Singles and Pairs
Singles and Pairs is a section of the NMJL card where every hand is made only of single tiles and pairs. These hands are concealed and can never use Jokers.
Definition
Singles and Pairs is a section of the NMJL card where every winning hand is made entirely of single tiles and pairs, with no pungs, kongs, quints, or sextets. Jokers can never be used for a single or a pair, so these hands use no Jokers at all. Every Singles and Pairs hand is marked C for concealed, which means you cannot call any discard except the tile that completes your hand for Mah Jongg.
How It Works in Gameplay
Singles and Pairs hands are hard to complete. You cannot use Jokers and you cannot make exposures, so you rely on the deal, the Charleston, and your draws from the wall. The upside is stealth: the other players learn nothing from your rack, because nothing on it is exposed. Since these hands never contain Jokers, the double value for a hand with no Jokers does not apply to them. Some players switch to a Singles and Pairs hand when their first plan falls apart and they're left holding scattered tiles.
Example
After the Charleston, your hand is a jumble of unrelated tiles: a single Flower, a pair of West Winds, a single 9 Dot, and others. Rather than forcing a hand built on groups, you spot a Singles and Pairs hand on the card that matches several of your tiles. You quietly draw from the wall each turn, keeping tiles that fit and discarding the rest. No one suspects you're close until you call "Mah Jongg" on a discarded 4 Crak.
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