Mahjong madness

Talk about the dangers of over-zealous policing! WGM stumbled upon this hilarious tale from the suburbs of Florida in the USA this week where four elderly women between the ages of 87 and 95 had their regular mahjong game shut down by authorities.

Informed that the women were gambling, police shut down the clubhouse where they played and proceeded to return on numerous occasions later that week to ensure they were doing as told.

However, as it turned out the determined efforts of the local constabulary were all in vain. A quick check of the local legislation revealed that there was in fact no rule against playing mahjong for money with the closest being an ordinance in the Florida Gambling Laws stating that “penny-ante games” were allowed provided no player won more than US$10 in any single hand of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mahjong. The women only ever played to a maximum of US$4.

So, after all of that, it turns out the women were right in the first place – the good news being that they are now back enjoying their favorite game!