Singaporean Tai-tais

My friend gave this backgammon set to me.  Its really beautiful but hardly sees any daylight. There is simply no comparison with the two games of Mahjong and Backgammon if you think about it. You can play one for hours (days for some), and the other, you can play once or twice and get bored because so much of it depends on the luck of the dice.

No wonder they have to come up with stunts like tossing 2 backgammon inflatable dice out of a helicopter that is hovering 200-300 ft. up in the sky to keep people interested. What am I talking about? Apparently the Backgammon Masters will be holding this event where champions (there are champions for this game?) will play against each other on this 1 acre-sized backgammon board with 3 feet in diameter checkers. They will direct the rolling of the dice and the checker pieces via walkie talkie.

And I didn’t even know there were backgammon tournaments, much less champions in the field! I mean, seriously, why would you need a tournament for this? Ok, there are Paper-Scissor-Stone tournaments in the good ‘ol US of A so … I mean I can understand blackjack tournaments because there is some calculation involved and the permutations are much higher, but there are only so many moves in backgammon!

So, did you lose again? Does your pocket hurt from the many times you’ve gone in to dig out the little that is left in there? Are all our blue and red notes gone? Is all that is left the shade of a painful blueblack (orche)? Well, today is your lucky day because I am going to give you a super mahjong tip that is sure to make you “wu tai zi mo”!

The very first thing you need to do is to make sure that you are not sitting below an iron tree. If you don’t know what an iron tree is, you really shouldn’t be playing the game. How do you make sure of this? Don’t play with the professional aunties who want to sit according to the wind you have chosen. Simply be gracious and wait for everyone to sit first, and then request for the seat before the iron tree’s turn.

Now that you have a higher chance of completing your set of trios, it’s now all up to a quick calculating mind, smart control of cards (yes, try being the iron tree yourself) and of course, you will still need dumb luck. Have Fun!

No Need to Reply,
I’ll be on Vacation.
Never take life seriously.

Nobody gets out alive anyway.

I love this sign!