The Friendly Game: Few other phrases twist more knickers than that one. It's an ongoing and unwinnable debate in the American Mahjong community. And yet, it rages on!

For some, the idea is that they are playing for fun and will forgive all manner of goofs and gaffes to prevent any hard feelings. For others, you either play by the rules or you don't play. On the surface, it seems black and white, but, as in most of life, there are some gray areas to consider.

Let’s be clear, we’re calling a hand dead – not a player! And yet, calling another player’s hand dead is a super controversial move to some. Honestly, the move is mostly suffering from some bad PR. Maybe a different set of words to describe it? Let’s let that simmer for a moment and we’ll come back to it.

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.