in Mahjong that you keep on assessing your opponent and what decisions they’ve been making. If you can read your opponent properly through his decisions then you’ll have a major advantage over him as you can judge his strategy through this and change your plans accordingly to give yourself an upper hand in the game. At the same time it’s also necessary to be discreet when you make your own decisions as your opponent can judge you and change his strategies accordingly as well.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when playing Mahjong is that they try to dash their way to victory without even bringing their opponent into consideration and this mistake can more often than not lead to losses. In Mahjong it can sometimes be very worthwhile to try and prevent your opponents from getting the hands they need which can be done by discarding tiles that will be of no use to them.

Another really key thing in Mahjong is to not rush to grab the tiles that your opponent discards. Even though it may seem like that tile can be really helpful to completing your full hand, it’s sometimes best to let them go because your opponent can figure your strategy out if you do this but if you play with a bit more patience then you’ll be a lot more unpredictable which can be a pretty significant advantage.

Judging by all things mentioned above, it’s not that difficult to conclude that Mahjong is definitely a game that requires strategy and tactics to play. If you play to win there are many things for you to consider, but we also hope you have a lot of fun when you play.