From Ma Diao to Mah-Jong

 

A while ago, I became intrigued with a relatively old Chinese game called Mah-Jong. Now, before I proceed any further, please understand that there are many ways to write this word, regardless please accept my spelling for this game’s name which I will hence forth spell out as “Mah-Jong” dash included.

The story of how I came about Mah-jong for the first time must trace its origins to an old solitaire-type game I used to play in the early days of the Internet back in the mid-90’s. That game was essentially tile-matching but I had grown particularly fond of the tiles and the symbols on them. When I later discovered they could be bought as gaming sets I literally bought the first one I came across online through eBay. The set I bought back then was a travelling set with rather diminutive tiles but I was still totally fascinated by them. However I did a totally blotched job of trying to sell the idea of playing what is essentially a 4-player game to family and some friends with the result that I did not find the necessary gaming partners to get things going. As a consequence I just stowed that box someplace, totally forgot all about it until now.

Some months ago a quick search on the Internet revealed a whole smorgasbord of information concerning this game. I discovered for the first time ever not only one set of rules but diverse ways to play the game. I learned that the Japanese variation was becoming increasingly popular even though in my opinion it is not suited for beginners to Mah-jong. I downloaded various rule books including those for the Chinese International version but they all had the same problem as far as I was concerned, they just felt too complex at least for a beginner.

As I always do I began to adapt the game, putting rules together piecemeal from diverse variations in order to arrive at a rule set I could present to family and friends without bewildering them. I would like to believe that I succeeded in that. Slowly my choice of rules gravitated in a synchronistical way towards a format strongly reminiscent of the British Majhong (yes without the dash) Association variation…which was when I finally found and purchased their official Mah-jong rulebook. Sadly the BMA is not that active in the UK which is a pity given that the rule set is sound and does offer a sound basis for beginner level play.

The more I play the game the more I realise just how brilliant it really is. It plays like rummy to an extent but then the rules differ considerably when it comes to what scores most points. It’s also a game that allows you to play it at many levels. A beginner level allows you to come to terms with the game and develop a feel for the strategy required; a more advanced level forces you to think harder in order to build hands of increased complexity.

Yet the real mystery lies in the history of this game. At first the impression I was given was that this game was an ancient one dating back several hundred years when in fact this is not the case. As I later found out, though this again is open to debate, the tile-based Mah-jong game was an invention of some Chinese army officers in the 1800’s but based (and here’s the catch) on an even older card game called Ma Diao.

Several internet  searches later I discovered that Ma Diao was a popular card-based game during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The deck used was composed of 40 cards. There were four suits as follows

·         The Wen Suit – 1 to 9 plus an additional “½ Wen” which was also known as the “Flower” and a card called “No Wen”  also known as the “Blank”

·         The Suo Zi Suit –1 to 9 with no additional cards

·         The Wan Suit – Again 1 to 9 with no additional cards

·         Then Shi Suit which had 11 cards numbered 200,000 to 900,000 (in steps of 100,000) with an additional three cards number 1 Million, 10 Million and 100 Million. This last card was also called the Red Ten Thousand.

I have found that Ma Diao was essentially a trick-taking game for 4 players in much the same way as Mah-jong is a 4-player game. From a first foray into understanding what this precursor of Mah-jong was all about it would appear that the game dynamics were very different but I have still to find a comprehensive set of rules in order to better understand what this game was really all about.

What is apparent at least is that three suits out of the original four passed on into Mah-jong and were then quadrupled so that you now have 4 of each tile in each of the three suits used in Mah-jong. In Mah-jong you in fact still find the Wen suit or circles/coins, the Suo Zi Suit or bamboos and the Wan suit or characters.

The Dragon tiles you find in Mah-jong are also considered, according to some sources, evolutions from three cards present in the Ma Diao card deck. The Red Ten thousand became the Red Dragon, the Flower from the Wen Suit became the Green Dragon and not surprisingly the No Wen (Blank) became the White dragon which is represented as a blank tile in some Mah-jong sets.

