The Blind Pass

The Blind Pass

Nope, a “blind pass” is not a pick up line from a vision impaired person. In mahjong it can be a powerful strategy, if you know what it is and when to use it.

In a nutshell, a blind pass is the opportunity during the Charleston to not pass three tiles at a time when you don’t want to. Wait what? You don’t always have to pass three tiles? Nope- but there are rules.

The when:

Here’s the story- what we call the Charleston is actually two Charlestons. The first is the first three passes- passing tiles to the right, across, and left. The second Charleston is the whole thing in reverse- second pass to the left, second across, and last right. You are allowed to do a blind pass at the end of each Charleston. The first left is the end of the first Charleston, the last right is the end of the second Charleston. Are you still with me or are your eyes glazing over? Hang in there - this does have a point! 

The what:

Imagine you are about to make your first left pass and you have a tray full of really great tiles that could be used toward several hands, and let’s say you only have two tiles you want to pass. Since it’s the first left pass you can do a blind pass. 

Take the two tiles you want to pass and set them in the corner of the mat between you and the person on your left. Wait until you receive the three tiles being passed to you on your right. Then take any one of those three tiles and add it to your two and pass them. You’ve now satisfied the requirement to pass three tiles. Then rack the remaining two tiles (yes, the math works!). 

BUT- here’s the important part- you can’t look at the tiles being passed to you before you choose one to pass along to your left. That’s the blind part. You must choose one without looking at it, add it to your two tiles and pass. Could you be passing a tile you might really want? You betcha! But at least you didn’t have to give up tiles you already know you want.

By the way- you can blind pass one, two, or all three tiles! Regardless of how many tiles you’re blind passing it’s good mahjong etiquette to mention to the table that you’re doing a blind pass so that nobody thinks you’re doing anything underhanded or sneaky. Yikes.

There’s more:

If you do a blind pass on the first left and the tiles you end up with still leave you with fewer than three tiles to pass this is your one and only moment to stop the Charleston. Speak up! Before anyone looks at their second left pass, you must verbalize that you’re stopping the Charleston. Be prepared for everyone to groan. Just sayin’.

Before you stop the Charleston- remember the golden rule: Only stop when you have ten or more tiles toward ONE hand. If you’re between hands- pick one and carry on. Statistically, you are far better off to work on one full hand rather than two halves. 

One more thing:

Let’s get into the weeds a bit. When someone stops the Charleston or does a blind pass it’s a pretty solid indicator that they have a tray full of goodies. In that case if you are sitting across from that person you would be wise to NOT pass them any tiles in the optional or courtesy pass. If they stopped the Charleston or did a blind pass on the second right pass- don’t take the chance of handing that person anything else they could use. Even if you’re desperate for more tiles. Politely decline. Or say, “No way, no how, not going to do it!”. Your choice.