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18 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JANUARY 2017 By Dick Roppe, Resident If you visit the Lodge on Thursday nights you'll find three games in progress: billiards (eight ball pool), not much explanation needed there. Then there are Mah Jongg and Mexican Train. Let's start with Mah Jongg or Mah jong or Majiang or mahjong. With all these different name possibilities, it's no wonder the game is confusing to the casual onlooker. How old is the game? There is no evidence of the game existing before 1880. Up until the 1920s it was almost exclusively played by the Chinese before it was "discovered" and became popular internationally. Since Mah Jongg means "the game of the sparrows" or "sparrow tiles" in Chinese, it seems likely that this is the source of the game's title. It is usually played by four people, with 136 or 144 rectangular pieces called tiles. Each tile has a Chinese character or symbol that includes numbers, winds, dragons, flowers and seasons. The object is to collect winning sets of these tiles, as in card games such as gin rummy. Thursday's players seem to know what they're doing. As for me, I just show up toward evening's end and offer a musical interpretation of Mah Jongg. Let's move on to Mexican Train. This game is a spin-off of dominoes. However, instead of pips, the tiles have large colorful numbers. It was probably created by a senior who couldn't easily count the number of pips on a domino. Take a quick look at the picture of the tiles- notice the numbers must match the previously played tile. The object is to get rid of your tiles before your opponents do. The game begins when players play off the double 12. The winner of the round receives no points while opponents receive points in the amount of the numbers on their tiles. Oh, and if you're stuck with double zero, it's going to cost you 50 points. I could find no credible or complete explanation why the game is called Mexican Train. Dominoes do have a derivative game called "Trains" but the addition of "Mexican" may have more to do with the popularity of dominoes with Cubans. One explanation being the incorrect assumption that things Cuban are Latin American and things Latin American are of Mexico, hence Mexican Train. Bye, bye! I don't want to miss my train… The (Tile) Games Are Afoot Mah Jongg players are all smiles A group enjoys Mexican Train

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