This strong link between what was essentially a card game and the tile-based version we know as Mah-jong is what led me to do some research into Ma Diao, so far I have only identified a paper describing this game but I’m having some problems sourcing it since it is currently not freely available on the internet. If I get lucky, this blog will definitely get to know about it! Wish me luck!

 

NEXT VIDEO BLOG COMING SOON – For those asking, I will be posting a new video blog over the coming days.

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In this second video clip I review a card game called "Five Crowns" as well as a special promotional Poker Kit  from Marlboro.

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What are Playing Cards Made of?

 

When you happen to collect cards you will tend to notice that there are indeed diverse types of card stock finishes and qualities. A cheap card stock can make for a terrible deck making handling a nightmare. I think I have so far been exposed to several types of card stock at least sufficiently to be able to differentiate between a quality deck and a poor mass-produced deck.

Paper Stock

Let’s start by considering some of the more common types of paper card stock and just go over what they are all about. First and at the lowest end of the food chain so to speak we have cards which are simply plastic coated. The plastic coat offers a minimal level of usability but in most instances the cards don’t glide well over each other, they feel awful. With few exceptions, a substantial quantity of Chinese mass-produced cards are made of this stuff. Poorly laminated cards that simply have nothing going on for them except price. These decks are usually dirt cheap but the quality of the stock says it all. Having said this, and as you will be shown in one of my upcoming video blogs there are some very high quality card manufacturers in China which goes to show that when a company puts heart into what it produces it can be from anywhere in the world.

On step up from the “vanilla” plastic coated cards, again I have a few in my collection they have been added because of some other intrinsic feature which does not include stock quality, we get the linen finish cards. It’s still plastic coated cards we’re talking about but now we have a slightly thicker, somewhat durable plastic coat which may additionally be textured. This thicker coat makes for a deck that can take a sensible amount of handling and actually feel quite good in your hands. One of the decks brands I have grown fond of and which uses this kind of finish is the Piatnik & Sons bridge size decks (No.1352) which as I explained in a previous blog entry are quite common in Malta. Since I have handled various decks from this particular brand and finish over the years I can actually say that they do in fact last long  even though they are essentially just plastic coated paper stock.

As we progress one step higher in terms of quality, we arrive to another interesting progression which has made paper stock cards from Bicycle popular among card  handlers and enthusiasts. Bicycle paper stock cards are coated with a special plastic coat that offers increased ease of handling, holding a fresh deck in your hands feels incredible. For starters the cards glide easily one over the other, if you are not careful you could end up dropping cards without noticing. Shuffling these decks feels smooth and you realise that in spite of handling paper cards the experience is definitely that of handling a superior deck. If you happen to be dealing these cards, the slightest flick can send a card gliding over a felt covered table with ease, again a very satisfying experience. Bicycle aren’t the only company that produces such cards but I happen to have quite a few decks in my collection so I know these decks somewhat better.

Plastic

There is plastic and plastic and nothing could be more noticeable than when you handle plastic playing cards. Most playing cards are made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride to be more exact) plastic but the manufacturing process adopted differ substantially from one brand to another. Unfortunately while not really wanting to denigrate Chinese products, I must say that once again the less impressive plastic cards I have handled were produced in China. The plastic adopted in some of the decks that come from there is rather stiff, perhaps too stiff to be manageable in my modest opinion. Shuffling them using a classical casino style shuffle or a riffle shuffle feels awkward at best and the edges feel like they are trying to cut through your finger tips. Thankfully there are a lot of good card manufacturers out there who use a sensible stock that is indeed a pleasure to work with.

By far one of the best plastic card stocks (at least in my opinion) must be the one used by Copag. Copag plastic decks are very durable, it takes a lot of game play to start seeing some card warping which is very important for me at least, they are washable and they are really a pleasure to work with and deal. I believe I have over a dozen Copag decks in my collection, all distinct and offering some a specific feature that makes them stand out from the rest.

