4-08

Last Tile

When building Mixed Triple Chow or Mixed Shifted Chows, you will often find yourself with a two-chance hand that is effectively a one-chance hand, because only one of the two chances gives you the 8 points needed to finish.

Figure 1

chow chow

In Figure 1, will give you Mixed Shifted Chows (6 pts.) + All Chows (2 pts.) + All Simples (2 pts.), but does not give you enough points. But be aware of the number of tiles on the board (including tiles shown in players' melds). If you see three tiles on the board, the last will give you an extra 4 points for Last Tile. In Figure 1, you would earn All Chows (2 pts.) + All Simples (2 pts.) + Mixed Double Chow (1 pt.) + Last Tile (4 pts.) for a total of 9.

Last Tile is not a common occurrence, but it generally comes up two or three times in a 4-round game.

Figure 2

In Figure 2, you can go out with , since it gives you Concealed Hand (2 pts.) + All Chows (2 pts.) + All Simples (2 pts.) + Mixed Double Chow (1 pts.) + Short Straight (1 pt.). But the does you no good, even if you draw it yourself. But what if three tiles are exposed on the board? In that case, gives you enough points, even if it is discarded by a player.

Figure 3

What about Figure 3? Do you recognize this configuration? It is a case similar to the one discussed in section 4-05. This hand is one step away from a Chicken Hand, but in order to qualify you must meld something in the hand. If you do so, as shown in Figure 4, you will be able to go out on an opponent's discard.

Figure 4

chow

But what if three of the tiles, or three of the tiles, or three each of both tiles are already exposed? When that happens, you can no longer qualify for the Chicken Hand. In such a case, you should keep your hand concealed as in Figure 3. This way, in the event that you do draw that last lucky tile, you can score Fully Concealed Hand (4 pts.) + Last Tile (4 pts.) for a total of 8 points. "When your tiles are nearly dead, you have a new lease on life." That's the lesson of Last Tile.