Week 5 - Health

Incredibly, I'm still sick. I'm starting to get worried. Maybe I'll have to go see a doctor? In any case, I did play some Mahjong this week.

Dasuke joked that to keep me healthy, he would add physical exercise to the warm-ups. That's actually not a bad idea in general. Exercise gives many benefits, including mental ones, and I am a fairly sedentary person. I'm sure my doctor would be happy, too.

However, I'm shy, and self-conscious. I don't want to have to go to the gym, or go running outside, or anything like that. I don't have any equipment, and I certainly don't want to take on a muscular physique. That's totally not my style. Not to mention I'm extremely lazy and don't want to have to commit a bunch of time to working out each day.

Luckily, my friend pointed out that the Royal Canadian Air Force has me covered. They developed an exercise plan for women that's designed to be done in under 12 minutes per day, inside, with no equipment needed. The document even specifically calls out that it avoids making you muscular. I guess I have no excuses now, huh?

The female plan is called XBX, which I think stands for "Ten Basic Exercises," since it has 10 exercises, and the male plan is called 5BX for "Five Basic Exercises." I've been able to stick to it so far, which is fairly miraculous for me. Of course, it's not directly Mahjong related, so I won't force you to do them, but if you don't get any exercise currently, it's probably a good idea for your health to start doing something.

I've played seven games so far this week, which isn't very much, but I'm trying to gradually move back into it while still being sick. I even managed to climb a little! Taking a break can be pretty handy for changing habits, as you forget some things and have to think more. I'm hopeful I can start replacing some of my bad habits with better ones.

I'm putting a bigger focus on actively thinking during the game. Asking myself questions and such. However, currently it's usually happening more after I make the decision. "Was the decision I made good? No? Darn." I have to start moving the thoughts to before I make it.

Let's look at some example decisions from my most recent game, which is the longest game I've ever played at 53 minutes. Here's the link: https://tenhou.net/0/?log=2019061302gm-0089-0000-330b53ae&tw=3

Do you see the problem here? I simply wasn't paying enough attention to my hand's shape. I should have riichi'd on the 7s in order to get pinfu. I really should have clued in when I saw the 7s highlighted after clicking riichi...

Is it reasonable to push the 6s? Let's see. Sanshoku dora 2 is 3900. With a bad wait, that's not enough to justify pushing against a riichi. Especially not with a 6, which deals into two live suji. I think running was a good choice here.

What's my shanten, before calling? Two. What's my shanten after calling, discarding 1m? Two. Great call, me. Now you don't even have a pair.

This call I'm not too sure about. It gets to tenpai with the 4m/5m/7m discard, but it removes the dora acceptance. With two riichi sticks and four honba on the table, I think taking the tenpai is fine, especially this late in the hand. With two calls from toimen, I don't have that much of a luxury to go for the dora value. Also, in the game I discarded 4m after the chii. There are 3 remaining winning tiles after discarding 4m, but 4 remaining if 5m is discarded. Gotta count!

Here, I discard the 3m, since the 23m shape can prevent my tanyao. However, that means I need to cut the dora 2m if I want to take tenpai. It would be better to cut the 34p shape, as both tiles are suji versus the riichi. But, it would be best to just fold this two-han iishanten against the dealer riichi.

Of course, do NOT cut a live dora versus a dealer riichi. Especially with this few live suji.

I think choosing to dama this hand on the 66m55s wait was a good decision. However, once I achieved pinfu, I should have riichi'd. That would let me take first on any ron, and both 4th and 3rd should push. I tsumo'd the 3s next turn, so it would have been a beautiful riichi ippatsu tsumo ura 2 aka 2 pinfu dealer baiman, but alas. At least I got first, even if I definitely didn't deserve it.

I'll try to build up the courage to see a doctor, and I'll play more mahjong in the meantime. See you next week!