Another reputable brand that produces great PVC cards is Fournier from Spain. I love the vibrancy of the colours on these decks and again the quality of the plastic is really good even though I must admit they tend to gum up slightly faster than the Copag decks I have. Still they too are washable (warm soap and a sponge only) so worst case after some time you could always clean them in this way to return them to their original state. Additionally if simple washing does not do the trick you could always use a very small quantity of what is known as a fanning powder (Mostly a Zinc stearate powder) that restores that easy gliding sensation to old or heavily used cards. One drawback is that you cannot use these powders on a black deck (such as the Copag Epoc reviewed in my first video review) because they will give it a greyish patina that will impair the aesthetic of the deck. Card magicians use these powders to improve the manageability of the older decks they use.

Another manufacturer of plastic cards worth nothing is KEM. To be quite frank I don’t like KEM decks, the
material they employ feels thinner and too delicate for my tastes and the deck tends to warp immediately, again something I don’t quite fancy in a deck of cards. KEM do not use PVC in their decks but they claim to use Cellulose Acetate instead. This substance feels significantly finer in your hands but is also the reason I do not fancy them all that much. I have two types of KEM branded decks in my collection, a double poker-sized set with an arrow motif in red and blue on the back and a replica of the bridge-sized poker decks with poker peek indexes just like those that had been used in the World Series Of Poker of 2007. To be quite fair with KEM, the bridge sized decks have a lesser tendency to warp (maybe something to do with the width of the cards) and feel much better in your hands than the other set I have. Also, and this is something that really got to me in a strange, good way, KEM use some kind of additional lubricant on their cards that smells waxy. In fact the first time I opened a KEM deck I could not help but notice this very distinct odour that reminded me of wax crayons or pastels. While writing this blog I came across a number of sites that claim that KEM cards are more durable, last longer so on and so forth. I personally would not go so far as to glorify the qualities of this brand, I’m still not convinced these cards are worth having more than, let us say, a Copag or Fournier deck. In my opinion they’re just more expensive.

Another two brands that produce plastic cards and which I have used in play are those produced by Modiano and Dal Negro. Both are Italian brands, and offer a sturdy stock that is comfortable to handle. The Dal Negro decks are trusty and take on a lot of games without losing too much of their spring. My first ever plastic poker deck was a Dal Negro twin set I had bought from Sicily. I used these decks during a number of friendly poker evenings back at home and they still feel fairly good to shuffle and handle showing only minimal warping after several hours and rounds of play. The Modiano decks on the other hand feel very firm in your hands and keep their spring and shape. I have not used them extensively so I cannot judge their durability as at this time.

That is basically my take on the materials from which cards are made. Maybe in time card manufacturers will come up with something else, a new shape-retaining material that remains perfect even after years of usage. There again, maybe it would not be such a good thing for business because people would not buy more cards then.

Will be posting a new video review soon, I will be focusing on more decks from my collection and perhaps explore some more interesting titbits about cards, games and all that.

Until next time!

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What’s in a deck of cards (part one)?

 

Being rather fond of playing cards and the associated games, it never quite dawned to me that some people may not actually know what they are playing with. In truth, when we say "deck of cards" most of us will immediately go for the more common 52 Card packs which may also include anything from one to three jokers. As I will show you, not all decks are the same and not all decks use the four pip convention of diamonds, spades, heart and clubs.

The French Deck

What we normally play with, for games ranging from poker, black jack, gin/rummy, crazy eights and solitaire, is what is known as the French deck. This deck consists of four suits, diamonds and hearts normally red in colour and spades and clubs normally black in colour. Each suit consists of exactly 13 cards ranging from Ace (1) to ten (10) and then Jack, Queen, King in that order. Multiply 13 by 4 suits and you get 52. Additionally depending on the deck you are handling you can find any-thing from 1 joker card to 3 jokers. Jokers are wild cards whose function changes from game to game and adds an extra level of strategy to the games where it is used.

