Six beginner strategy principles
- Pairs decide your hand.
Jokers cannot make pairs, so the natural pairs you hold are the only things you cannot fake. Build toward lines whose pairs you already have.
- Commit late.
Choose a section of the card during the Charleston and a specific line only when the tiles force it. Early commitment is how beginners end up stuck on an impossible hand.
- Count what is gone.
Before calling a tile, count how many copies of the tiles you still need are already visible on the table. If three of a tile are discarded or exposed, a pair of it is impossible, and any pung would need Jokers.
- Watch exposures.
Each exposed group narrows what a player can be building. If someone shows a kong of 3 Dots, check which lines contain it and stop feeding the rest of that hand.
- Discard safe tiles late.
Early in the hand, almost any discard is fine. Late in the hand, prefer tiles that have already been discarded twice, or that no exposed hand could use. See defense and the endgame.
- Hunt Jokers.
Every turn, glance at every rack for a Joker you can exchange. A free Joker mid-hand is worth more than most draws.
This section will grow as readers tell us which strategy questions they have. For now the Charleston guide covers the decisions that matter most.