    

Have a look at the figures above, ever wondered why whenever you pick up a French deck of cards, you will always find a somewhat unique and elaborate Ace of spades whereas the other Aces (diamonds, clubs and hearts) are always very plain? Well from some online research I found out that the practice of having an elaborate Ace of spades dates back to the reign of James I of England, who at the time passed a law which required the printing of a unique insignia on that card as proof that a tax placed on the local manufacture of cards had been paid. I also found out that right up to August 1960, decks of playing cards manufactured in the UK had duty paid on them and the Ace of Spades still carried the printer’s name and proof that taxation had been paid.

The Tarot Deck

Due to the close relationship that grew between this deck and the art of divination, many often forget that Tarot decks were used for play long before any gypsy grabbed a pack to read the fortunes of hopefuls that came their way. The Tarot decks can have one of two sets of 4 pips. The French decks such as those produced by Piatnik & Sons use the regular French deck suits. Other decks such as the Marseille Tarot pack employ the 4 pips of the Spanish decks namely Cups (instead of hearts), Coins (instead of diamonds), Swords (instead of Spades) and Batons or Wands (instead of Clubs). The Tarot decks also come with an additional 22 trump cards which feature very intricate designs and are themselves the source of all the mystique that surrounds these decks. In the Piatnik deck used in the trick-taking game of Tarot, these trumps depict scenes from the days of kings and kingdoms, snapshots of peasants and nobles indulging in various common day to day activities. These trumps are numbered from 0 to 21. The "zero" card in the Piatnik deck is also called the Mandolin, Excuse or the Fool and its function within the traditional games is not far removed from that of the joker in the regular French decks.

In the Marseille deck which contains older depictions and more symbology we find now archaic references to daily life way back when people and the especially the common folk had to contend with a more frugal, frightening and cruel reality marred by relentless masters, the whims of nature, and death caused by a plethora of incurable diseases. Add to this the almost con-tinuous brushing of shoulders with all the various facets of wars between adjacent kingdoms or princedoms and life could indeed be a short and grim affair. Hence the Marseille deck has trump cards that depict such things as Death, the Devil, the Chariot, the Hierophant or Pope, but then we also find the Lovers, the Sun, the Wheel of Fortune and such priced human qualities as Temperance and Strength. Another peculiarity of the Tarot deck is that you have 4 picture cards to every suit and not three. In order we have Page, Knight, Queen and King. This gives us 14 cards for every suit or 56 cards in the four suits. To these we must then at the 22 trumps (zero to 21) given a whopping 78 cards as our final count.

The Spanish Deck

Though not quite so popular outside their country of origin (namely Spain and Italy), there are several games that can be played with the Spanish Deck. The main significant feature of these decks lies in their usage of the four suits which are the same as for the Marseille Tarot deck mentioned earlier. So in the Spanish deck we have Coins, Cups, Batons/Wands and Swords. Additionally the number of cards in these decks can vary from 40 to 52 and here’s why. In the 52 card variant you have 13 cards per suite Ace to 10 and Jack/Page, Knight and King. As you noticed the Queen is missing and you will not find her in a Spanish deck. In the 40 Card decks then you have only 10 cards per suit Ace to 7 and the Jack, Knight and King. In Italy you will find various regional variations on this Spanish deck but mostly they are all 40 card decks. Even the size of these cards varies, some are quite diminutive others are closer to what we might call bridge-size decks. Most of the 40 card decks are used for two principle games in Italy and these are Scopa and Briscola. I have personally grown quite fond of the former because it offers some interesting elements of strategy while offering hours of carefree competitive play.

I would also like to mention here a third variation of the Spanish Deck which comes with 48 cards and in common use in Spain. Suits are the same as above but now you have 12 cards in each suit. In sequence you have Ace to 9 then Sota (Jack), Caballo (Knight) and Rey (King). The number 10 is normally found printed on the Sota, the Caballo has 11 on it and 12 on the Rey. There are various card games that are played using this deck, and more commonly, the 40 card decks mentioned earlier. Mus for instance is a popular vying or betting game for exactly 4 players. Then you have other games such as la escoba del quince (a trick-taking game), el julepe, el cinquillo, las siete y media, la mona etc.

The German Decks

There are also other variations out there with unique pips that stem out of popular regional culture. For instance a popular deck variation in Ger-man speaking countries and regions around Europe is composed of 36 cards with specific unique suites namely Bells, Leaves, Acorns and Hearts. Each suite has an Ace (As/Sau), King (Konig), Over (Ober), Un-der (Unter) and the 10 through 6. The 6 of bells has all other signs in-scribed on it and with the word WELI printed on it. One variation of this deck is the Salzburger deck used in German speaking parts of South Tyrol in Italy and as far south as Trento. They are used to play games such as Perlaggen, Watten and Bieten (also played in Austria).

....to be continued

 

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My First Playing Cards Video Review

For my first review I will be tackling two decks which I consider to be among my most favourite. The first card deck is the Copag Epoc, a vey particular deck in that it is essentially a black deck with white and colour pips. The artwork is also incredible and in my opinion very imaginative. The Epoc is a bridge-sized deck which can be adopted for all manner of card games. it is also made from a 100% plastic stock that is reasonably resilient to bending and shuffling. Personally I have grown very fond of the plastic used in Copag decks, not so much when it comes to the paper stock they use. However I will be discussing this in a future posting.

The second deck I will be reviewing will be the Cartamundi – Star wars Heroes and Villains. the video blog attached to this brief introduction will give you a better impression of both the quality and content of this second deck of cards. Cartamundi use various stock qualities for their decks and this pair of decks comes with a moderately good quality stock that shuffles well…but don’t expect to go about shuffling repeatedly for any extended periods of time. Still you don’t buy this deck to have it trashed through continuous play..this is a collector’s item after all.

This is my first video blog so please bear with me if it is a bit rough around the edges.

A review of the Copag “Epoc” deck and the Cartamundi “Starwars–Heroes and Villains” Decks

Should you have any queries about these or other deck I will be reviewing please feel free to email me or post a comment on this blog and I will get back to you with any relevant replies.

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Welcome

“My name is Colin McElhatton I am 39 years old and a Cardoholic!” Said that way it does sound bad doesn’t it? Well Collecting decks of cards and learning new card games while also revisiting some of the lesser known games has become one of my main hobbies. Through this blog I intend to share this passion for playing cards with kindred spirits who find pleasure and sincere enjoyment in sharing a few rounds of their choice card game with family and friends. Yet before I venture any further how about a little history, what made me so fond of cards in the first place?

Early years

Well my introduction to playing cards came when I was rather young, I think at around 8 or 9 years of age. It was fairly common for us to go over to my maternal grandmother’s place for Sunday lunch. It was a rather boisterous occasion full of laughs and a sincere feeling of well-being at just being together. The meals would be sumptuous if not a bit on the heavy side and afterwards, almost as an extension to the ritual of having a meal together, the cards would be brought out and the games would begin.

The first deck of cards I ever handled and which is still rather common in my country ( you can almost buy it from any stationer or games shop) was the bridge-sized deck produced by Piatnik and Sons. Piatnik have a good rugged card stock with a linen finish that can take on moderately rough  handling without getting too deformed or warped. They somehow always feel good in your hands even when the deck has pilled on several years worth of rummy and other assorted games.

Rummy

Back on my grandma’s dining table, the game of choice was 7 or 10 card rummy. Very straight forward game, you were dealt 7 or 10 cards depending on the variation. Gameplay was clockwise. The dealer would shuffle the deck pass out the cards and then place the remaining stock of cards face down while turning over the first card to start a discard pile. Then in turn players would either take the exposed card or pick a card from the top of the deck. The aim was to make runs ( e.g.1-2-3 of clubs or 10-J-Q-K of hearts are examples of runs) or sets (e.g. 5-5-5 or 10-10-10-10)  of 3 or 4 cards. For instance in the 7-card version  you would make a set or run of 3 and one of 4. In the 10-card variation you would be expected to make three sets or runs, two of three and one of four. Obviously the first player to meld all his cards into sets and runs would go out and claim “Fatta!” (in Maltese) or “Done!”.

There were obviously other games, I remember my grandfather as well as another aunt and uncle would play Gin Rummy which they would call “Rummy tal-punti” or “Rummy bl-istilel” in Maltese. Funnily enough it looked too complicated for my liking at the time even though nowadays I do love to play the game and find it to be infinitely more rewarding than most other rummy games.

Flash!

There was another game we were rather fond of which was closely reminiscent of Crazy Eights and which my uncle used to call Flash, play was clockwise. Basically in this game, a dealer would shuffle a standard deck (or two decks in some instances) of cards (without jokers) then pass out 7 cards to each player one at a time. The remaining stock would be placed face down on the table with the first card being turned over to form a discard pile. The main objective was to get rid of all your cards before the other players. You did this by either matching the suit of the topmost discarded card or its rank. In addition there were a number of trumps that held special significance in this game as follows;

1. The Ace of any suit was wild, you could request for instance that the suit for the next player to play to be something other than that of the topmost discard. Say for instance the topmost discard was hearts, and you had plenty spades and an ace in your hands, you would throw the ace on the discard pile (ace of any suit) and state “Spades!”. The next player to play would have to play spades.
2. The Jack which had to be played according to suite ( so if hearts was the topmost discard you would only be allowed to play a Jack of hearts), meant the next player in line would skip his turn and play would then proceed from the next player to his left.
3. The Two which had to be played according to suit (or rank as shall be seen) meant that the next player would have to perform one of the following actions:
1. If he did not have another 2 of any suite in his hand he would have to take two cards from the deck and skip his turn
2. If he did have another 2 of any suite in his hand he would lay it down sparing himself the penalty and the subsequent player would have to take 4 cards.
3. There was no limit to this piling up of twos so if one deck was used it could happen that a player ended up taking 8 cards (2X4) and worse if two decks were used then it could be that a player ended up taking anything up to a whooping 16 cards!

If when it was a player’s turn he could not play because he could not match either the suit or the rank of the topmost discard in addition to not having any aces (cannot change suit), then he was expected to pick a card from the deck. This could be played either of two ways, in one variation of the game he kept taking cards from the deck till he found something he could use or alternatively in another variation he would just take one card and skip his turn until on a lucky draw or discard (by another player) he could then discard a card he held in his hand.

Also when a player would manage to whittle his cards down to just 1 card, he was obliged to say “Last Card!”. If he failed to do so and someone noticed, he would incur a penalty and be obliged to draw one card from the deck. Obviously if you managed to successfully discard all your cards, well  you won!

There were several other card games we used to play, yet funnily enough poker and poker variants were not among them. In a country where tombola (or bingo) is still popular and where many spend good money on lottery tickets and other varieties of gambling games such as Sports betting and Keno, well you’d expect people to approach the subject of poker with a more open mind. it was okay to spend what today would be €10 to €50 to gamble weekly on something you had absolutely not control over such as a lottery but when you mentioned poker people looked funny at you. I have to admit that the various unregulated poker cash games that evolved among the less savoury members of the gambling population did not help give the game good repute.  Poker was seen as a money wrecking pass-time populated by card sharks and tricksters out to prey on the foolish and weak. Nowadays with the advent of tournament and televised poker things have changed, this family of card games has exploded as a world favourite as well as being recognised as a bona fide mind game. Still this website wont be about poker though I will mention a few varieties in the passing.

What to expect on this blog

As a cardoholic I will be discussing the decks I acquire, the impression they give me, their durability depending on what use I put them to. I will also discuss some card games as well as discuss gaming sessions that might have offered some form of revelation or entertainment value. I will also occasionally extend these blogs to games that play similar to card games but which use tiles or domino like sets. likewise I will discuss their value as games as well as bring you my impressions and considerations.

I really hope you will find this blog informative and quite frankly entertaining. Cards are something I really enjoy playing principally for the competition value they offer as well as for the socialisation that can be derived from just sitting around a card table with friends and family for some idyllic hours of carefree gaming.

Until Next time!

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